The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.1947  Tuesay, 24 September 2002

From:           L. Swilley <
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Date:           Friday, 21 Sep 2001 11:00:07 -0500
Subject:        Isabella - and Feminist Criticism

Ms. Karmaralli writes,

>A primary aim of feminist criticism has always
>been to redress an existing unacknowledged imbalance. Its point is not
>that only aspects of a play that pertain to women are important, but
>that discussions that ignore the role of women are inevitably
>incomplete. It is not trying to tell the whole story, but to fill in
>missing pages.

Haven't serious, respectful works of criticism always addressed male and
female characters equally as *persons* with problems understandable to
both men and women? Am I incorrect in estimating that the feminist
critics tend to abandon the appreciation of that deeper, common humanity
of both men and women, that emphasis on *person* that every great author
seeks and displays in his/her characters (one of the chief beneficial
effects of great literature being the sexes' deepest appreciation of and
sympathy for  one another ).  In their attention to women *as women,*
then, are not feminist critics turning from that deeper concept of
*person*, and therefore from the unifying,  philosophic, essentially
artistic/literary and universal elements of  literature to pursue the
lesser aspects of  politics, psychology and  sociology?

        L. Swilley

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