A New Lens for the Microscope

Compelling characters are often the backbone of good novel. While many observations about the individuals within a novel can be made just by reading the novel casually, critical lenses are always helpful to bring in fresh perspectives. Having recently read Hamlet by William Shakespeare, I was able to thoroughly explore the feminist lens. With this lens essentially exploring how certain authors, especially male authors, represent women in novels, I was essentially able to look at the female characters in a completely new light. How are these women really portrayed?

The feminist lens certainly reveals something interesting: women often appear differently in books than men do. This doesn't even hold true exclusively in literature; almost all forms of media display this. Women are constructed differently. For example, it has been a common dispute in past years regarding women being displayed as the "damsel in distress, always needing the male figure to come save her. While this may not seem like a big deal, I've started to realize how prevalent this is. Countless children's books and fairy tales embodying the same preset: the idea, as feminist critics say, that the women are represented as the "other" or the "lacking" individual. They are often the oppressed ones, the ones stuck at home performing chores, or creating some sort of inconvenience that must be resolved by their male counterpart. By growing up around these stories, it sets a certain standard in which society views women, which subconsciously stays in an individual's brain as they grow up. The feminist lens, when this individual grows up, can then help them answer the questions: Why are women always looking a certain way? Why are women appearing in the same fashion...doing the same things?

Instead of taking the portrait painted of women in novels and films so literally, the feminist lens allows the reader or viewer to delve deeper into the reasoning of why the woman was painted that way. Particularly, the upbringing of the author, the circumstances or societal norms may have dictated how the author portrayed the woman in the novel, exposing questions about the stature of women in society at that time as well. The feminist lens's ability to explore women's roles in a given work as well as tie that to the role of women in society either currently or during the author's time period certainly provides a well-rounded and in-depth look at a certain topic. Additionally, it helps paint a more detailed picture of women and their role in novels and works of art and media, making it a valuable lens for a reader or viewer.