Of all the modern theories that are embraced under the umbrella-term of `critical Theory', feminist criticism is undoubtedly the most agreeable to apply. Drawing on notions and theories from psychoanalytical criticism, post-structuralism, deconstruction, and Marxist criticism, it seeks to bring to light the inequality between the sexes in literature, and how our entire social ideology is in fact structured according to `the male gaze'. As Barry points out in Beginning Theory, the representation of women in literature ."..provided the role models which indicated to women, and men, what constituted acceptable versions of the `feminine' and legitimate feminine goals and aspirations." (122)

It can be argued, then, that literature had in fact been a vehicle for indoctrination and control that had succeeded in ensuring that women conform to a stereotype based on unequal expectations - namely catering solely to the expectations of men...