Feminist Criticism In Peter And Wendy

The story of Peter and Wendy can be read through many theoretical lenses. While looking through each lense, specific details and hidden meanings can be picked out and critiqued to demonstrate different meanings of the story. Looking at Peter and Wendy through a feminist lense, the intentional and unintentional representation of patriarchal norms and values are shown (Tyson, 448). While looking at the same text through a deconstructive lens, the meaning of concepts is very ‘slippery’ and also has an interpretable text (Tyson, 245). Feminist Criticism also examines ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, political, social and psychological oppression of women. Also, male experience is seen as the universal experience because of stereotypical gender roles. Then, Deconstructive Criticism is also how we view language systematically, such as through binary oppositions (you need “light” to understand “dark”) and through internal contradictions. Not every word is concrete or has a definite meaning, …show more content…
Also, multiplicity of language is a large piece in this deconstructive setting. For example: having a dog as a nanny challenges the essentialism of nanny/caregiving. This shows that a female dog can take better care of the family than possibly a man could. Also, the thimble and acorn switch signifiers to signify one another. This shows that both words have the same meaning, but are different words. They can also be interpreted in other ways that have nothing to do with a kiss. Then, internal contradictions of Peter and the Lost Boys and their idea of mothers come into play. An example of this is: “‘What’s a mother?’ asked the ignorant Smee” (145) This shows that Smee does not know what a mother is, as well as that a ‘mother’ may not be a common word for everyone to have or