The Female Body as A Site of Power and Oppression in English Literature

This research study examines The Female Body as a Site of Power and Oppression in English Literature by analyzing female body representation, regulation and reinterpretation in Victorian, modern and contemporary literature works. It proposes that female body is not a pure biological entity but a socially and ideologically produced place created under the influence of patriarchal norms and cultural expectations as well as power relations. Conceptualized through feminist and post-structuralist theoretical prisms, the analysis of literature as something that strengthens and confronts the systems of gender oppression and also discloses the prospects of resistance and agency. It makes the conclusion that female body in English literature is a dynamic place whereby power is practiced, opposed, and altered with the different literary and cultural contexts.