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Literary Criticism and Theory

Feminist Criticism Practice Questions

20 free Feminist Criticism practice questions for the English Literature. Tap an option to answer — you get instant feedback, the correct answer, and a detailed explanation for every question.

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Question 1 of 20 Medium

Which influential feminist critic coined the term 'gynocriticism' to describe the study of women as writers?

  1. A Elaine Showalter
  2. B Virginia Woolf
  3. C Sandra Gilbert
  4. D Simone de Beauvoir

Correct answer: Elaine Showalter

Elaine Showalter introduced 'gynocriticism' in her essay 'Towards a Feminist Poetics' to shift the focus from women as readers of male-produced texts to women as producers of their own literature. It examines the history, styles, and themes of female authorship.

Question 2 of 20 Medium

In 'A Room of One's Own', Virginia Woolf uses the fictional character of Judith Shakespeare to illustrate which point?

  1. A Social barriers that denied gifted women the chance to create
  2. B Women are naturally less suited to writing great drama
  3. C The superiority of Elizabethan poetry over modern prose fiction
  4. D The importance of marriage to women's financial stability

Correct answer: Social barriers that denied gifted women the chance to create

Judith Shakespeare is Shakespeare's imagined sister, possessing equal talent but denied education and opportunity. Her tragic end serves as a metaphor for the lost potential of women throughout history due to patriarchal structures.

Question 3 of 20 Medium

The concept of 'Écriture féminine', which links female biological experience to a specific style of writing, is most associated with:

  1. A Hélène Cixous
  2. B Simone de Beauvoir
  3. C Toril Moi
  4. D Mary Wollstonecraft

Correct answer: Hélène Cixous

Cixous proposed this concept in 'The Laugh of the Medusa,' arguing that women must write through their bodies to break away from phallogocentric (male-centered) language. It emphasizes fluidity, fragmentation, and emotional depth.

Question 4 of 20 Medium

Which 1979 work by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar analyzes the 'anxiety of authorship' felt by 19th-century female writers?

  1. A The Second Sex
  2. B Sexual Politics
  3. C Literary Women: The Great Writers
  4. D The Madwoman in the Attic

Correct answer: The Madwoman in the Attic

The authors argue that female writers were often confined by male-created stereotypes of the 'angel' or the 'monster.' The 'madwoman' represents the repressed rage and creativity of the female author within a patriarchal literary tradition.

Question 5 of 20 Medium

What is the primary focus of 'Second Wave' feminist criticism, roughly spanning the 1960s to the 1980s?

  1. A The representation of women in literature and domestic politics
  2. B Fighting for basic legal rights, suffrage, and property ownership
  3. C The total rejection of gender as a biological category
  4. D The global impact of digital media on female literacy rates

Correct answer: The representation of women in literature and domestic politics

Second Wave feminism moved beyond legal rights to address systemic social inequalities. In literature, this meant examining how patriarchal ideology is reinforced through literary canons and characterizations.

Question 6 of 20 Medium

Simone de Beauvoir’s famous statement, 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman,' is a foundational idea for which distinction?

  1. A The difference between poetic language and ordinary prose narration
  2. B The distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender
  3. C The gap between elite literary art and mass-market popular culture
  4. D The conflict between a text's historical author and its fictional narrator

Correct answer: The distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender

In 'The Second Sex,' Beauvoir argues that femininity is a social construct imposed on biological females. This laid the groundwork for feminist theory to critique how society 'constructs' women's roles.

Question 7 of 20 Medium

Which critic is known for 'Sexual Politics' (1970), which treated literature as a tool for male domination?

  1. A Kate Millett
  2. B Julia Kristeva
  3. C bell hooks
  4. D Alice Walker

Correct answer: Kate Millett

Kate Millett's work was revolutionary for analyzing literature through the lens of power dynamics. She argued that the relationship between the sexes is political because it is based on the dominance of men over women.

Question 8 of 20 Medium

The term 'Intersectionality,' crucial to modern feminist criticism, was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw to address:

  1. A The way different plot lines and chapters overlap within a single novel
  2. B The overlapping systems of oppression based on race, class, gender, and other identities
  3. C The point at which a reader's personal identity intersects with the identity of the narrator
  4. D The historical transition from First Wave feminism to Second Wave feminism

Correct answer: The overlapping systems of oppression based on race, class, gender, and other identities

Intersectionality recognizes that women's experiences are not universal. It highlights how a Black woman's experience of patriarchy is shaped by racism and classism, which a white woman might not face.

Question 9 of 20 Medium

Judith Butler’s 'Gender Trouble' argues that gender is 'performative,' meaning it is:

  1. A A role that is played only by trained actors performing on a stage
  2. B An innate biological truth that cannot be changed
  3. C Produced through the stylized repetition of acts over time
  4. D A choice made once at the beginning of adulthood

Correct answer: Produced through the stylized repetition of acts over time

Butler argues that gender is not something one 'is,' but something one 'does.' It is a sequence of acts that create the illusion of a stable gender identity, which can therefore be subverted or changed.

Question 10 of 20 Medium

Which feminist term describes a male-centered perspective that views the world and history from a male point of view?

  1. A Androcentrism
  2. B Misogyny
  3. C Heteronormativity
  4. D Gynocentrism

Correct answer: Androcentrism

Androcentrism treats the male experience as the human norm, effectively marginalizing or ignoring female perspectives. Feminist critics seek to expose this bias in classic literary texts.

Question 11 of 20 Medium

Alice Walker introduced the term 'Womanism' to specifically describe a feminist perspective that:

  1. A Focuses exclusively on the 19th-century British domestic novel
  2. B Centers the experiences of Black women and women of color
  3. C Rejects the idea of women working outside the home
  4. D Advocates for the total separation of men and women

Correct answer: Centers the experiences of Black women and women of color

Womanism was created to address the perceived whiteness of mainstream feminism. It emphasizes the history and culture of Black women, seeking a more inclusive and culturally grounded movement.

Question 12 of 20 Medium

In 'The Female Eunuch', Germaine Greer argues that the traditional nuclear family:

  1. A Is the only way for women to find happiness
  2. B Represses women's sexuality and creative energy
  3. C Should be led by the oldest female member
  4. D Was invented by female writers in the 18th century

Correct answer: Represses women's sexuality and creative energy

Greer's work was a provocative Second Wave text that argued modern women were 'castrated' or spiritless due to societal expectations of passivity. She advocated for sexual liberation and the rejection of the traditional housewife role.

Question 13 of 20 Medium

What does the 'Bechdel Test' measure in the context of media and literary representation?

  1. A The complexity and range of a female character's spoken vocabulary in dialogue
  2. B Whether two women talk to each other about something other than a man
  3. C The number of female authors published in a given calendar year
  4. D The physical strength and endurance of a female protagonist

Correct answer: Whether two women talk to each other about something other than a man

Though simple, the Bechdel Test highlights how often women's stories are centered entirely around men. It serves as a basic barometer for active, independent female presence in a narrative.

Question 14 of 20 Medium

Which concept from Julia Kristeva describes the pre-linguistic, rhythmic, and fluid stage of language associated with the maternal body?

  1. A The Symbolic
  2. B The Semiotic
  3. C The Real
  4. D The Imaginary

Correct answer: The Semiotic

Kristeva contrasts the 'Semiotic' (associated with the mother) with the 'Symbolic' (associated with the law of the father). The Semiotic is seen as a source of poetic subversion within patriarchal language.

Question 15 of 20 Medium

The term 'Patriarchy' in feminist criticism refers to:

  1. A A society where men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it
  2. B Any form of government that is led by a hereditary king
  3. C The supposed biological urge of men to protect women
  4. D A religious system in which only men are permitted to lead public prayer services

Correct answer: A society where men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it

Patriarchy describes a systemic social structure of male dominance. Feminist critics analyze how literature reflects, supports, or challenges this system of power.

Question 16 of 20 Medium

Toril Moi’s 'Sexual/Textual Politics' (1985) is known for critiquing which group of critics for being too focused on 'realist' representation?

  1. A French Psychoanalytic Feminists
  2. B Marxist Cultural Critics
  3. C New Historicist Critics
  4. D American Feminist Critics

Correct answer: American Feminist Critics

Moi argued that Anglo-American critics (like Showalter) often looked for 'strong role models' in literature, whereas French feminists (like Cixous) focused more on how language itself is gendered.

Question 17 of 20 Easy

What is 'The Male Gaze,' a concept popularized by Laura Mulvey in film and later applied to literature?

  1. A The tendency of male readers to identify with female protagonists
  2. B The habit of male critics of overlooking novels written by women
  3. C The refusal of nineteenth-century publishers to print female authors
  4. D The depiction of women from a masculine, heterosexual point of view

Correct answer: The depiction of women from a masculine, heterosexual point of view

Mulvey argued that the gaze is voyeuristic and turns women into objects for male pleasure. In literature, this manifests when the narrator or 'eye' of the text objectifies female characters.

Question 18 of 20 Medium

In Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman', she argues that women's perceived 'weakness' is actually the result of:

  1. A Biological inferiority
  2. B A lack of religious devotion
  3. C Too much time spent reading novels
  4. D A lack of proper education

Correct answer: A lack of proper education

Writing in 1792, Wollstonecraft argued that if women were educated similarly to men, they would be seen as rational beings. She viewed women's 'silliness' as a byproduct of a society that only taught them to attract husbands.

Question 19 of 20 Medium

Which feminist approach focuses on recovering 'lost' or 'forgotten' female writers from history?

  1. A Resistant Reading
  2. B Deconstructive Criticism
  3. C Reader-Response Criticism
  4. D Archival/Recovery Work

Correct answer: Archival/Recovery Work

A major goal of feminist criticism has been the expansion of the literary canon. By researching archives, critics have reintroduced voices like Aphra Behn and Zora Neale Hurston into university curricula.

Question 20 of 20 Medium

In feminist theory, 'Essentialism' refers to:

  1. A The belief that all women share a fixed, innate nature
  2. B The belief that literature is essential to life
  3. C The focus on only the most essential characters in a play
  4. D The idea that the author's biography is essential to the text

Correct answer: The belief that all women share a fixed, innate nature

Essentialism assumes there is a 'universal' female experience. Postmodern feminists reject this because it ignores the diversity of women's lives across different cultures, races, and classes.

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