Feminism In 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been'

They say every piece of literature is written from at least one of three analytical approaches, Marxist, Freudian (psychoanalytical), or, lastly the one used in the stories I will be discussing today, feminist. Feminist writing begins with the assumption that society is and always has been patriarchal. Through out the years writers have portrayed major problems in society through their writing. The four pieces of literature discussed today were all originally composed in a time ranging from 1604 to 1966. Meaning this has been a continuous problem throughout many centuries. Four pieces of literature with powerful words representing the mistreatment of women in society are “Helen of Troy”, “Leda” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, and

This is a poem written about a woman unwillingly a victim of sexual assault. In the beginning the speaker describes Zeus in the form of a swan. The description used by Doolittle to portray Zeus is very beautifully crafted, making Zeus seem flawless. Then casually Zeus proceeds to attack Leda. Leda’s attack is unable to be easily seen due to the poems godly description of the attacker. As commonly seen in our society Leda” rape is over looked because, the writer is forced to focus on Zeus and his over glorified

In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” a young girl name Connie is targeted by an adult man and taken advantage of. This demented predator has no sense of his actions being wrong. He follows her and convinces her, by fear and intimidation, to come to him. He uses the lives of her family, knowledge about her life, and manipulation of this information. He has a confidence to act in such a manner, because those are the commonalities set by society. The author is able to show the traits of a stalker and predator, as well as the assault portrayed against