A Feminist Approach in Beloved Toni Morrisons novel, Beloved is a story about slaves, about whipping, rape, hard work,

and escape. But, while portraying this historical story of enslavement and black culture, Morrison also tells the personal tales of a few very strong female slaves. Morrison's novel focuses mainly on the female characters, Sethe, Baby Suggs, Beloved, and their relationships. The reader learns about Sethe's story and what she has experienced from the past to the present throughout the novel. Sethe's past has a strong influence on the novel. After working as a slave for many years at a plantation named "Sweet Home", Sethe escapes and begins a new life. Everything that happened to Sethe at Sweet Home made her a stronger person that refused to run from any of her problems. Sethe starts a new life and has many children. She loves her children, in a way most black women didn't in that time period. Paul D even advised her to not love like that, "Risky, thought Paul D, very risky. For used-to-be-slave women to love anything that was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love. The best thing,he knew, was to love just a little bit; everything, just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe you'd have a little love left over for the next one" (Morrison 48). Sethe took a big risk to love Denver the way she did, Paul D acknowledged that often. Sethe's love and strong will had large influence on the novel. She refused to let her children live as slaves. When her children's freedom was threatened, she went to an extreme extent to help them. In Sethe's mind she thought that her children would have a better life dead than as slaves. She knocked her two sons unconscious, slit one daughters throat, and came close to throwing the other daughter against the wall. As a strong woman, Sethe took control of what was happening to her family. Morrison portrays an important part of Feminist criticism called patriarchy when Sethe takes a stand against the white men. "Patriarchy is the systematic social, political, cultural and economic domination of women by men" (Oppermann). Sethe was filled with guilt due to what happened in her past, but there was no time to dwell. She took responsibility for what her actions, therefore experiencing 14 years without Beloved as her child. The pain that Sethe must endure is a key note in Feminism literary criticism. Pain and abandonment were given upon Sethe to prove to the readers that she could endure it. The strength and power Sethe obtains throughout the book is Morrison's way of expressing her belief of women and their heart. Feminism literary also focuses on the idea of sex and gender being different. This says that sex is a biological characteristic, while gender is a social construct. (Pogreba). The women in Beloved represent both these aspects: their sex through the impulse decisions like Sethe's, and their elegant gender when Sethe, Denver and Paul D go to the fair. The return home the fair and what was waiting on the porch tested the women's responses as well. Denver handled Beloved's arrival openly and eagerly, knowing what was behind it all. Sethe's

big heart took her in and gave her shelter. It was Paul D that said he didn't feel something right about her. "From all those Negroes, Beloved was different. Her shining, her new shoes. It bothered him. Maybe it was just the fact that he didn't bother her. Or it could be timing. She had appeared and taken in on the very day Sethe and he had patched up their quarrel..." (Morrison 72) These negative feelings coming from the only male figure in the house is hidden in the feminism flow to this novel. Paul D is un-acceptive and skeptical with Beloved, and he eventually sees the door way out because of it. With the withdrawal of Paul D, Sethe's attention is even more now on the girls. It is apparent to Denver the cost her mother is spending on things for Beloved. Beloved's happiness.ke her happy out of love. That doesn't matter to Sethe though; all that matters is Beloved's happiness. As Beloved draws nearer to the end of the story, Denver begins to have an influence on the lives of her family members and on the outcome of the novel. Soon the situation in Denver's home life took a turn for the worse; Denver saw what her mother was trying to do but had a revelation. She thought, "The job started out with, protecting Beloved from Sethe, changed to protecting her mother from Beloved" (Morrison 255). Denver recognized the struggle that her mother was going through and felt the need to protect her and comfort her. In order to be helpful to her mother, Denver found a job. She began to provide money, food, and other items; she did anything that would make Beloved happy and her mothers life easier. Morrison portrayed Denver in a powerful way. She showed that a young, black woman could obtain a job and provide for a family, something that a male character usually does. Denver even became a stronger person than the only male in her life, Paul D. Paul D ran like a coward and did not even approach the house until much later. Morrison depicts the importance that society puts on the sex of a human being. Literary criticism explains that "men and women should both be able to act in accordance with their desires, not limited to societal definitions of what it means to be a man or woman" (Progreba). The typical stereotype is that the men in the family must protect the women, but in this instance they were left to fend for themselves. Instead of appeasing to how Beloved had destroyed her life, Denver took a stand. Denver steps outside of the typical definition of women and becomes not only a breadwinner for the family, but also as the protector. Despite of all the challenges the women face in this novel, it comes to show just how strong women can still be and this makes of Beloved a novel subjected to feminist literary criticism.

Bibliography Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Oppermann, Sirpil. "Feminist Literary Criticism:Expanding the Canon as Regards the Novel". 2009 Progreba, John. "Critique of Patriarchy: Feminist Literary Critisism".2009 Saderstrum, Angela."Feminist Literary Criticism: Approaches to reading and Interpretation." 1997.