Women, violoence, and twentieth-century American literature

Violence in American literature is commonplace and has been the topic of considerable study. A more thorough explorafion of women and violence in twentieth-century American literature, however, with an emphasis on an evolutionary/scientific approach, is my focus, with consideration of authors' perspectives and readers' perceptions in addition to textual readings and character analyses. In this project, I seek to illustrate through literature evolutionary explanations to questions such as "Why are men more violent than women?" and "Why has violence against women been allowed to continue for so long?" The research for this study involves and entire century's sampling of American fiction, as I have sought to observe changes in perspectives of violence and women—and to pursue answers to such questions as "Have women traditionally invited violence from males?" and "Is the number of violent women on the increase?" Some of the works analyzed are Faulkner's Sanctuary, Rossner's Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Morrison's Beloved, and Walker's The Color Purple. Chapter focuses include violence theories, rape, the violent and "crazy" American female, sexual violence, and violence ion fiction by minority women.