A Study of Critical Reception of Toni Morrison on Feminism

Exploring Toni Morrison's portrayal of feminism in her novels

Abstract

Feminism has political and cultural connotations. Different waves of feminism over the centuries have endeavoured to liberate women and to carve a place for women in society. Several novelists, especially the novelists of New Literatures portray the realisitic picture of women. Toni Morrison, a Nobel Prize winner of first black woman not only reached the peak of literary veneration, but also wrote thematically arresting and emotionally moving novels. The Bluest Eye (1970) the first novel remains one of the best. Being a multi-faceted woman, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prise for her novel, Beloved. The author of this article traverses through her novels. The Bluest Eye (1970, Sula (1974), Song of Solomon (1977), Tar Baby (1981), Beloved (1987) Love (2003) and A Mercy (2008) to explore how Toni Morrison depicted feminism. The novelist plays the role of ethnic cultural feminist and tries to alleviate prejudices and misconceptions and seeks ways to reinforce the value that racism and sexism would take away from the beauty, the work and the cultural values of black women.