Which Theory Provided the Most Insight?

After reading ‘Disgrace’ by J.M Coetzee, I have completed 3 posts on 3 different literary theories. These include, a Reader Response, an Archetypal, as well as a Feminist post. Out of the 3 theories, the one that gave me the most insight was the ‘Feminist’ theory.

The storyline of ‘Disgrace’ is around the rape of two woman. By looking at the story from the ‘Feminist’ perspective I was able to really understand the lack of freedom, and the power the female characters had in the story.

Melanie and Lucy were the women who were raped in the book. Melanie did testify against her rapist, David Lurie. However, Lucy (David’s daughter) never did. Female characters are generally considered the minority, as well as in society. This really showed in this particular story as both females stayed quite hush hush about their traumas.

The way the author, J.M Coetzee described woman was quite unsettling though. He had described woman through the character David. David had describes his own daughters breast and butt as “ample”. He had also said that woman’s pleasures, desires, and humanity had no impact on his life, which he had found attractive.  

The author also had made it clear that women’s bodies, belongings, and even clothing are all things that can be taken by men.

To conclude, the feminist theory gave me personally the most insight as to analysis the storyline in a way that made the most practical sense.