Abstract
The critical history of the texts written by Henry Miller is full of controversy and conflicting assertions as critics rarely agree on any constant interpretations of his work, or life. Some regard him as a playful buffoon without craft or ability while others believe he is one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. There are those who characterize his writing as obscene smut but and those who read it as unfailingly romantic. His work fits into traditional literary molds as well as post-modern categorizations—and this list continues for each varied analysis. However, there has been one claim about Miller’s work that has received almost unanimous support: that his writing depicts only negative representations of women. He has been accused of objectifying or vilifying women in his texts, of lacking any understanding of femininity or of women’s experiences, and of maintaining only masculine, sexist interests. In short, he has been deemed a misogynist.
The majority of critics accept these assumptions, but this is the one claim that deserves the most challenge. There have been a few attempts to counter the charges of misogyny, but they have mainly been counter-productive. That is why the aim of this thesis is to address these unfortunate assertions and provide a new perspective of his writing that reveals the positive manifestations of femininity in it. The entirety of this analysis is based upon Hélène Cixous’ theory of écriture féminine, which I have applied to Henry Miller’s Tropics trilogy in the hopes of enlightening audiences about the true revolutionary nature of his work.
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