The Spectacle of Resistance: Transgression of Woman and the Policing of Desire in Doris Lessing’s “A Woman on a Roof” And John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman

İ̇smet Toksöz

doi:10.1080/00497878.2026.2716223

August 17, 2026Women s Studies

The Spectacle of Resistance: Transgression of Woman and the Policing of Desire in Doris Lessing’s “A Woman on a Roof” And John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Share

Key Points

Investigate how female characters resist patriarchal authority and disrupt dominant gender narratives in Doris Lessing’s “A Woman on a Roof” and John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
Comparative textual and narrative analysis of Doris Lessing's short story and John Fowles's novel.
Application of feminist critical theory to explore themes of female bodily autonomy, male surveillance, and societal policing of desire.
Demonstrates that female protagonists use bodily self-possession and nonconformity as active spectacles of resistance against patriarchal control.
Identifies how patriarchal narrative structures attempt to police and contain female desire, which the characters successfully subvert through non-compliance.

Implication

Literary analysis uncovers female resistance against patriarchal authority in modern fiction, highlighting narrative subversion of gendered surveillance.

Abstract

No abstract yet. The journal hasn't published one we can show.

Discussion

No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.

Cite This Study

İ̇smet Toksöz (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8563fe03308d306e2d77bf https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.2026.2716223

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Share

The Spectacle of Resistance: Transgression of Woman and the Policing of Desire in Doris Lessing’s “A Woman on a Roof” And John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Key Points

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

The Spectacle of Resistance: Transgression of Woman and the Policing of Desire in Doris Lessing’s “A Woman on a Roof” And John Fowles’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Key Points

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

Keep reading

Keep reading