This book offers an insightful look at the development of feminist theory through a literary lens.This book offers an insightful look at the development of feminist theory through a literary lens. Stressing the significance of feminism's origins in the European Enlightenment, it traces the literary careers of feminism's major thinkers in order to elucidate the connection of feminist theoretical production to literary work.This book offers an insightful look at the development of feminist theory through a literary lens. Stressing the significance of feminism's origins in the European Enlightenment, it traces the literary careers of feminism's major thinkers in order to elucidate the connection of feminist theoretical production to literary work.Literature and the Development of Feminist Theory offers an insightful look at the development of feminist theory through a literary lens. Stressing the significance of feminism's origins in the European Enlightenment, this book traces the literary careers of feminism's major thinkers in order to elucidate the connection of feminist theoretical production to literary work. In addition to considering such well-known authors as Mary Wollstonecraft, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Simone de Beauvoir and H?l?ne Cixous, this book also reflects on the lasting influence of postcolonialism, liberalism, and specific genres such as science fiction and modernist poetry. Written by leading scholars and focusing on the literary trajectories of feminism's noted contributors, Literature and the Development of Feminist Theory ultimately provides a new perspective on feminism's theoretical context, bringing into view the effects of literary form on the growth of feminist thought.1. Introduction Robin Truth Goodman; 2. 'Original spirit': literary translations and transnational literature in the works of Mary Wollstonecraft Laura Kirley; 3. Jane Eyre, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and the varieties of nineteenth-century feminism Margaret HomalS&