Deconstructing Female Friends

Abstract

One of Fay Weldon’s early novels, Female Friends (1975), published at the peak of her feminist ’phase’, deconstructs female and feminine stereotypes in order to present the writer’s own views on feminism. It speaks for a generation of women, who struggle to find their place in a male-dominated world, through three protagonists, who are neither happy, nor perfect. Narrated by the character Chloe, the novel revolves around her and her friends, Grace and Marjorie, with an aim at depicting the falsehood and hypocrisy that surround female friendship. It is precisely where Weldon’s specificity as a feminist writer lies: in her rendering the imperfections of women’s characters and relationships. This paper attempts to trace such elements of ‘fayminism’ in Female Friends by resorting to the tools of the feminist critic.