Feminist literary criticism analyzes literature through a feminist lens, aiming to expose narratives of male domination by examining economic, social, political, and psychological forces embedded within texts, thereby transforming how literary works are viewed and expanding the literary canon. Historically, its roots trace back to 19th-century female authors like George Eliot, with "first and second waves" before the 1970s focusing on women's authorship and representation. By the 1980s, goals articulated by Lisa Tuttle included developing a female writing tradition, reinterpreting women's symbolism, and resisting inherent sexism in mainstream literature.

A core concern is the historical exclusion of women from the literary canon, with scholars identifying methods like "Feminine Critique" to uncover implicit misogyny in story structures. Another significant approach, "gynocriticism"—introduced by Elaine Showalter during second-wave feminism—focuses on discovering and analyzing a distinct female perspective within women's writing. More recently, feminist literary criticism has expanded to intersect with queer studies, broadening its scope to understand the representation of both women and queer individuals and complicating assumptions about gender politics through diverse identity analyses.