Kingston in The Woman Warrior is largely figuring out what it means for her to be a Chinese American women by way of considering the lives of great Chinese women before her: her nameless aunt, her mom Brave Orchid, the warrior Fa Mu Lan, her aunt Moon Orchid, and Ts'ai Yen. This is a coming-of-age story and a memoir of girlhood. Issues involving motherhood, daughterhood, sisterhood, child-rearing , child-bearing, wifehood, and patriarchy are explored.
Questions About Women and Femininity
- What is the effect of Kingston's incorporation of Chinese myths involving women?
- What is the effect of Kingston's fascination with her mother's stories?
- What is the effect of the focus on women in the author's life in these stories?
- How does Kingston's relationship to her womanhood shift through the stories?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Maxine Hong Kingston's focus on women in her life in The Woman Warrior offers a heterogeneous rendering of Chinese women.
Maxine Hong Kingston's focus on women in her life in The Woman Warrior works within stereotypes about Chinese women and thereby reinforces those stereotypes.