ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book looks at the ways in which characters' behavior and plot events are influenced by the socioeconomic conditions of the time and place in which the characters live. It explores how feminist theory asks us to look at the ways in which traditional gender roles, which cast men as naturally dominant and women as naturally submissive, affect characters' behavior and plot events. The book examines the ways in which literary works reveal human sexuality as a complex phenomenon that cannot be fully understood in terms of what is defined as heterosexual experience. It explores the ways in which literature offers us a view of human experience as the product of a combination of cultural factors, including race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural beliefs and customs.
