Beyond the Social: A New Perspective on Character Analysis through Evolutionary Psychology

Character Analysis through Evolutionary Psychology

Abstract

This study explores how evolutionary psychology can offer a complementary perspective on character analysis, especially for feminist literary criticism, in American literature. Feminist criticism provides a valuable framework for understanding how gender roles and patriarchal structures shape literary texts, often interpreting character behavior through social and cultural norms. However, evolutionary psychology provides the opportunity to evaluate characters' decisions and relationships from a broader perspective, through biologically based instincts such as mate selection, status seeking, sexual competition, and parental investment. This article analyzes F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper” through the lens of evolutionary psychology, primarily drawing on David M. Buss's Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. The Great Gatsby is examined through Gatsby's and Daisy's mate selection and competition between men; the psychological disintegration of the female protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is addressed not only within the framework of patriarchy but also evolutionarily derived vulnerabilities. This article challenges biases against evolutionary psychology, bridges it with feminist theory, and offers a multi-layered approach to character analysis, proposing evolutionary psychology as an alternative tool for literary studies.

Keywords: Evolutionary Psychology; American Literature; Feminist Criticism; Character Analysis; Literary Analysis