KURS ISHI

INTRODUCTION According to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the number of female students enrolled in higher education institutions increased by 18.5% between 2020 and 2023, reaching over 450,000 in the current academic year [1]. Simultaneously, the global market for feminist literature and academic works related to gender studies has seen a remarkable growth, with projections indicating a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7% from 2022 to 2027, reaching an estimated value of $2.3 billion by 2027 [2]. Despite these encouraging trends and the increased participation of women in educational and professional spheres, subtle and overt forms of gender-based discrimination persist, particularly within cultural narratives and historical interpretations, necessitating ongoing critical examination. In Uzbekistan, while significant strides have been made in legislative frameworks to protect women’s rights, such as the Law "On Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women and Men" adopted in 2019, the effective implementation and societal internalization of these principles remain an ongoing challenge [3]. Many traditional literary analyses often overlook or downplay the proto-feminist undercurrents within classic novels, thereby perpetuating a limited understanding of historical struggles for gender equality and diminishing the agency of female characters. This oversight contributes to a gap in public discourse regarding the historical roots of contemporary gender issues, making it imperative to re-examine foundational literary works through a feminist lens to uncover their latent messages and contributions to gender discourse. Elaine Showalter’s groundbreaking work (1977) introduced the concept of "gynocriticism," analyzing women’s writing and women’s literary tradition, thereby offering a framework for understanding female authorship and experience in literature [4]. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar (1979), in their seminal work "The Madwoman in the Attic," explored how patriarchal societal structures confine female characters in 19th-century literature, identifying common themes of rebellion and repression in authors like the Brontës and Austen, specifically demonstrating how women writers coded their resistance into their narratives [5]. Judith Butler (1990) revolutionized gender theory by introduc ...