Major Issues
Author Links
Essay Questions

Major Issues

Realism, fable, satire, experimental postmodernism, and science fiction: Doris Lessing has tried her hand and found success in all these modes of fiction, and in combining them. Reviewers and critics have noted her ongoing exploration of power relations between races, classes, and the sexes. Feminist readers and scholars have applauded her critique of the limiting roles that are imposed on women by their families and societies. Other critics have observed her fascination with disintegration and breakdown, of both individuals and larger communities. Lessing creates both convincingly realistic external landscapes and intriguing inner mindscapes. Her postmodern writing has been compared with that of Angela Carter.

Author Links

Doris Lessing: A Retrospective
This excellent site includes a biography, bibliography, interviews, audio, four decades of portraits, and more.

Featured Author: Doris Lessing
Reviews of Lessing’s books, plus articles by and about Lessing from the archives of The New York Times. (Please note that you may need to register to the NY Times website before you can view this page.)

A Notorious Life
A 1997 "Salon" interview in which Lessing talks about communism, political correctness, and the sexual revolution.

Online Literary Criticism Collection
This page will connect you with five interviews with Lessing which you can read online, plus a number of other sites.

Similarities Between Virginia Woolf and Doris Lessing
This scholarly essay compares Woolf’s and Lessing’s distrustful fascination with memory.