My thesis examines four popular romance novels from the 1970s to 2010s: The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss, Temptation's Kiss by Sandra Brown, Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, and A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole. My thesis questions, "Are romance novels feminist?" Through interdisciplinary textual analysis--fat studies, disability studies, women's studies, and more were considered--my thesis argues that all five novels elucidate feminist themes. However, only one text, A Princess in Theory, succeeds as a feminist text. My thesis argues that popular romance novels have greatly improved since the 1970s, but more intentional work in diversifying the genre and the publishing process must be done for the genre to fully realize its feminist potential.
Here's the abstract: