What and Why They Are: A Peep into Feminism is about the life and works of four lady intellectuals who dared to communicate their feelings about the fate of womanhood in the world dominated by men. These authors are Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Kate Millet, and Elaine Showalter. A critical analysis and thought provoking expressions that revolved around the irony of women's situation in the contemporary society and challenged several traditional beliefs and societal norms about a woman in their respective settings were pieced together in the works of these authors. The book endeavours to provide an insight into the works of these authors by critically reviewing them in order to trace out feminist appeal in their avant-garde writings that appears in 'A Room of One's Own', 'Three Guineas', 'The Second Sex', 'Sexual Politics' and 'A Literature of Their Own'. As well the book looks at the works of these authors in the context of their lives and discusses the biographical factors that may have played an active part in shaping their sensibility as feminists. The book has also made attempts to assess the authors' respective positions in the realm of feminism that indicates the evolution of critical thoughts in their respective works parallel to the range of other thoughts .