This study explores the portrayal of women\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s agency and resistance to gender roles in Sylvia Plath\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s The Bell Jar (1963) and Donald Barthelme\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Snow White (1967), set in 1950s and 1960s America. Using Judith Butler\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s theory of gender performativity, the study focuses on how Esther Greenwood and Snow White react to societal gender scripts and assert self-agency through nonconforming performative acts. In The Bell Jar, Esther struggles with the conservative gender norms of the 1950s, where women were primarily valued as homemakers and caretakers. Esther’s inner conflict, resulting from the rigid demands of femininity, depicts a fragmented journey toward self-agency. Despite this, her gradual defiance shows her developing agency. In contrast, Barthelme’s Snow White inhabits the more liberal and sexually permissive environment of the 1960s. Unlike Esther, Snow White uses humor and parody to subvert traditional female roles. Her agency lies in subverting passive femininity through assertive self-expression. This comparison shows a shift between the two decades in how women navigated gender norms. Esther’s small acts of defiance contrast Snow White’s active resistance through subversive and parodic performance. This article discusses the development of gender performativity in the socio-cultural contexts of the 1950s and 1960s and highlights a broader shift in feminist thought

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