Monstrous Silhouette: The Development of the Female Monster in British Literature

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dc.contributor.advisorCourtney, Lee
dc.creatorWoodworth, Savannah J.
dc.date.accessioned2017-07-31T20:02:19Z
dc.date.available2017-07-31T20:02:19Z
dc.date.created2017-08
dc.date.issued2017-07-11
dc.date.submittedAugust 2017
dc.date.updated2017-07-31T20:04:27Z
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis, I analyze the effects of social, political, and economic change and the historical effects of said change on the literary representations of female monsters as portrayed by male authors in medieval and Victorian literature. To contextualize the literature selected, each chapter involves extensive research which I argue influenced the presentation of the characters selected. Each chapter also includes extensive textual analysis to show direct examples in the text relating to the historical context, followed by a section tying the ideology of the thesis with the context provided in the historical and textual analysis sections. The purpose of this analysis is to demonstrate the repercussions of social change on the social standings of women and the manifestation of those changes within literature as a form of expression for the conflicting representations of the nature of femininity and the anxieties of the male writers in these moments of upheaval. At the beginning of this analysis, there was some expectation for a direct correlation between masculine anxieties and increases in female independence resulting in wholly negative portrayals of women, resulting on monstrous images; however, each character, despite their clearly monstrous traits, was nuanced in a way that was frequently empathetic, particularly when placed within the historical context of social change.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/2242
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectMedieval
dc.subjectMedieval literature
dc.subjectMiddle Ages
dc.subjectVictorian literature
dc.subjectVictorian England
dc.subjectFeminism
dc.subjectmedieval England
dc.subjectFeminist theory
dc.subjectMonster
dc.subjectMonster theory
dc.subjectRedundancy and emigration
dc.subjectThe woman question
dc.subjectNew woman
dc.subjectAngel of the house
dc.subjectChristianity
dc.subjectPaganism
dc.subjectThe black death
dc.subjectPlague
dc.subjectWidows
dc.subjectEmigration debate
dc.subjectRedundancy issue
dc.titleMonstrous Silhouette: The Development of the Female Monster in British Literature
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.departmentEnglish
thesis.degree.grantorSam Houston State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts

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