Year of Award
2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
English (Literature)
Department or School/College
Department of English
Committee Chair
Louise Economides
Commitee Members
Sara Hayden, David Moore
Keywords
animal studies, post-structuralism, ecofeminism, Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter
Subject Categories
Other English Language and Literature | Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Abstract
This project is an analysis of the utilization of mythmaking and human-animal relationships reflected in Angela Carter’s “The Tiger’s Bride” and Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing. Carter and Atwood show how societal restrictions can devalue the connections between the body, the mind, and the natural world. Through the theoretical lenses of primarily post-structuralism and ecofeminism, this project seeks to show how these two authors subvert isolated female identities through the use of the fairy tale element of the human-animal transformation. This subversion rejects dualistic tendencies of the dominant, patriarchal society, opening new ways of identifying the self through interconnections otherwise rejected or ignored out of the fear of encountering otherness. The formation of relational selves encourages both the communication with entities beyond the human realm and also the engagement in creative deconstruction that helps establish fluidity. Through their innovative uses of language, Carter and Atwood portray a movement away from normative society towards an ambiguity that promotes diversified multiplicity.
Recommended Citation
Laskoski, Sara M., "Morphing Myths and Shedding Skins: Interconnectivity and the Subversion of the Isolated Female Self in Angela Carter’s “The Tiger’s Bride” and Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing" (2015). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 4486.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/4486
Included in
Other English Language and Literature Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons
© Copyright 2015 Sara M. Laskoski