The Poisons of Patriarchy: Breaking the Pattern of Female Trauma and Myth in A Thousand Acres — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Poisons of Patriarchy: Breaking the Pattern of Female Trauma and Myth in A Thousand Acres

Name: Isabella Norante
Major: English & Graphic Design
Hometown: Wind Lake
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

This thesis explores Jane Smiley’s revision and reclamation of female archetypes in her novel A Thousand Acres, a contemporary adaptation of King Lear. The novel explores the opposing myths of female trauma and female monstrosity, which have been used throughout the literary tradition to define narratives about women. Smiley shows that women have had little sayin the portrayal of their narratives, recognizing the way women’s experience is subordinated to the male perspective in King Lear. Smiley revises and reclaims the narrative of Lear’s cruel daughter Goneril through Ginny Cook, who must encounter and overcome the trauma of sexual abuse and the restriction of myth imposed on her by patriarchy. This thesis explores the reclamation by using Freud’s early ideas on trauma and considering them in conjunction withSimone de Beauvoir’s critique of the destructive power of myth of woman. In contrast to Goneril, who inflicts trauma and is given a simple role to follow, Ginny reclaims the female narrative by functioning as a combination of complex female archetypes and emerging with her own unique ending; Ginny is the sole character in A Thousand Acres to break from the trauma and myths imposed on her and define her own story.