True Love as Possession: Ashputtle (Carter, 1987), Lady Oracle (Atwood, 1976), The Greatcoat (Dunmore, 2012), The Glass Bottle Trick (Hopkinson, 2000)

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceedingBook chapter

Abstract

This chapter looks at possession, at Cinderella and Bluebeard influences. Possession lies at the heart of the ghost’s role in an economy of romance and domesticity which values, seduces, deludes, constrains, and sometimes destroys women. Women become possessed by compelling but ultimately destructive narratives—Cinderella marrying the prince (‘Ashputtle’; Lady Oracle). which turns into a Bluebeard story of lies and destruction (The Greatcoat, ‘The Glass Bottle Trick’), leaving them as only possessions, only possessed, or utterly dispossessed victims. Women are haunted by, written through by their predecessors and by the controlling narratives of romance, true love, performance, beauty, maternity, domesticity. In the texts considered here, versions of these narratives are perpetuated by friends and family members, such as great aunts who ghost-write through their female relatives, mothers, some of whom are themselves ghosts, and by popular media, romance novels, by film.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationContemporary Women's Ghost Stories
Place of PublicationSwitzerland
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages101-124
Number of pages24
ISBN (Electronic)9783030890544
ISBN (Print)9783030890537
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jun 2022

Publication series

NamePalgrave Gothic
ISSN (Print)2634-6214
ISSN (Electronic)2634-6222

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Literature and Literary Theory
  • Visual Arts and Performing Arts
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Cultural Studies

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'True Love as Possession: Ashputtle (Carter, 1987), Lady Oracle (Atwood, 1976), The Greatcoat (Dunmore, 2012), The Glass Bottle Trick (Hopkinson, 2000)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this