Insight on Necrophilia
(1999)
The author Barbara Gowdy has succeeded in “We so Seldom Look on Love'; to arouse our curiosity through a romanticized depiction of what most would consider a sin, necrophilia. It is most probable that society in the nineteen fifties influenced the style and choice of characters to explore such delicate and obscure behavior. Barbara Gowdy proved herself to be very clever by opening a passage through the soul of a young woman, in order to humanize the inexplicable lust for dead flesh.
What better way to translate imagination in its purest form than through the soul of a young women: “When you die and your earthly self begins turning into your disintegrated self, you radiate an intense current of energy.'; (p. 1) Certainly the author wishes to offer an approach to necrophilia that defies the reader’s expectations. The idea that such a disturbing behaviour can evolve in the heart and body of a girl at such a young age, can alter the reader’s preconception on the necrophiliac’s physical and emotional profile: “Necrophiles aren’t suppose to be blond and pretty, let alone female.'; (p. 4) With this statement, Barbara Gowdy reinforces the contrast of the story versus the judgement of her society in the fifties.
When the author decided to explore a controversial matter of sexual nature, such as necrophilia, she made a thoughtful decision by choosing ...
... die, innocence and good is corrupted and there is a connection to sexuality. Both novels create an aspect of mystery for the reader of the 19th century. Stoker’s portrayal of a creature little known by the English public of the 1890’s would have been of fear inspiring fascination to read about. Though few would have read John Palidori’s vampire novel, more perhaps would have heard the tale of Vlad the Impaler. He was a man who supposedly drank human blood or the blood of his war victims, and was in fact a ‘Dracule’. This basis in reality would add a sadistic interest to the novel. Wilde’s novel, though equally inexplicable, doesn’t create the same feeling of terror, but does raise a number of reservations in its reader.
Throughout Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck learns a variety of life lessons and improves as a person. Huck goes through a maturing process much different than most, he betters a conscience and begins to feel for humanity versus society. His trip down the river can be seen as a passage into manhood, where his character changes as he can relate with the river and nature.
Bentley, Greg W. Sammy's Erotic Experience: Subjectivity and Sexual Difference in John Updikes "A&P". N.p.: n.p., 2004. N. pag.
...ays a sense of maturity. In addition to this, Huck was able to create his own morals rather than the ones given to him by society enabling him to conceive his own identity.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula illustrated fears about sexual women in contrast to the woman who respected and abided by society’s sexual norms. Joseph Sheridan LeFanu’s “Carmilla” represented not only the fear of feminine sexuality, but also the fear of sexuality between women. John William Polidori’s “The Vampyre” showed society’s fear of sexuality in terms of the seductive man who could “ruin” a young girl.These texts are representative of vampire stories in the Victorian Era, and will be the focus here.
Conclusively, while Bram Stokers novel Dracula is seen as a gothic and horror story, I argue that it is a novel that seeks to address female sexuality directly. Seen through numerous passages, Stoker confronts and battles the views between sexuality during the Victorian era though his genius of characterization of characters present within the novel. As it seems highly intentional to me, I respect the way in which he criticizes and critiques upon female sexuality by bringing into light new ideas regarding female desires. When contrasting his text upon today’s culture, the differences to how one perceived the vampire has changed significantly.
The writing style of Edgar Allan Poe shows the writer to be of a dark nature. In this story, he focuses on his fascination of being buried alive. He quotes, “To be buried alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these [ghastly] extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality.” page 58 paragraph 3. The dark nature is reflected in this quote, showing the supernatural side of Poe which is reflected in his writing and is also a characteristic of Romanticism. Poe uses much detail, as shown in this passage, “The face assumed the usual pinched and sunken outline. The lips were of the usual marble pallor. The eyes were lusterless. There was no warmth. Pulsation had ceased. For three days the body was preserved unburied, during which it had acquired a stony rigidity.” page 59 paragraph 2. The descriptive nature of this writing paints a vivid picture that intrigues the reader to use their imagination and visualize the scene presented in the text. This use of imagery ties with aspects of Romanticism because of the nature of the descriptions Poe uses. Describing the physical features of one who seems dead is a horrifying perspective as not many people thing about the aspects of death.
...te peoples property. He is told that slaves are simply lesser people than people of the white race. Because it really is what everyone believes, this prejudice is tricky to erase and stays with Huck for a long period time. Soon, Huck starts to realize that this is not true. Jim shows him that although he is a servant, he is a genuine person, not a piece of property. He has emotions, just like Huck himself. Huck continually learns through everyone incident how Jim can be a genuine, caring and beneficial person. Slowly, Huck begins to rethink a few of the prejudice things that he’s been taught most of his childhood life. He becomes his own person by choosing what he knows is right to do, instead of what exactly society says is the right thing to do. This is an example that shows how Huck’s maturity and his capability to think for himself has grown throughout this book.
Through out the entire novel, Huck has grown as a character because of the experiences that he has gone through. Along with society's impact, running away with Jim and trying to save Jim have also changed and impacted Huck's character. Huck's views on slavery have changed due to his experiences with Jim. Although the end of the novel does lead Huck to how he was at the beginning, the reader can still see how much Huck has changed and grown. Huck does not view Jim as property anymore, but as a human being with feelings.
In William Faulkner’s world, what is often portrayed as morbid can also be taken as tongue-in-cheek by the reader, especially when it comes to his most beloved and troubled clan, the Bundren family. Throughout the novel, the Bundrens are beset by numerous, unfortunate burdens on their journey to bury their nine-day-dead mother, most of which find the reader both wincing and giggling at the same time. I will be using the new critical approach for my paper, which treated literary texts as autonomous and divorced from historical context in order to bring the focus of literary studies back to the analysis of the texts. New Critics also intended to exclude the reader's response, the author's intention, cultural and historical frameworks, and moralistic bias from their analysis. Through New Critical analysis, readers can discern how different themes in the work come together to complete the novel as a whole; in this case, the theme of black comedy plays a large role in controlling the otherwise dark moments in the novel, creating a spectrum of emotion that completes the experience of the reader. By implementing humor into the macabre circumstances of the treatment of Addie’s body, Anse using his wife’s funeral for personal gain, and Dewey Dell’s quest for an abortion, Faulkner uses black comedy in order to lighten the theme of death in his Southern Gothic literature.
The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.
Throughout the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character, Huck goes through major changes. The story is set before the Civil War in the South. Huck is a child with an abusive father who kidnaps him from, Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, the people he was living with. He eventually escapes from his father and finds Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. As Huck travels with Jim, Huck begins to realize that Jim is more than a piece of property. During the travel down the river, Huck makes many decisions that reflect his belief that Jim deserves the same rights he has. Because of these realizations, Huck chooses to do the right thing in many instances. Some of these instances where Huck does the right thing instead of society’s version of the right thing include, Huck apologizing to Jim, not turning Jim in, and tearing up the letter he was going to send to Miss Watson.
From the beginning of time in history, women have always been portrayed as and seen as the submissive sex. Women especially during the time period of the 1800s were characterized as passive, disposable, and serving an utilitarian function. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example displaying the depiction of women. The women in Frankenstein represent the treatment of women in the early 1800’s. Shelley’s incorporation of suffering and death of her female characters portrays that in the 1800’s it was acceptable. The women in the novel are treated as property and have minimal rights in comparison to the male characters. The feminist critic would find that in Frankenstein the women characters are treated like second class citizens. The three brutal murders of the innocent women are gothic elements which illustrates that women are inferior in the novel. Mary Shelley, through her novel Frankenstein, was able to give the reader a good sense of women’s role as the submissive sex, through the characters experiences of horrific events including but not limited to brutal murder and degradation, which is illuminated by her personal life experiences and time period of romanticism.
The little fact that Huck forgot is that snakes mates go find their dead mate. “I struck a light, the snake’s mate was there, and bit him,” (Twain 53). Although this is a slight mess up, even heroes have to learn from their mistakes. But to be an archetypal hero you can’t just be good at one thing. Not only is Huck an archetypal hero, he is a crafty hero. Huck knows his way around nature, and when he wants to know what is going on, he figures out a way to do it. Huck and Jim both wonder what is going on, but neither of them can go into town without being recognized. Huck and Jim however, with their crafty selves, look around at what they have and wonder if they couldn’t get Huck dressed up like a girl. “I said I reckoned I would slip over the river and find out what was going on…. Couldn’t I put on some of them old things and dress up like a girl?,” (Twain 54). So Huck goes back into town, and gets taken in by Judith Loftus and gets caught up on what he and Jim have missed. Ironically, the lady talks to Huck about Huck’s death, and how people believe it was Huck’s father that did it. Now Huck’s father, Pap, has a bounty on him, and so does Jim. However, it is not much longer after Huck is
The reading by Barbara Creed titled “Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection”, is an in-depth examination on the role of women in horror films. Creed challenges the commanding patriarchal view, which frequently puts the woman in the position of the helpless victim. She argues that when the feminine is constructed as monstrous, it is frequently done in conjunction with its mothering role and function. Creed’s main thesis supports that the prototype of all cinematic definitions of monstrosity related to the feminine is linked to the woman’s reproductive body. Creed elects to use the term “monstrous feminine” instead of female monster, because for Creed it is the “femininity itself that is monstrous” (41). It has been unfairly