Myth and belief in Margaret Atwood's domestic fiction

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dc.contributor.authorLee, Jerrine Emmaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-14T21:03:06Z
dc.date.available2024-08-14T21:03:06Z
dc.date.copyright1990en_US
dc.date.issued1990
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of English
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractSociety's assumptions about domestic life rely heavily on traditional beliefs that imply "there's no place like home" and that "a woman's place is in the home." Until recently, the presumption has been that home is a safe, nourishing and happy place, and that all women, because of their biological capacity to bear children, are by nature, good mothers and housekeepers. So much of Margaret Atwood's fiction is set in the home where the mirror she holds up to society reflects a domestic life that challenges these popular misconceptions. Atwood's fiction reveals that home can be a dangerous place, that it frequently fails to provide physical or psychological nourishment, and that "happily ever after" endings are not assured. It also demonstrates that all women are not "natural" mothers and housekeepers. This study examines Atwood's use of classical mythology, fairy tale, and realism to challenge traditional ideas about home as a place and about woman's place in society. Close readings of The Edible Woman, Lady Oracle and Life Before Man as well as selected stories from two collections, Dancing Girls and Bluebeard's Egg show how Atwood uses revisionary mythopoesis and realistic details to create both settings and characters which undercut the concepts of these two domestic, and largely patriarchal, assumptions. Atwood's evocation of positive female archetypes, her re-vision of classical myth, and her identification of woman's reality show there is power in myth for women and redemption in truth-telling from a woman's point of view. This process which can liberate women has as its ultimate goal the renewal of society. Chapter I addresses the ambiguity of myth by providing definitions applicable to Atwood's fiction and discusses the need for revisionary mythopoesis. Chapter II examines Atwood's response to the popular notion that suggests home is a safe, nourishing and happy place. Chapter III discusses Atwood's challenge to the idea which suggests a woman's place is in the home. Chapter IV explores Atwood's use of classical myth and realism in the modern heroine's quest for rebirth in Life Before.
dc.format.extent118 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/18614
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleMyth and belief in Margaret Atwood's domestic fictionen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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