Critical Paper #2 and Important Message for Wednesday

Katharyn Stober, a job candidate from the University of North Texas, will be visiting our class on Wednesday as part of her inteview process.  She asks that all students bring the 4 main books for class--Poe, James, Stoker, and Jackson--to class for a group activity.  Please come since this is a valuable chance for us to see a potential colleague at work, and for you, to see a potential professor before you get her in class.  I look forward to her visit and hope you will join me in extending her a warm welcome to our cozy, yet decidedly Gothic, class. 

For FRIDAY: I will give you a handout from Woolf's A Room of One's Own.  If you miss class you can find copies in the box on my door.  There are no questions for Friday, but this is an important essay to read which will undoubtedly help you on your Critical Paper #2 (see below).  See you then! 

Critical Paper #2: Gothic Women

"No stone lions for me, she thought, no oleanders; I have broken the spell of Hill House and somehow come inside.  I am home, she thought, and stopped in wonder at the thought.  I am home, I am home, she thought"

The Gothic movement was largely started by women writers writing about women: women trapped in castles by lecherous dukes, unearthing forbidden secrets, or in the case of Jane Austen's heroine, Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey), seeing the entire world through Gothic spectacles.  Through the abstract lens of the supernatural, Gothic Literature allowed women to focus on who women were and how identity was shaped not only by a patriarchal society, but by the books women read and the ideas they shared in private.  Both Dracula and The Haunting of Hill House document these very ideas, as Mina writes letters to Lucy and confides personal thoughts to her diary, or as Eleanor forms an intimate--if uncanny--friendship with Theodora, as well as the 'story' she writes at Hill House.  Each work becomes a meditation on how women find themselves in the horrors of society, when the vampires and haunted houses are often more inviting than the freedoms offered by husbands and lovers. 

Focusing on these 'gothic women,' write a paper that examines one of the following topics:

·         Women and Madness: how madness is defined in a male world, and how often the 'madwomen' are simply breaking taboos and/or refusing to be good little girls (as Woolf reminds us, every would-be Shakespeare was probably sent to an asylum)

·         The New Woman: how the women (esp. Mina and Lucy) are redefining their class and role in society; we see this, too, with Theodora, who lives with her "friend," Eleanor, who makes a decisive break with her mother/sister's ideals, and Mrs. Montague, who clearly has her husband in check (and seems to have a curious relationship with Arthur!)

·         Women as Authors: how Mina truly writes the book of Dracula (Lucy also contributes a chapter or two), and how Eleanor writes her own story--and perhaps the story of The Haunting of Hill House itself.

·         Women and Taboo: how being a woman, itself, is somewhat taboo in Victorian and 1950's America, and how these taboos are addressed and overcome in the novels.  Why might the very performance of gender strike an uncanny note for Stoker and Jackson's readers? 

·         Stoker and Jackson: how each one envisions their women, and if one performance is more authentic than another.  Can Stoker truly see women as Jackson does?  Or is Jackson too close to her subject--writing like a 'woman' (see Woolf's A Room of One's Own)? 

REQUIREMENTS

·         You must use both works (Dracula and Hill House) in your paper, supporting your reading with close readings from both.

·         You must use Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction as a substantial source--not just one superficial quote.  It should help you form the basis of your theoretical reading.

·         You should also use 2-3 secondary sources, either from any of the supplemental material in Dracula or even The Turn of of the Screw, or from the Freud and Woolf handouts, or other articles found through JSTOR or books in our library.

·         At least 5-6 pages double spaced

·         DUE ON OUR FINAL EXAM DAY: Monday, May 7^th by Midnight