https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.076
The New Monster-Woman: Centrality of the Transformative ‘Monster’ in Chlorine, The Vegetarian, and Nightbitch
ADRITA CHOUDHURY
Independent Researcher, India
Email ID: adrita.choudhury23@gmail.com
ANANYA MADHUSOODANAN K
Independent Researcher, India
Email ID: amk.wren@gmail.com
Abstract: In English, Greek, and Roman mythology, the monster existed in the margins of society, forever a threat and the Other, destined to be defeated by a ‘heroic’ man. In a gendered binary, this historical imagination of man as ‘hero’ demanded the existence of woman as either the ‘victim’ or the ‘monster’. The human-woman existed to be saved, and the monster-woman was made to be killed or conquered. Through a contextual reading of Chlorine, Nightbitch, and The Vegetarian, this paper aims to explore the transformation of the monster-woman as the ‘hero’ of her own text, and the contradictory nature of that role. In traditional stories, the monster already exists at the beginning, a creature of fear and repression lurking in the margins of the narrative. In contrast, in these three works, the monster is created progressively through the anxieties of the protagonists. This paper examines how the contemporary monster-woman and her transformation is central to the narrative; she yearns to escape patriarchal society and surpass the restrictions imposed upon the female and human body by achieving ‘monsterhood’. The paper highlights the fractured personhood of the three main characters in the selected works: Ren, Mother, and Yeonghye, and how that necessitates the transformation of their respective ‘monstrous’ and hybrid bodies. This paper traces the links between monster and woman in ‘Western’ mythology and literature, from Beowulf and Homer to Jean Rhys. Finally, through a comparative and historical analysis, the three contemporary works are used to highlight the shift in the position and depiction of the monster-woman. This shift is also influenced by the blurring of boundaries between ‘man’ and ‘creature’ in posthumanist thought. The paper compares the monster-woman of yore, condemned by society, to the monster-woman of today, condemning society.
Keywords: Monster Theory, Abject, Hybridity, Monster-Woman, Comparative Literature, Body Politics, Feminist Literary Criticism
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