Monstrous Women : The Use of the Magical Realist Mode in Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride and “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth” from the Perspective of Feminist Literary Criticism

Abstract

Margaret Atwood is commonly known for her intertextual parodies that blend fairy tales, magical events and mythical characters with settings that mirror existing realities. In this thesis, I examine the undeniable connection between magical realism and feminist criticism in Atwood’s novel The Robber Bride (1993) and the short story “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth” (2012). I study how magical realism is used to produce a feminist narrative that critiques patriarchy in the chosen primary material. Magical realism is an important literary mode that can be applied to disrupt patriarchal narratives and highlight issues in actual patriarchies. The narrative mode of magical realism creates spaces for marginalised voices that challenge existing patriarchal narratives and ideologies by blending magical events and characters with realistic settings. I base my analysis on feminist theories by Judith Butler and theories on magical realism by Theo D’haen, Christopher Warnes, Kim Anderson Sasser, and Wendy B. Faris. In my analysis I examine three magical figures, the vampire, the femme fatale, and the cannibal Robber Bride, who appear throughout the texts in the images of the texts’ antagonist Zenia. Through the magical realist narratives of Tony, Charis, and Roz, Zenia occurs as a monstrous woman who inevitably exposes the deviant nature of all human beings. I conclude that the magical realist mode in The Robber Bride and “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth” produces a feminist narrative that critiques both patriarchal ideologies and some branches of feminism. Thus, in this thesis magical realism proves to be a powerful mode for marginal voices, including women.