This paper1 reevaluates the portrayal of Mrs. Gant in William Faulkner＇s short story ＂Miss Zilphia Gant＂ （1932）. It argues that Faulkner represents her as ＂the mother as a monster＂ and looks at the features of ...This paper1 reevaluates the portrayal of Mrs. Gant in William Faulkner＇s short story ＂Miss Zilphia Gant＂ （1932）. It argues that Faulkner represents her as ＂the mother as a monster＂ and looks at the features of that representation. More specifically, the paper devotes attention to this abusive mother＇s curious masculinity, employing feminist readings from two angles. That is, on the one hand, the paper reexamines the nature of Mrs. Gant＇s unfemininity by considering the immense responsibility of child-rearing that mothers bear in modern societies. On the other hand, it attempts to locate the origin of her bodily manliness by considering the prism of images of women as evil and destabilizing that pervaded Western culture early in the twentieth century. Such approaches have revealed that making a monster of a mother requires a conspiracy taking advantage of both the inconsistencies inherent in the ideals of motherhood and the bizarre processes through which femininity itself is masculinized. In conclusion, this paper argues that Mrs. Gant＇s monstrosity is a reflection of a predicament which many women in modern times whether Faulkner＇s or our own share, that is, being expected to be a perfect mother while still being viciously castigated as sexually threatening.展开更多
文摘This paper1 reevaluates the portrayal of Mrs. Gant in William Faulkner＇s short story ＂Miss Zilphia Gant＂ （1932）. It argues that Faulkner represents her as ＂the mother as a monster＂ and looks at the features of that representation. More specifically, the paper devotes attention to this abusive mother＇s curious masculinity, employing feminist readings from two angles. That is, on the one hand, the paper reexamines the nature of Mrs. Gant＇s unfemininity by considering the immense responsibility of child-rearing that mothers bear in modern societies. On the other hand, it attempts to locate the origin of her bodily manliness by considering the prism of images of women as evil and destabilizing that pervaded Western culture early in the twentieth century. Such approaches have revealed that making a monster of a mother requires a conspiracy taking advantage of both the inconsistencies inherent in the ideals of motherhood and the bizarre processes through which femininity itself is masculinized. In conclusion, this paper argues that Mrs. Gant＇s monstrosity is a reflection of a predicament which many women in modern times whether Faulkner＇s or our own share, that is, being expected to be a perfect mother while still being viciously castigated as sexually threatening.
