Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye is a novel that certainly covers plenty of discourses and touches several genres. At the head of all it can well be considered to be a bildungs- or künstlerroman in the guise of the fictive autobiography. Many critics have pointed out that it is one of Atwood most personal novels, a piece that undoubtedly turns “the tables on their own kind”1, that has many autobiographical features. But that will not be the concern in my following reflections which will rather deal with the gothic elements of the novel. My readers may argue that it is rather Atwood’s Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin and Alias Grace that are obliged to the gothic theme.2 But it is actually Cat’s Eye that offers the vast range of gothic elements that correspond to each other and to the various levels of representation the novel offers. I regard it as necessary to deliver a short definition of the gothic novel in the first place. However, I want to point out that I do not see Cat’s Eye just in the dark illumination of the gothic. I rather pick up and explain different gothic gatherings and “gothic games” Atwood plays with the reader than devote my analysis to the issue completely.
Table of Contents
I Introduction
II A Short Definition of the Gothic Novel
III Representation I
III.1. Representing Elaine’s Dreams
III.1.1. The Dream of the Deadly Nightshade
III.1.2. The Dream of the Falling Woman
III.2. Representing Art and Media
III.2.1. Representing Film
III.2.1.1. Elaine as Artwork
III.2.1.2. The Notion of the Past
III.2.2. Representing Comic
III.2.2.1. Mirror-situations I
III.2.2.2.The Divided Face
III.2.3. Representing Fictive Feminist Works of Art
III.2.3.1.Store Mannequins and Dolls
III.2.4. Representing Non-Fictive Art
III.2.4.1. Mirror-situations II
III.2.4.2. The Notion of Rivalry
III.2.4.3. Elaine as Vampire
III.2.5. Representing Elaine’s Paintings
III.2.5.1 Cat’s Eye
III.2.5.1.2. The Three and Shakespeare
III.2.5.2 Unified Field Theory
III.2.5.2.1. Gothic Places I: The Cemetery
III.2.5.2.2. The Gothic Paradox
III.2.5.2.3. The Converted Virgin Mary
IV Representation II
IV.1. Representing Art and Media: Elaine as Artist
IV.1.1. Creating as Revenge
IV.1.3. Gothic Places II: The Madhouse
IV.1.4. The Notion of Decay
IV.1.5. The Gap of the Grave
IV.1.6. The Gap of the Ravine
V Gothic Post Modernity
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The academic paper investigates the presence and function of Gothic elements within Margaret Atwood’s novel "Cat’s Eye". It explores how the protagonist, Elaine Risley, utilizes art and various media to process traumatic experiences, effectively arguing that Atwood employs a sophisticated network of Gothic tropes to construct a narrative of self-individuation and revenge.
- The role of the "Gothic" as a structural principle in Atwood's narrative.
- The relationship between art, memory, and personal identity.
- The use of mirror-motifs and doubling to represent fractured selfhood.
- The connection between childhood trauma and the "Gothic" landscape of the past.
- The intersection of feminist art, decay, and the supernatural.
Excerpt from the Book
III.2.2.1. Mirror-situations I
Interestingly enough the passage again shows a mirror-situation, a situation which is comparable to the elevator-situation, where Elaine’s reflection tells her that she is a creation of Joseph. A mirror occurring in a text is of certain significance. On the one hand, the reflection in the mirror symbolizes Cordelia, i.e. when Elaine regards her reflection in the mirror and imagines half of her face burned, she sees the ugly sister of the comic that possesses the pretty one- Cordelia. One could say that the mirror is the medium for Cordelia’s possession of Elaine, symbolizes Codelia herself. The plot of the sister comic intensifies this notion of Cordelia being the mirror, when “her spirit goes into the mirror, and the next time the pretty one is brushing her hair in front of that mirror, she looks up and there’s the burned one looking back at her. So actually there are two mirrors, one within the plot of the comic and one within the plot of the novel. The two medial levels, the level of the comic and the level of the novel itself again get connected to each other by the mirror-motive.
Victor Sage in Horror Fiction in the Protestant Tradition mentions R.D. Laing who in The Divided Self quotes Freud’s famous case of the small boy, “who discovered, when his mother was out, how to make himself vanish by crouching down in front of a full length mirror.” In this situation a “self-division” is taking place where one part of the self is severed and enters the mirror and the other remains outside. Like the small boy, Elaine is aware of the possibility that a part could be separated from her.
Summary of Chapters
I Introduction: Establishes the aim of the paper to analyze the Gothic elements in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye and provides a brief justification for the chosen theoretical lens.
II A Short Definition of the Gothic Novel: Defines the historical and literary roots of the Gothic genre, focusing on its preoccupation with decay, extreme emotions, and the sublime.
III Representation I: Explores how Gothic themes are expressed through Elaine’s dreams, film references, comic books, and feminist art installations.
IV Representation II: Examines Elaine’s role as an artist and how her creative output serves as a means of seeking revenge and healing childhood trauma.
V Gothic Post Modernity: Synthesizes the analysis by discussing how Atwood blends Gothic traditions with post-modern themes of recycling history and the persistence of death.
Keywords
Margaret Atwood, Cat’s Eye, Gothic novel, trauma, identity, art, mirror-motif, doubling, Cordelia, femininity, surrealism, post-modernity, memory, revenge, representation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this paper?
The paper examines how Margaret Atwood integrates Gothic tropes and motifs into the narrative of Cat’s Eye to depict the protagonist's struggle with identity and trauma.
Which thematic fields are central to the analysis?
The central themes include the psychological effects of childhood bullying, the construction of the self through art, and the metaphoric usage of Gothic horror elements to represent female experience.
What is the primary goal of the author?
The goal is to demonstrate that Cat’s Eye is not just a personal autobiography, but a complex work that uses Gothic structures—such as haunting and mirrors—to explore the narrator's past.
Which academic methodology is employed?
The paper uses a literary analysis methodology, referencing psychoanalytic theories (Lacan, Freud) and historical definitions of the Gothic genre to interpret the novel's symbolism.
What is discussed in the main body of the work?
The main body focuses on "Representation I" and "Representation II," analyzing specific media like comics, film, paintings, and the architectural "un-space" of the cemetery/ravine.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Key terms include Gothic literature, doubling, Elaine Risley, trauma, artistic expression, and mirror-motifs.
How does the author interpret the "mirror-situations" in the novel?
The author views mirrors as instruments of rivalry and self-division, where reflections represent the "dark double" or "sinister twin," specifically linking the protagonist Elaine to her antagonist Cordelia.
Why is the "ravine" considered a crucial space in the novel?
The ravine is identified as a structural "gap" or "nothingness," representing the point where Elaine's childhood power games reached a climax and where the threat of death became existential.
- Quote paper
- Maria Blau (Author), 2005, Gothic glimpses in Margaret Atwood's "Cat's Eye" or representations of art and media and mysterious twin ship, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/57770
