The Future of Motherhood: The Portrayal of Women and Mothers in Dystopian and Utopian Literature
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2017-07-10
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en
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The aim of this bachelor thesis is to contribute to research on women’s science fiction novels within gender studies, by examining the use of the dystopian and utopian genre in criticizing the traditional role of women in society. For this research, a close reading and analysis of Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale will be conducted with focus on the portrayal of women, especially in regard to how motherhood is present in the worlds created. For the purpose of this research, Piercy’s world is accepted as a utopia, while in contrast Atwood’s world is analysed as a dystopia. This thesis will argue that Piercy criticises the traditional role of women by challenging the gender binary in her novel. She achieves this by creating a utopian society with technology that enables both men and women to become mothers. It will also be argued that Atwood’s narrative is critical of the traditional role of women by objectifying the female characters, and specifically the Handmaids, in its dystopian society. This is accomplished by making Handmaids commodities, who are only valued for their wombs
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Faculteit der Letteren