Women’s Agency and the Gothic Tradition: Subverting Staid Representations of Gender. A Case Study: The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

Abstract

This dissertation adhered to examine women's agency and performativity within the patriarchal system in Angela Carter’s The Magic Toyshop (1967). Angela Carter’s works have long been related to the themes of feminism. The writer did not solely described the struggle of women in patriarchal society, she also explained the oppressed capacity to find agency within oppression. Firstly, this research will examine the woman struggle to control her identity and autonomy against a vicious patriarch, which is a frequent theme in various classic and contemporary gothic narratives. Secondly, it will analyze the gender performativity and the different elements that influenced the process of agency. Finally, through fictional characters, Angela Carter concentrated on the male oppression that eliminated women from positions of power, and how they found a way to use this elimination advantageously, to gain agency and autonomy and retrieve their identity back.