A Female Resistance in St. Aubyn’s Mother’s Milk and At Last

Abstract

This research examines St Aubyn’s Mother’s Milk (2006) and At Last (2012) from the perspective of the feminist subjectivity and agency against the patriarchal notion. For this, the major female characters like Eleanor and Mary have strongly opposed the patriarchal figure like Patrick. This Dissertation raises the questions like, “Why does Eleanor disinherit Patrick from the family property and Mary does not keep sexual relationship with Patrick”? In addition, “Why does St. Aubyn present Patrick’s conflict with his mother and his conception of Mary as sex partner only throughout the whole novel? The implication is that, St Aubyn presents the patriarchal norms and ideologies of the male dominated society, which forms the gender roles as feminine, masculine and male-female relationship. He wants to depict the subordination of female through the male ideologies in the family and society. Eleanor’s act of disinheritance and Mary’s avoidance of sex with Patrick is the resistance of male subordination. They strongly resist male ideologies, roles and agency given by males in the society.