Gender Role as Performance in Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve
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Abstract
The thesis is an analysis on Angela Carter‟s novel, The Passion of New Eve
based on the idea of gender role as performance. This research focusedon social
construction of power, femininity and gender roles corresponding between sex and
gender. It questions the patriarchal power structure that shapes the individual‟s
identities. The characters show the gender roles assigned to them through symbolism,
dualism, religion, psychoanalysis, and reference to mythology. There are female
characters who represent femininity based on patriarchal notions. Using the Judith
Butler‟s theory where everyday action, speech utterances, gestures and
representations, dress codes and behaviors as well as certain prohibitions and taboos
all work to produce what perceived as an essential masculine of feminine identity. I
have analyzed characters investigating how the main character‟s gender identity is a
construct. The presentation of a subversive performance of gender examinedthrough
the idea of symbolic power of Phallus. The reversal of gender role is evident as
women are in power by representing them strong and aggressive. The characters‟
gender roles are deconstructed and their individuality put to question in relation to
their assigned role in the novel. The analysis of Carter‟s work demonstrates that she
is against the imposition of gender roles and identities by patriarchal societies. It
reflects the contemporary view of gender and sexuality as construct.