Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone Girl
This article explores two predominant images of Gillian Flynn’s female characters: the monstrous mother and the missing/dead girl. These two representations of Flynn’s female characters showcase the link between female criminality and transgression on the one hand, and the female characters’ traumat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad de Zaragoza
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6853/5909 |
| _version_ | 1828064700072460288 |
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| author | Maysaa Jaber |
| author_facet | Maysaa Jaber |
| author_sort | Maysaa Jaber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article explores two predominant images of Gillian Flynn’s female characters: the monstrous mother and the missing/dead girl. These two representations of Flynn’s female characters showcase the link between female criminality and transgression on the one hand, and the female characters’ traumatic history and family dysfunctionality on the other. This article argues that Flynn’s use of these two tropes reveals the conflicting facets of female crime, victimhood, and agency in her thrillers, and by so doing her work subverts the murky domain of the portrayal of criminal women in relation to motherhood, mental illness and trauma. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:02:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a119ac5c902b4671bf7d18e278afe973 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1137-6368 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:02:37Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Zaragoza |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-a119ac5c902b4671bf7d18e278afe9732023-01-13T19:13:28ZengUniversidad de ZaragozaMiscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies1137-63682022-06-0165171189https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20226853Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone GirlMaysaa Jaber0University of Baghdad, IraqThis article explores two predominant images of Gillian Flynn’s female characters: the monstrous mother and the missing/dead girl. These two representations of Flynn’s female characters showcase the link between female criminality and transgression on the one hand, and the female characters’ traumatic history and family dysfunctionality on the other. This article argues that Flynn’s use of these two tropes reveals the conflicting facets of female crime, victimhood, and agency in her thrillers, and by so doing her work subverts the murky domain of the portrayal of criminal women in relation to motherhood, mental illness and trauma.https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6853/5909gillian flynnmonstrositymotherhoodfemale criminalitytraumagone girlsharp objects |
| spellingShingle | Maysaa Jaber Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone Girl Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies gillian flynn monstrosity motherhood female criminality trauma gone girl sharp objects |
| title | Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone Girl |
| title_full | Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone Girl |
| title_fullStr | Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone Girl |
| title_full_unstemmed | Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone Girl |
| title_short | Monstruous Mothers and Dead Girls in Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Gone Girl |
| title_sort | monstruous mothers and dead girls in gillian flynn s sharp objects and gone girl |
| topic | gillian flynn monstrosity motherhood female criminality trauma gone girl sharp objects |
| url | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6853/5909 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maysaajaber monstruousmothersanddeadgirlsingillianflynnssharpobjectsandgonegirl |