Comparison between Characters with Focus on the Theme of Out of Control Woman

ASSIGNMENT: Write a well-organized comparative essay on one of the following topics. You will need to develop a strong thesis statement and write a clear, cogent argument to defend your thesis. In addition, be sure to make specific references to the literary work that you are discussing.
This is a comparative paper, so you will need to write on at least two carefully chosen works, and spend your paper considering their differences as well as similarities. Do not simply look for parallels between the works, since the truly effective comparative literary essays will both compare and contrast both works. Try also to keep your focus narrow, so that you aren't merely listing similarities and differences without a purpose. Finally, since comparative arguments are by definition complex, you should also to pay close attention to guiding your reader along by providing signposts (in the form of clear topic sentences which mention both of the works under discussion) whenever you turn to a new section of the argument.
GUIDELINES: Your essay must be typed and double-spaced. Please number all pages and include a separate title page containing your name, your title, the topic number, my name and the due date. Remember also to include a properly formatted Works Cited page even if your only "source" is one or two short stories or novels. Incorrectly formatted title or Works Cited pages and faulty quotation integrations will receive increasing deductions.
Please note that there are several different approaches from which you can choose when you are writing a comparative argument: you can establish comparisons between two similar things that have crucial differences or between two different things with surprisingly illuminating similarities. Whichever method of comparison that you use, however, make certain that you draw specific conclusions about the knowledge or insight into the literary text that you have gained by looking at two works, characters or ideas together. Analyze the meaning or significance of these differences and similarities, and show how the two elements illuminate each other in new ways when they are placed side by side. Be sure to use plenty of textual evidence to back up your points and ground them in the text. Since your midterm was comparative, make every effort not to duplicate a comparison that you made during that test, or to write on the same two works that you have already considered.
Finally, remember to include a properly formatted Works Cited page even if your only "sources" are the short stories and the novel. Incorrectly formatted title or Works Cited pages and faulty quotation integrations will receive deductions.
REQUIREMENTS:
Your essay must include the following:
1) A properly formatted title page containing your name, your title, the topic number, my name and the due date (following the template given on p. 35 of the U of R Style Guide) and a Works Cited page created according to the MLA method. If any of these elements are missing, deductions will be made.
2) An original title which is not the same as the heading on the topic sheet. Essays without titles will receive an additional deduction.
3) A clear, concise thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph (i.e. your introduction).
4) A preview or outline of your argument in a sentence somewhere in the introduction (it should precede the thesis statement).
5) Focussed topic sentences at the start of every paragraph.
6) At least one short quotation per paragraph, and where possible, two per paragraph, to support your points. Avoid paraphrasing or summarizing the text, but instead make an interpretation.

7) Your quotations should be properly integrated according to the techniques discussed in class. There should be no comma splices and no hanging quotations – mistakes such as these will receive extra deductions.

TOPICS
Note: Please do not feel that you must answer all the questions in a given topic. You can respond merely to the heading, or you can choose one of the questions as your main focus, or you can try to formulate your own question from those provided in the topic.
1. WOMEN IN GOTHIC FICTION:
Discuss the difficulties women face in two of the Gothic short stories and novel that we’ve studied so far, excluding Perrault’s “Bluebeard” (those by Warner, Carter, Le Fanu, Du Maurier, etc). Comparing your two chosen works, discuss what the Gothic genre suggests about women in a patriarchal world, women’s status and privilege (or lack of it), women’s fears, women’s situation in the home, women’s sexuality, or alternatively, middle-class fears of immodest, powerful or immoral women. Are these narratives repressive or subversive in their depiction of women? Do they suggest, as one critic explains “a fear of [female] sexuality itself as a demonic force, that, awakened by one fatal kiss, can change one utterly and irreversibly” (Macdonald 201)? Or, in their transgressive and subversive properties, do these narratives open up new perceptions gender roles and sexuality for both men and women, but especially for women? You may also choose to focus on only one of the works we have studied this term (particularly works by Le Fanu, Du Maurier, or Carter), which contain women but if so you must comparatively discuss two different treatments of female characters within these works.
2. MAXIM AS BLUEBEARD/ HERO VILLAIN:
Discuss the character of Maxim by comparing him with one of the other Bluebeard figures we have read about in this course. Is Maxim a Gothic hero, a hero-villain, an outright villain, or an anti-hero? (Or some of each?) How does he revise and update the Bluebeard figure from earlier stories? Is he more or less sinister than these serial killers? Be sure to take into account his treatment of and expectations for his young, naïve second wife. What are some of his Gothic traits and how do they compare to those of other Gothic hero-villains we’ve discussed, such as the Marquis? In what ways is he similar to the character of Bluebeard in Perrault? How is he different? How are his actions consistent or inconsistent with this character? Do Maxim’s revelations about Rebecca and their unhappy marriage make you sympathetic to him in a way that the original Bluebeard does not invite sympathy, or is he presented just as callous and cold? Was he justified in murdering Rebecca (as he claims), even though she apparently goaded him into it for reasons of her own? How does Rebecca, along with her full story, undermine or challenge his position as hero of the novel? What about his treatment of the heroine – how does he perceive her and how does his treatment compare or contrast with how other wives are treated? In your view does he genuinely love her or does he choose a woman over whom he can wield power and influence in a way that he couldn’t with Rebecca?
3. REBECCA'S STATUS AS THE ‛WOMAN OUT OF CONTROL':
Compare and contrast Rebecca to one of the other “out of control” women that we’ve already encountered in the course, like Flora or the mother in “The Bloody Chamber”. What does Maxim’s first wife Rebecca symbolize in the narrative by Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca, which takes her name as a title, that is similar to or different from these other women? Is she a dangerous ‛woman out of control' or a merely a cipher onto which the narrator projects all her fears, her feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty, and her longings for maturity, attractiveness and power? How is her power and behaviour represented in a way that parallels or contrasts with how the other dangerous women are portrayed? How much is Rebecca, unlike the living women, a creation of the narrator's fantasy life, fears and insecurities? Is Rebecca the monster that Maxim paints her as, or that Flora in Le Fanu’s story seems to be? If not, who is the ‘real monster' here? (Anyone? Almost everyone?) Does Rebecca deserve her fate, as Maxim strongly implies? Do the various stories and details we learn from various sources about Rebecca add up to a single, coherent portrait? Why, or why not? Do we ever learn what Rebecca was "really" like?
4. CLASS AND THE VAMPIRE:

Critics have noted that Polidori’s vampire aristocrat is an important innovation, which later vampire tales up until the present day continue to utilize. Write an essay in which you consider class (economic, social, moral standing and character – as well as a wider reading of elements that comprise class) in two of the following vampire stories: Polidori's "The Vampire"; Le Fanu's Carmilla; or Carter’s “Lady in the House of Love.” Why is the aristocratic vampire so much more of a threat people and to the body politic? Is there a political aspect to this depiction of the vampire, and, if so, what is it? In what ways is the aristocratic vampire limited, or are any constraints that he or she experiences the result of something else?
5. VERSIONS OF MALE MONSTROSITY IN THE GOTHIC:
Compare and contrast two of the aristocratic villains/ monsters from Polidori’s “The Vampyre,” Carter’s “Bloody Chamber,” Le Fanu’s “A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone family” and/ or Du Maurier’s Rebecca. How is their masculinity linked to their monstrosity or villainy? Or is their monstrosity more a result of their privileged positions in society? For instance, why are these villains presented as aristocratic and wealthy, and does their aristocratic privilege in any way contribute to their power? Do they ever lose this power, and if so, why? That is, in what ways is their aristocratic power and masculinity undermined? How do these stories play with or challenge extreme forms of masculinity/ monstrosity? Do they offer any alternatives in their place? (Note that this is a comparative question, which means that you should make an effort to provide a purpose for your comparison; it would also be helpful to define “male monstrosity” or masculinity early in your paper if you are planning to examine and critique its representation in your two chosen stories).
6. NORMAL AND FATAL FEMININITY IN CARMILLA:
Compare and contrast the two different female characters in Le Fanu’s short novella Carmilla. How are they different and how are they similar? Consider that Carmilla is an ambiguous figure, combining her freedom and headstrong nature with sweet deceptiveness. This charming and feral figure cannot be easily contained, in part because she acts like a contagion, almost infecting those around her, in part because she blends in perfectly with the feminine ideal. For this reason, is there any indication that Carmilla was once like Laura, or that Laura could ever become like Carmilla? What do the similarities of these characters, and their potential for transforming into each other, imply about standard definitions of femininity during this period? How do they critique and challenge these standards and norms? You might also choose to compare the two girls’ views of their friendship? What kind of villain is Carmilla and what is the nature of the threat that she poses to Laura? Why does she make Laura so confused? Are there ways in which Carmilla undermines Laura, who is both attracted to and repulsed by her, and subverts Laura’s selfhood? Alternatively, what kind of opportunity does she potentially offer Laura? In addition, what sort of risk does she represent (besides the obvious one) to the everyday, patriarchal society of her hosts? To what extent does the figure of Carmilla represent the dangers of femininity in a repressed society? Does she also represent possibilities for selfhood that Laura had never contemplated before? Ultimately, do we have any sympathy for Carmilla, or do we view her as a dangerous predator (or both)? Note: since this is a comparative assignment, be sure, as you discuss the novella, to compare Carmilla’s femininity and behaviour with that of the more conventional Laura.
7. FEMALE VAMPIRES AND FATALITY:
As with other Gothic and Vampire stories, in Angela Carter's "The Lady in the House of Love," sex and death are shown to be intimately related. Combine your discussion of this story with an analysis of “Carmilla” and compare and contrast how these two works deal with the connection between sex and death through their female vampires. Analyse this relationship as you see it manifested in the stories. In your interpretation, what are Carter and Le Fanu suggesting about human sexuality, and especially female sexuality and the transgression of norms? Has the perspective on this question changed between Le Fanu and Carter, and if so, how? Argue whether this view of human sexuality represents a departure from Gothic tradition or a culmination of it. Alternatively, as you compare Carter’s vampire with Le Fanu’s, you can analyse which one has the most subversive potential. Which one is the most trapped by her physical body (vampiric condition) and gender? What does it mean that their encounters with outsiders are ultimately fatal?
8. You can also choose to write a paper on a topic of your own devising about two of the stories we have already discussed in class; remember to make sure that it is a comparative topic, though, and both compares and contrasts the texts. Moreover, if you want to make up your own topic, please note that you must send me a statement of about 2-3 sentences in length explaining and defining it in writing and giving the purpose or rationale behind making this comparison (e-mail is fine) for my approval at least one week in advance of the due date.