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theses

Several young female protagonists in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature lack agency over their own lives, being pushed in whichever direction outside sources dictate. Sometimes they lack control because they are orphans, as is the case with Jane in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Anne in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Other times, the girls find themselves in more stable families, but are misplaced in strange new lands inhabited with previously unknown characters and norms. This is the case with Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Alice series and Wendy in J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy. In order for these young girls to gain control of their lives, I argue that they use naming and subsequent linguistic play as primary devices in taking command of their identities and their surroundings. I look to psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s theory on the mirror stage to explain why Brontë’s Jane and Montgomery’s Alice have a special need for reclaiming their spaces and identities, and how naming plays a large part in the reclamation process. For Carroll’s Alice and Barrie’s Wendy, I reference feminist critic Luce Irigaray to make the case that overarching patriarchal standards, that exist in both the foreign lands they explore and in their home lives, drive them to take their names and identities more seriously. Ultimately, it is the girls’ dedication to their chosen names and identities that allows them to regain control of their lives from challenging situations that have previously taken away their agency.

ETD_10977

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-kwxf-wy43

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.