Classical Monsters and Hero(ines) in InSEXts, Eros/Psyche and Porcelain
- This paper applies Monster Theory to the use of Greek mythology in three creator-owned comic series by female writers: InSEXts (2016 – 2017) by American comic writer Marguerite Bennett and Indonesian artist working in America Ariela Kristantina as well as Eros/Psyche (2021) and Porcelain (2021) by Maria Llovet, a comic writer and artist from Barcelona. In the first volume of InSEXts, set in Victorian London, there are allusions to the Furies and Pandora, linked with the discourse of the repression of women. In the second volume, set in the late nineteenth century Paris art world, the representation of classical subjects in art becomes a means to repress women, and a goddess with a Gorgon-like appearance takes revenge on the male repressors. In Eros/Psyche the story of Eros and Psyche and broken statues forms the backdrop and context for a tale of love and deception at a girls’ school, and in Porcelain a girl is faced with a choice of paths towards Eros or Thanatos, like Herakles at the crossroads choosing between the paths of virtueThis paper applies Monster Theory to the use of Greek mythology in three creator-owned comic series by female writers: InSEXts (2016 – 2017) by American comic writer Marguerite Bennett and Indonesian artist working in America Ariela Kristantina as well as Eros/Psyche (2021) and Porcelain (2021) by Maria Llovet, a comic writer and artist from Barcelona. In the first volume of InSEXts, set in Victorian London, there are allusions to the Furies and Pandora, linked with the discourse of the repression of women. In the second volume, set in the late nineteenth century Paris art world, the representation of classical subjects in art becomes a means to repress women, and a goddess with a Gorgon-like appearance takes revenge on the male repressors. In Eros/Psyche the story of Eros and Psyche and broken statues forms the backdrop and context for a tale of love and deception at a girls’ school, and in Porcelain a girl is faced with a choice of paths towards Eros or Thanatos, like Herakles at the crossroads choosing between the paths of virtue and vice. With reference to Cohen’s seven theses of Monster Culture I examine how Bennett and Lovett subvert the idea of the monster and the hero.…
Author details: | Amanda PotterORCiDGND |
---|---|
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.247 |
ISSN: | 2364-7612 |
Title of parent work (English): | thersites 17 |
Editor(s): | Amanda Potter, Hunter H. Gardner |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2023/11/10 |
Publication year: | 2023 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2023/12/14 |
Tag: | Comics; Eros; Medusa; Psyche; Pygmalion |
Volume: | 2023 |
Issue: | 17 |
Number of pages: | 29 |
First page: | 96 |
Last Page: | 124 |
Source: | thersites Vol. 17 (2023): Classics and the Supernatural (eds. A. Potter & Hunter Gardner) |
Organizational units: | Philosophische Fakultät / Historisches Institut |
DDC classification: | 9 Geschichte und Geografie / 90 Geschichte / 900 Geschichte und Geografie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Gold Open-Access |
Collection(s): | Universität Potsdam / Zeitschriften / thersites, ISSN 2364-7612 / thersites Vol. 17 |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
External remark: | The original publication is available at https://doi.org/10.34679/thersites.vol17.247 |