The Dilemma of Depicting Desire: maternal secret or public censure

Abstract

Evil. Women. The Feminine. The relationships that bring together these three ideas form the basis for the papers gathered together in this volume. By asking how, why, when, and to what purpose these three terms are often linked serves as the starting point of interrogation for each of the authors here considered. The answers can be found in a variety of places, from early modern texts through to contemporary cinema. Despite the wide-ranging sites of analysis, what each paper has in common is the need to push past the assumption that the three terms are naturally or necessarily linked. Instead, each of the authors explores the ways in which these ideas have come to be culturally understood, and offers alternative interpretations, alternative imaginings and alternative linkages in an attempt to re-present or re-imagine their own evil, women and the feminine.