"Traitorous Bodies": Cartesian Dualism in Romance Novels by Susan Johnson and E.L. James
Date
2013-05
Authors
Cortesi, Taylor D.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
While there have been numerous theoretical approaches to romance novels, a Cartesian analysis is seemingly absent among the current scholarship. Applying René Descartes’s theory of mind/body dualism to the heroines in Susan Johnson’s Seized by Love and E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey reveals not only a separation between the heroines’ minds and bodies, but proves that both heroines are depicted as distinctly body. As such, serious complications arise for the female characters, including the acceptance of sexual violence and submission to the patriarchy.
Description
Keywords
Descartes, Fifty Shades of Grey, Seized by Love, Mind Body Dualism
Citation
Cortesi, T. D. (2013). "Traitorous bodies": Cartesian dualism in romance novels by Susan Johnson and E.L. James</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas.