There is a lot here to discuss and your point is very well argued. I read a Freudian reading that suggested women as castrating females and "benign" females. I've used this when disucssing the virgin/whore diacodomy. One could argue that the powerful emotions that Bertha and Jane posess hold more power to "castrate" than any knife. When I think about the virgin/whore diacodmy, i think that the virgins tend to be less threatening than the whores, who tend to be more in touch with raw sexuality or emotion. But as you noted in your paper, Blanche and Gorgeia appear to be more whores than virgins. So perhaps in the englightenment literature it is not female sexuality that is the focus, but the "unbridled and unreasonable emotions of women" that scares the men of the enlightenment. While I know this isn't a psychoanalytic reading, because there wasn't psychoanalysis yet, I do think that the idea of how frightful these emotions are to men, might be worth exploring. It's just an idea that I was thinking about, but I think your paper is very interesting and well written. My idea is more an "hey look this could be cool/I'm a psych nerd" than anything I feel your paper drastically lacks.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-02-24 07:35 pm (UTC)While I know this isn't a psychoanalytic reading, because there wasn't psychoanalysis yet, I do think that the idea of how frightful these emotions are to men, might be worth exploring.
It's just an idea that I was thinking about, but I think your paper is very interesting and well written. My idea is more an "hey look this could be cool/I'm a psych nerd" than anything I feel your paper drastically lacks.