The Spectral Double and the Deconstruction of Womanhood in Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace and Sarah Waters’ Affinity

Abstract

This work considers how Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace and Sarah Waters’ Affinity investigate the role of the occult sciences and more particularly the figure of the spectral double as ways for the female characters to deconstruct the notion of womanhood. This paper first provides an overview of how womanhood was defined in the Victorian period: a concept based on social and biological determinism which enclosed women within labels such as the dichotomy that distinguishes between the “angel of the house” and the “demon in disguise”, but also the notion of “hysteria”. Then, this paper focuses on the use of typically feminine forms of expression, i.e. the writing of a diary and needlework, for the female protagonists to empower themselves. Moreover, the female characters also take on masculine conventions to reach a larger audience and to legitimate their stories. Lastly, this work examines how the occult during the Victorian period played an important role to question gender politics, especially with the figure of the spectral double. In both novels, Atwood and Waters feature spectral doubles which act as the characters’ asserted selves and allow them to question different aspects of womanhood and manhood.