Bringers of epiphany: depictions of the feminine in the shorter fiction of George Mackay Brown

This thesis examines the role and function of George Mackay Brown's main female protagonists in ten key short stories. By bearing in mind Christopher Whyte and Douglas Gifford's very different observations of the place these female characters occupy in the texts, it will be discovered whether or not Brown's gender ideology is constraining and limited. The thesis will examine in four chapters the position of one woman and her searching religious questions, the author's selkie stories and the implications they bring to bear both on his female creations and wider societal view, the supernatural through his female ghosts and witch, and finally, his portrayal of ordinary Orcadian women. Correspondence, manuscripts, and archive materials will be referenced throughout.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

MPhil(R)

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Glasgow

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Bicket, Juliet Linden

• PR English literature