Mermaid in the Bathtub is a Southern female gothic novel set in 1931 rural East Texas. Minnie is a seventeen-year-old woman, married off so her father can find work during the deepening depression and failure of their cotton crop. She is betrothed to Thomas, the Pastor’s son, and doesn’t quite understand her new role as wife and homemaker. Over the course of the novel, Minnie endures abuse at the hands of the Pastor, who punishes her for disrespecting his church and authority. Minnie begins working with other women at the local dry cleaners, but when tragedy strikes and she miscarries her first child, she returns home and begins to spiral, obsessing over the mystery of her mother’s death while dreaming of a life without the Pastor.
","abstract_html":"<p>Mermaid in the Bathtub is a Southern female gothic novel set in 1931 rural East Texas. Minnie is a seventeen-year-old woman, married off so her father can find work during the deepening depression and failure of their cotton crop. She is betrothed to Thomas, the Pastor’s son, and doesn’t quite understand her new role as wife and homemaker. Over the course of the novel, Minnie endures abuse at the hands of the Pastor, who punishes her for disrespecting his church and authority. Minnie begins working with other women at the local dry cleaners, but when tragedy strikes and she miscarries her first child, she returns home and begins to spiral, obsessing over the mystery of her mother’s death while dreaming of a life without the Pastor.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McClelland, Whitney"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - English","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["John McDermott","Bridget Adams","Ericka Hoagland"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:45Z","subjects":["female gothic","southern","fiction","East Texas","religion","Other English Language and Literature","Women's Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/607","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["John McDermott","Bridget Adams","Ericka Hoagland"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McClelland, Whitney"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2030-05-04T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - English"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["female gothic","southern","fiction","East Texas","religion","Other English Language and Literature","Women's Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/607"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Mermaid in the Bathtub is a Southern female gothic novel set in 1931 rural East Texas. Minnie is a seventeen-year-old woman, married off so her father can find work during the deepening depression and failure of their cotton crop. She is betrothed to Thomas, the Pastor’s son, and doesn’t quite understand her new role as wife and homemaker. Over the course of the novel, Minnie endures abuse at the hands of the Pastor, who punishes her for disrespecting his church and authority. Minnie begins working with other women at the local dry cleaners, but when tragedy strikes and she miscarries her first child, she returns home and begins to spiral, obsessing over the mystery of her mother’s death while dreaming of a life without the Pastor.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Mermaid in the Bathtub: A Speculative Southern Female Gothic Novel"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["John McDermott","Bridget Adams","Ericka Hoagland"],"dc:creator":["McClelland, Whitney"],"dc:date.available":["2030-05-04T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Mermaid in the Bathtub is a Southern female gothic novel set in 1931 rural East Texas. Minnie is a seventeen-year-old woman, married off so her father can find work during the deepening depression and failure of their cotton crop. She is betrothed to Thomas, the Pastor’s son, and doesn’t quite understand her new role as wife and homemaker. Over the course of the novel, Minnie endures abuse at the hands of the Pastor, who punishes her for disrespecting his church and authority. Minnie begins working with other women at the local dry cleaners, but when tragedy strikes and she miscarries her first child, she returns home and begins to spiral, obsessing over the mystery of her mother’s death while dreaming of a life without the Pastor.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/607"],"dc:subject":["female gothic","southern","fiction","East Texas","religion","Other English Language and Literature","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Mermaid in the Bathtub: A Speculative Southern Female Gothic Novel"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - English"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:45Z"}