{"id":{"repo_id":"wku-diss","oai_identifier":"oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1506"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/wku-diss/oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1506","repository":{"repo_id":"wku-diss","name":"Western Kentucky University","base_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Melting Beeswax Bodies: The Queen Bee, the Hive, and Identity in Women's Writing","abstract":"The works examined are poetry by Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, and Audre Lorede, novels by Starhawk, The Fifth Sacred Thing, and Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, and a drama by Elizabeth Bussey Fentress, The Honey Harvest. In looking at how the women writers construct identity using bee imagery, I propose that they actually subvert the societal devaluation of women. The beeswax bodies represent gendered constructions of how women should behave. The characters \"melt\" these bodies by refusing to fit the mold and by redesigning the mold to fit themselves.","abstract_html":"The works examined are poetry by Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, and Audre Lorede, novels by Starhawk, The Fifth Sacred Thing, and Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, and a drama by Elizabeth Bussey Fentress, The Honey Harvest. In looking at how the women writers construct identity using bee imagery, I propose that they actually subvert the societal devaluation of women. The beeswax bodies represent gendered constructions of how women should behave. The characters "melt" these bodies by refusing to fit the mold and by redesigning the mold to fit themselves.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Johnson, Leigh"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2005-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:07:35Z","subjects":["English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/503","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Johnson, Leigh"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/503"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The works examined are poetry by Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, and Audre Lorede, novels by Starhawk, The Fifth Sacred Thing, and Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, and a drama by Elizabeth Bussey Fentress, The Honey Harvest. In looking at how the women writers construct identity using bee imagery, I propose that they actually subvert the societal devaluation of women. The beeswax bodies represent gendered constructions of how women should behave. The characters \"melt\" these bodies by refusing to fit the mold and by redesigning the mold to fit themselves."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Melting Beeswax Bodies: The Queen Bee, the Hive, and Identity in Women's Writing"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Johnson, Leigh"],"dc:description.abstract":["The works examined are poetry by Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, and Audre Lorede, novels by Starhawk, The Fifth Sacred Thing, and Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, and a drama by Elizabeth Bussey Fentress, The Honey Harvest. In looking at how the women writers construct identity using bee imagery, I propose that they actually subvert the societal devaluation of women. The beeswax bodies represent gendered constructions of how women should behave. The characters \"melt\" these bodies by refusing to fit the mold and by redesigning the mold to fit themselves."],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/503"],"dc:subject":["English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Melting Beeswax Bodies: The Queen Bee, the Hive, and Identity in Women's Writing"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of English"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:07:35Z"}