ENL 258

Anna M. Balkus, “The Monstrosity of the Male Gaze” In the Victorian era, women were expected to maintain sexual purity and submissiveness to be considered respectable. Women who violated these norms became known as “fallen women,” a term used to describe prostitutes, the lower class, or homeless people. However, the late nineteenth century introduced a… Read more Anna M. Balkus, “The Monstrosity of the Male Gaze,” 1st Place ENL 258

Gwen Pichette, “The Patriarchy’s ‘Ideal’ Woman” George Bernard Shaw’s reinvention of Pygmalion is a play about a linguist, Henry Higgins, who takes up the challenge of transforming a low-ranking flower girl with poor speech into a respectable lady, in an attempt to pass her off as a duchess. Similar to the story of Acis and… Read more Gwen Pichette, “The Patriarchy’s ‘Ideal’ Woman,” 2nd Place ENL 258

Emily M. Sonia, “Sex and Salvation in Victorian England” Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” share similar themes of sexuality and fallen women in Victorian England. While Dracula proposes that independence and education, two characteristics important to the New Woman movement, would be women’s salvation from sexual desire, “Goblin Market” uses religious themes… Read more Emily M. Sonia, “Sex and Salvation in Victorian England,” 3rd Place ENL 258