Exploration Into the Dual Representation of Women as Monsters and Victims in Horror Cinema and Fine Art

Abstract

This dissertation examines the representation of women in horror cinema and fine art through the recurring figures of the female victim and the female monster. Using the theoretical frameworks of Laura Mulvey, Barbara Creed, and Julia Kristeva, this analysis explores how these seemingly opposing archetypes are formed through shared patriarchal anxieties surrounding female sexuality, the female body, and female autonomy. By analysing some key work that include Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), Artemisia Gentileschi’s Susanna and the Elders (1610), Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976), Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes (1620), Caravaggio’s Medusa (1597), and John Fawcett’s Ginger Snaps (2000), this dissertation argues that the transition from victim to monster is not solely about fear of female empowerment instead it highlights how by becoming the abject female bodies are seen as dangerous to the traditional patriarchal order