Episode 22: “The Fall of the House of Usher” (Part 2)
Explore how the 19th-century Cult of True Womanhood may have influenced Edgar Allan Poe's female characters. From Madeline Usher to modern horror and the cult of domesticity to the tradwife movement, we unpack some of society’s “feminine” ideals and their surprising link to feminism. We also talk about how women in fiction still struggle to break free from being mere reflections of male narratives.
Episode 21: “The Fall of the House of Usher” (part 1)
Edgar Allan Poe, known for pioneering gothic literature, had a fixation on beautiful dead women in his works. This motif reflects his personal losses and the cultural glamorisation of tuberculosis, a disease often associated with beauty and death in his time.
Episode 10: “Coraline” (Part 2)
How’s this for horror? We’re not done with Freud in part 2 of our “Coraline”-themed pj party. 😱 Learn now Coraline’s adventure reflects the Oedipus theory, the significance of gender performance throughout the film, and why horror audiences love a scary maternal figure.
Episode 9: “Coraline” (part one)
Eyes are the windows to the soul. So when we see glowing red eyes, or demon-possessed all-black eyes, or – worst of all – shiny, button eyes – we know something is horribly wrong.
Episode 5: Ambrose Bierce’s “The Boarded Window”
In this episode, we’re talking about everything from the 19th-century fear of premature burial, to the lack of autonomy for pioneer wives, to the inadequate representation of women in literature.