supercurricular lecture

Fittingly, on World Book Day, the latest in our series of supercurricular community lectures started with a journey into the world of literature, but also encompassed an evaluation of representations of women on the screen, and of the multitude of feminist critical theories that address it.

Delivered by our very own Mrs McNally, and fantastically well-attended by our wider school community of students, parents, carers, staff and associates, Mrs McNally began her critical exploration of `Mad, Bad and Dangerous` or `threatening` women in literature, film and TV with a foray into the Victorian era and its constructs of the middle-class domestic space, and the ways in which nineteenth-century female protagonists and authors, from Gilman Perkins's The Yellow Wallpaper, to Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason Rochester, and Stoker's female vampires, subverted, challenged and threatened the patriarchy and perceptions of the female ideal.

Mrs McNally also explored the interplay of race and otherness in these representations of women, including Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth and three witches; before a consideration of Freud's theory of scopophilia, Jacques Lacan's "mirror stage", Mulvey's feminist film theory, particularly the "male gaze", and Judith Butler's "Gender Trouble", and an application of these to the character of Sergeant Catherine Cawood in BBC's Happy Valley and Channel 5's detective Ellis.

An edifying, thought-provoking and entertaining evening for all, with huge thanks to Mrs McNally for organising and delivering this intellectually enriching experience; and to the many in our UGS community who attended.

Watch this space for updates on the next lecture in our series!