Cardiff University

Graduate Student, School of English, Communication, and Philosophy

Thesis Title: The Unnatural Natural Woman: Evangeline Walton's Feminist Revisioning of the Mabinogi

About

RESEARCH:

My thesis is an examination of Evangeline Walton’s Mabinogion Tetralogy, which comprises the novels: The Prince of Annwn, The Children of Llyr, The Song of Rhiannon, and The Island of the Mighty. I am using a hybrid methodology in order to compare these novels to their origins: the four branches of the ‘Mabinogi’. A folklore analysis is enabling me to compare Walton’s literary techniques with those used by the ‘writer’ of the ‘Mabinogi’; more important, however, is my exploration of how Walton uses her extensive knowledge of British history and mythology, stretching from Ireland to Greece, to create a tetralogy which crosses the boundary from fantasy to historic fiction. A feminist analysis, particularly the work of Luce Irigaray, provides a way to read Walton’s female characters. Blodeuewedd, Aranrhod and Branwen have transformed, in Walton’s hands, from archetypes and stereotypes into flesh-and-blood women. Their use of magic, their connection with the Mother figure of Celtic mythology, and the emphasis Walton places on voice as agency, are all fascinating expansions on the role of women in Welsh society which the ‘Mabinogi’ hint at, but never fully explore. My project is of particular importance to studies of the ‘Mabinogi’ due to the fact that, as P.K. Bollard points out in his essay, ‘The Structure of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi’ (The Mabinogi: A Book of Essays, ed. by C.W. Sullivan III), ‘The role of women in the Four Branches of the “Mabinogi” has so far not been adequately defined or examined, though no one would deny that women play a significant part in the tales.” However, I also believe that my project has relevance beyond the ‘Mabinogi,’ in its exegesis on a little-known author from North America, who used the most important work in Welsh mythology to explore themes of religion, gender relations, kingship and feminism. Walton describes a world on the cusp of great transformation: from Druidism to Christianity, matrilineal sovereignty to patriarchy, independence to war and eventual subordination.


PUBLICATIONS:

Review: The Lord Chamberlain's Men's production of 'The Tempest' at Cardiff Castle, July 1-2nd, 2010, on Cardiff Shakespeare (blog).

'Branwen's Shame: Law-Breaking and Genre Bending in Evangline Walton's The Children of Llyr' in Welsh Mythology in Popular Culture (forthcoming title from McFarland)


EDUCATION:

BA in English, Sacred Heart University, 2004
MA in Poetics, New College of California, 2007
MA in English Literature, Cardiff University, 2008