The Mother, the Virgin, and the Witch - Nature and the Metaphysical Romance in Margaret Atwood's Speculative Fiction

Abstract

This Master Dissertation aims to explore Margaret Atwood’s inspirations and influences from Victorian Metaphysical Romance, via her unfinished PhD. In this study of her work, the focus is specifically on her dystopian fiction with an aim to understand how Canadian wild nature in addition to previous generations of authors informs the relationship between the natural and the unnatural in her fiction. Based on materials found in the Margaret Atwood Collection at Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto as well as a selection of other sources, this dissertation will attempt to trace the ecocritical and conceptual ideologies evident in Margaret Atwood’s trilogy Oryx and Crake back to the works of fiction she studied as part of her PhD research. The Master Dissertation will discuss what influences and inspired Atwood to describe nature the way she does and how her view has evolved since she researched her PhD. To accomplish this, I have analysed a selection of her published work, articles and academic papers by other scholars as well as sought out unpublished material that supports my hypothesis.