Date of Award

5-1-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Abstract

Traversing a wintry landscape filled with desperate scavengers who cannot die, a witch awaits a prophecy to lead her people to the light. Meanwhile, in London, the addictive virtual reality of the Undercity tears a family apart. And, on a distant island long ago, a young girl befriends an enigmatic sailor who emerges from under the sea on top a tattered black ship. These three worlds and the women within them are connected by a single choice made long ago that ripples through time and pushes them towards their own evolving destinies. This thesis comprises the first two of five sections ("books") in a novel entitled Nature's Womb & Perhaps Her Grave. Book I, "In Chains of Darkness," follows Witch-Woman, a crone living in a world of night and snow. When she adopts the mysterious Twice-Born-Child, Witch- Woman must navigate raising her defiant daughter as well as protecting Village by River from the threat of starvation or invading wild-ones. Book II, "The City of Ghosts," depicts the struggles of five women in a dysfunctional family. Elena tries to retrieve her daughter from the Undercity, Orpah awaits her opportunity to plug in to virtual reality, Ruth attempts to prevent the maidservant from bearing her son-in-law's baby, Deborah works to save her sister from damnation, and Beatrice must decide what to do with the illegitimate child she carries in her womb. All the while, London ticks closer and closer to the day when the real world will give way to the virtual dreams of the Undercity. Playing with Judea-Christian mythos and science fiction themes, Nature's Womb & Perhaps Her Grave is, at its heart, a story about mothers and daughters confronting the dangerous power, tremendous responsibility, and unforeseen consequences of rebellion.

Handle

http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10562

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