Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The “Fruit” Of Success: Christina Rossetti’S “Goblin Market” As An Allegory Of The 19th Century Literary Marketplace, Priyodarshini Ghosh

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is probably her most critically acclaimed literary masterpiece. It has been accepted undoubtedly as an allegory of something, but critics have not been able to come to a unanimous conclusion as to what. Some have tried to establish it as a Christian allegory of Fall and Redemption, while others as an allegory of sexual temptation. Certain critics have hinted that this poem could be an allegory of the literary marketplace during the 19^th century, which was wholly dominated by men, women’s entry into that marketplace being either restricted or marked by insurmountable obstacles. Following the …

Henrietta Maria: Royalist Women’S Representations Of The French Catholic Queen, Kim Hansen

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

By the mid-15^th century, the royal marriage of King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria incited enough conflict to spark civil war, as the English struggled to reconcile between the long-established image of female English domesticity and a pervasive cultural expectation for equality between marriage partners. Any form of equality in the royal marriage called the absolute power of the king into question, as it would imply that his actions had included her direct involvement, and even at times were more representative of her, not his, views. Letters captured at the Battle of Naseby confirmed fears that the queen …

Havens And Covens: Pregnancy, Witchcraft, And Female Power In Cotton Mather’S “Retired Elizabeth”, Brittney A. Hatchett

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Over the decades, scholars have been holding two adjacent conversations about witchcraft and gender in Cotton Mather’s works that surprisingly have not been put in dialogue. On the one hand, they have examined Mather’s witchcraft ideology and motivations for involving himself in the Salem witch trials. On the other hand, scholars have discussed how Mather seeks to exert control over women spiritually and physically. However, no one has yet explored how these conversations might converge. I suggest that we can see how Mather intertwines discourses of witchcraft and gender in the section titled “Retired Elizabeth” in The Angel of Bethesda. …

A Feminist Icon Or A Homicidal Coward: Medea’S Revenge On Patriarchy, Beyza Ertugrul

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Medea, the alleged epitome of sophistication, does not deserve her title of the flawless feminist icon as she is praised to be. For context, Euripides’ Medea, first performed in 431 BC, portrays a young sorceress whose abusive husband abandons her for another woman and who takes revenge by murdering her own children to spite him. Throughout the tragedy, Medea speaks out on gender inequality, and by definition, such uncommon and advanced statements can be described by the modern term of feminism as the “belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” (Merriam-Webster). Especially …

“I Suppose An Island Dweller Should Expect It To Be So”: The Contradiction And Drama Of Maternity And Islands In Caleb’S Crossing, Shayla Frandsen

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Islands have a long tradition of capturing human imagination and functioning as a space that nurtures both magic and mystery. As geographic locations, they seem to avoid easy taxonomy even while behaving easily categorizable: they exist as tourist fantasies separate from everyday landscape even while many operate as an othered land that is still “safe” enough to visit. They are isolated yet capable of nurturing strong cultural identity. They also act as autonomous entities while still being interconnected within larger natural structures, coastlines, and waterways. In these ways and more islands navigate as border spaces of inherent contradiction—contradictions which are …

Full Issue

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

“Something Large And Old Awoke”: Ecopoetics And Compassion In Tracy K. Smith’S Wade In The Water, Kaitlin Hoelzer

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Susa Young Gates Award Essay

First Place

Both historical and contemporary Black poets have used their work to identify, condemn, and suggest solutions to problems stemming from racism in American society. Indeed, as Arnold Rampersad notes in his introduction to The Oxford Anthology of African American Poetry, many Black poets use “poetry as a vehicle of protest against social injustice in America.” Art is inherently political, even when its arguments do not overtly engage in political debates. As Lorraine Hansberry argues, all art is rooted in a particular social and political consciousness. The choice is “not whether one will …

Mary Ann Shadd Cary And Kit Coleman: The Shifting Public Memory Of Canadian Female Journalism, Josie Smith

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Susa Young Gates Award Essay

Honorable Mention

On June 30, 1855, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a free black woman from a prominent black family and editor of The Provincial Freeman (a black abolitionist newspaper printed in Chatham, Ontario, Canada) wrote the following to identify her own achievements in journalism: “To colored women, we have a word—we have broken the Editorial ice, whether willingly or not, for your class in America, so go to Editing as many of you as are willing and able.” Shadd Cary did indeed break the “Editorial ice” as the first black female newspaper editor in both …

Mary, Martha, And The “Good Part”: A Feminist Evaluation Of The Glorification Of Sacrifice In Latter-Day Saint Culture, Harriet Norcross

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Susa Young Gates Award Essay

Honorable Mention

In the tenth chapter of Luke, Jesus Christ visits the home of sisters Mary and Martha. While Mary sits at the Savior’s feet and listens to his words, Martha bustles about doing what she thinks is her duty, serving others (The Holy Bible, Luke 10:38-42). When she complains to Christ that her sister is not helping her with the work, He will not instruct Mary to leave his side, instead telling Martha that her sister has chosen the good part.

The Passion Of Eve, Anna Lo Russo

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Minerva Teichert Award Winner 2022

First Place Winner

Over the centuries, women belonging to the Judeo-Christian world have been subjected to live on the margins of society because of the traditional, male-centric perspective of the Adam and Eve story. Cultural traditions have limited women through claims that they are inherently disobedient, gullible, evil, and carnal, or that subordination to a husband and child labor are women’s punishments for Eve’s disobedience. Over time, these labels and accusations have limited the voice and overall freedom of women. Eve’s story, originally recorded by a male (and yet holy) prophet, has contributed to the …

Almost Mother, Blake Knecht

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Minerva Teichert Award Winner

First Place Winner

I have always found myself inspired by the work of other female filmmakers, specifically those who portray common themes of motherhood. In the creation of my short documentary film “Almost Mother,” I chose to represent the concept of motherhood through the lens of miscarriage.

Twenty-Two, Amy Griffin

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Life Giver Pantoum, Amy Griffin

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Our Own Complicity: The Unnamed Woman In Judges 19 And Mmiwg, Cassidy Crosby

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Singular brutality marks the unnamed woman’s story in Judges 19—perhaps the most disturbing and upsetting story in the Hebrew Bible, in which a group of men rape and then murder her. Our religious discussions therefore usually ignore this story, preferring to focus on tales that are not as difficult to deal with. However, ignoring the woman’s story does a disservice to her life and death, and to ourselves. If we believe the content in the Bible is divinely inspired, then we have a duty to search for the divine in this story. Perhaps the most important path comes in applying …

Loving One Another, Emma Taylor

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

I still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. It was a chilly February afternoon in 2020. I was in my senior year of high school, half asleep in my history class with about two minutes to waste before the bell rang. Groggy from a long day of dull lessons, I tugged on my sweater and pulled out my phone, intending to mindlessly scroll until students were set loose in the halls.

Zero-Waste Design: Closing The Gap, Brittney Porter

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Minerva Teichert Award Winner

Second Place Winner

How To Be A Woman. A Pillar Of Light, Danielle Kemp

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Dear Mother, Danielle Kemp

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

In Their Image, Danielle Kemp

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

What If We Remembered, Danielle Kemp

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

“Where Do We Belong?”: A Brief Collection Of Immigrant Daughter Musings, Andrea Amado-Fajardo

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

My friend groups have always been ethnically and racially diverse. Once, while pouring over pictures from my quinceañera celebration, my mom laughed and pointed out that my friend group could be on the cover of a magazine that celebrates diversity. I think that children of immigrants understand each other on an instinctive level, so we flock to each other. Regardless of mom’s and dad’s countries, we feel this shared sense of displacement. We’re too different from “typical American” kids, and we’re “too American” when we go back to our parents’ countries. For most of my life, this feeling went unsaid.

The Mask, Emily Felt

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Blooms, Oriana Warner

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Acrylic paint and embroidery floss on canvas, 8’’ x 10’’

Claiming Power In African American Women Storytelling, Heather Bergeson

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Beginning with slave narratives and continuing to the contemporary day, black autobiographers have shared and perpetuated the values and experiences of their communities through the medium of stories, which seek to expose perspectives that are often withheld or overshadowed by white voices. Tracy K. Smith’s memoir Ordinary Light participates in this tradition as she writes about her experiences as an African American woman in the United States. Near the text’s close, Smith asserts that storytelling is an act of “claiming the power to name and state and face the events, even the most awful events, making up a life” (279). …

Fruits Of Maternal Love, Simona Ershova

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Digital Painting

Haunted, Amanda Reece

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Renaming The Peak: Investigating The Effects Of Changing The Name Of Squ*W Peak On Native Women And Public Perceptions Of Native American Culture, Hannah Dixon

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

In light of the rise in public social activism and language justice in recent years, concerns about the name of Squ*w Peak, a mountain point near Provo, Utah, have surfaced due to “squaw” being an offensive term for Native American women. Looking at the effects of the peak’s current name on Native women, as well as its effects on non-Native perceptions of Native women and cultures, shows the potential implications of a name change for the peak. This paper draws on a review of the term’s linguistic associations, studies on potential psychological effects of microaggressions, and research on other effects …

Me Too, Cidney Winterton

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Mixed media, 24 x 36 inches

Homemaker, Eliza Peterson

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Tender, Eliza Peterson

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.