Teen-age identity construction in Stephen King: A gendered view

Abstract

Basing the research on fields such as Feminism, Masculinities, Gothic Literature or Myth, this dissertation provides a gendered view of the construction of teen-age identity in the fiction of Stephen King. In this analysis of the teen-age characters in some of his narratives patriarchy, power and the rise of feminism in the 1970s play a fundamental role. Carrie (1974) expresses an amalgamation of feminist anxieties about gender and power, while Christine (1983), by showing how patriarchy works for men and boys, puts the concept of male power in a quandary. On the other hand, "The Body" (1982) provides a mythological context to the origins of the crisis of masculinity Americans seem to suffer since the arrival of feminist and gendered movements. The Talisman (1984) reveals how this crisis was socially constructed and imaginatively battled during the Reagan Era. Finally, It (1986) gives a fairy talesque happy ending to the question. However, this conclusion hides a poignant moral message about America and its future.