quayle

 
For my degree I need to write a "dissertation" (or rather a glorified term paper with a visual element)  on, well, basically the subject of my choosing.  Naturally, the subject of my choosing is supernatural horror movies from the teens to the thirties!  I am filled with geeky glee.  I've always found this kind of writing extremely satisfying in a way and it's something that's hardly ever required on my course.  Were I studying in America... but let's not open that can of worms.
I'm still kind of in the research phase, but I stumbled across a really marvelous essay by Marie-Helene Huet called "Monstrous Imagination" that talks about the origin or birth of the monster.  Apparently, for a long time the female imagination was seen as the cause: instead of producing offspring in the image of the father, the children would reflect the secret desires and thoughts of the mother during her pregnancy.  The physical form of the child could also be influenced by works of art that the mother looked at or desired during pregnancy.   During the Romantic period the view kind of switched around to the male artist being the sole parent of the monster (i.e. Frankenstein).