Transformative literature transferring power: An analysis of authorial control in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, Circe by Madeline Miller and Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Abstract: By analysing three different works of transformative literature, this thesis aims to explore the different ways in which power may express itself in the context of literature. Wide Sargasso Sea, Circe and Hag-Seed are three novels that, while remaining similar in that they are rewrites of canonised literature such as Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, and The Tempest, are different enough to provide a wide array of examples of rewrites. In order to perform this study I have opted to use a diverse set of theoretical perspectives as this specific category of literature has not been studied explicitly before. This means that there is no previous research dedicated to this specific subject, and as such using different sources of information has been necessary to properly investigate the phenomenon of transformative literature. So as not to allow this to become disorienting, the perspectives are divided into sections of four: the first discussing authors and readers; the second the anxiety of influence; the third narrative power in the context of society; and the last narrative power in the context of the novels analysed.