“Under the Seams Runs the Pain”: Four Greek Sources and Analogues for the Modern Monster in Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red

Joshua M. Carmel '13, Gettysburg College

English honors thesis

Abstract

This work seeks to explore the monster figure in its evolution from the Classical to the contemporary literary canons. Using Geryon, a three-headed and red-hued monster, as the central figure and Carson’s 1998 verse novel Autobiography of Red, it evaluates the underpinnings of the alienated “other” and attempts to shed light on its role in modern society.