IS ELAINE A WILLING VICTIM OF/TO CORDELIA? A PSYCHOFEMINIST STUDY OF ATWOOD’S CAT’S EYE

Abstract

In Margaret Atwood’s (1939 -) Cat’s Eye (1988), the narrator protagonist, and Painter Elaine Risley, narrates her own life story through a retrospective lens, jumping between her present-day middle-aged life and childhood memories of trauma. Her narrative is characterized by significant ups and downs stemming largely from the severe bullying she suffered from her childhood ‘best friend’, Cordelia, who acts as a powerful bully, making Elaine a victim of ‘psychological torment’. Elaine’s victimization allows her or rather drives her to turn to painting to achieve a therapeutic restorative effect, using art to process, control and gain distance from the lasting influence of Cordelia and her traumatic past. Her paintings act as a therapeutic release that helps her process the past. However, the novel depicts this process of healing as incomplete. Despite achieving success as an artist and confronting her past at a retrospective show, Elaine ultimately realizes that she is not really fully free of the psychological scars or the lasting influence of Cordelia’s memory. The haunting process of Cordelia persists, indicating that the past remains fundamentally intertwined with her identity.