Research Abstract
Agency and Female Heroines
Angela Carter’s short story, “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon,” shows how Beauty is looked at as a victim of patriarchy because she is being married off against her own will. Her father has agency over her and is passing that agency to another man. When this happens she is powerless in being treated as an object because she has no say in the direction of her own life. By refusing to comply with men’s desires, Beauty resists the typical fairy-tale fate for women. Instead, She becomes the main character in her own story. By choosing to return of her own free will, she becomes the hero of the story and saves Mr. Lyon from his own monstrous end. So we see how Angela Carter rewrites the typically passive heroine from fairy tales, to create a story that empowers women readers. This short story teaches us all that consent and choice are the key components that we still need to work on in our society.
Capstone Description
Only Monsters Can Set Us Free
Throughout the series of Penny Dreadful we see monsters and humans interacting with one another. In episode 7 of season one (Possession) Vanessa is dealing with a devil figure inside of her and Ethan, Victor, Sir. Malcolm and a priest, are all trying to get the devil out of her. Ethan becomes the only one that is capable of doing so by performing an exorcism in order to free 
Vanessa from the devil inside of her. This shows us that Ethan is the only one that sees and loves her as both her monster and human self. Ethan who is also a monster is the only one that saves her and lets her be free from the devil because he can empathize with Vanessa because they both have that connection of being a monster. Monsters are the only ones that can help other monsters, and in this scene Ethan was the only one that could set Vanessa free.
