Female Evil in Rosalie Ham's Novel the Dressmaker (2000)

Abstract

This research highlights the theme of female evil in Rosalie Ham's novel The Dressmaker. It mainly seeks to examine the evil aspect of female as it is portrayed in the selected novel. The qualitative method is used to study the evil side of the main character. The focus is made on the psychological aspect of female evilness. Therefore, this research is psychoanalytical, and it is based on Heinz Kohut’s theory of self-psychology. Much specifically, Kohut's theory of self-psychology forms the basis of analyzing the heroine's psychological structure and her motives behind burning the city. The findings reflect that Rosalie Ham's The Dressmaker embodies representations of the female evil. Moreover, this female evil is a reaction, or in a sense an act of revenge, to bullying, abuse and rejection faced by the main character in the selected novel.