Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2014

Thesis Director

Melissa Ames

Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of the female characters and their roles as mothers, daughters, and lovers in the television series LOST (ABC, 2004-2010). During its original runtime, the series presented intriguing yet complex women whose personal experiences were revealed in flashbacks. With the move from these flashbacks to flashforwards and flashsideways, the series further complicated both its form and its content by demonstrating how individual identity and experience informed each female character's decisions, motivations, and agendas. In this way, the series deconstructs various stereotypical roles women are placed in such as single mothers, pampered princesses, and imprisoned women. Oftentimes, these women are disinherited of their physical property or are relegated to the role of property themselves as the objects of a male gaze. Furthermore, both women's wombs and their children are also presented as property and are thus examined in an essentialist discussion. The first chapter, "Property," explores the female characters of Shannon and Kate, the second chapter, "Progeny," discusses Claire and Danielle, and the third chapter, "Procreation," examines Sun and Juliet.

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