Date on Honors Thesis
Fall 12-2025
Major
Creative Writing
Minor
Psychology, Spanish
Examining Committee Member
Dr. TJ Martinson, Advisor
Examining Committee Member
Dr. Andrew Black, Committee Member
Examining Committee Member
Dr. Gwen Paradice, Committee Member
Abstract/Description
This project is an experimental novelette that builds off of a previous research essay. In my analytical essay, I examine Macbeth, King Lear, and The Tempest and ultimately use queer theory to argue that because we fear the power that women hold, our Western society has created a system in which we hold mothers to a binary that says they can only be selfless, tender, and loving. This creative project is a meta-retelling of Macbeth and King Lear set in 1950s Hollywood, following a producer named Earl as he tries to make one last movie before retirement. He fights for the success of his project while grappling with what it means to be an author, a narrator, and a character. Unfortunately for him, the people in his real life start to look a little too much like the cruel women he’s constructed in his script.
Recommended Citation
Tabler, Erin, "Mother Nature and The Sense of Our Limits: Defining, Understanding, and Controlling the Female Mother through Shakespeare’s Plays" (2025). Honors College Theses. 305.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/honorstheses/305