Plover student presents research at seventh annual Celebration of Scholars event

2017 May 2

Carthage College held the seventh annual Celebration of Scholars event on Friday, April 28, 2017. Celebration of Scholars is a poster exhibition that features original research, scholarship, and creative work completed by Carthage students.

Magdalena Rocha of Plover presented "Female Deification: The Epic of Gilgamesh" at the event.

This is the project's abstract:

"In "Female Deification: The Epic of Gilgamesh" I formulate an argument against a feminist critique of the epic using an in-depth analysis of the female characters and their positions within the text itself. Although it seems female characters play a passive role in the epic, in reality they are mentioned actively within the text as goddesses, immortals, or as godlike. How male characters interact with them and how they interact with one another shows the surprising power behind the women's behavior, especially in comparison with their male counterparts. I labeled this process of character development as "female deification" to express how these seemingly insignificant characters become godlike in their placement and expression in the epic. This is particularly significant in the ways they affect the male protagonists, as well as the limits and abilities the women seem to carry individually. Through the study of this deification, I prove that they are not undermined and thrown away. Instead, the women of the text are revered and depicted as equal to or beyond men."