Blanche e Pearl: Subversão da Donzela em Perigo no Gótico Sulista Americano

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the characters Pearl, the leading character of the horror feature film Pearl (2022), and Blanche DuBois, the main character of the classic A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), from the perspective of the damsel in distress archetype (Jung) in gothic literature, more specifically in the American Southern Gothic subgenre. The aim is to compare these characters by establishing the similarities and differences in their construction and their journeys, according to the historical-social context in which they are inserted and the particularities of each character's construction applied to their narratives. To this end, a case study was carried out of the films X (2022) and Pearl (2022) both directed by Ti West. The same was made with the cinematographic adaptation by the original play from Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) directed by Elia Kazan. The purpose of this monograph is to explore the archetype of the damsel in distress that is prevalent in the gothic genre and to explain how the characters mentioned are able to fit in this archetype, however they still subvert beliefs about this archetype.