The Aesthetics of the Serpent: Identity, Stigma, and Renewal in Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent

Yıl 2026, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 1, 171 - 183, 26.03.2026

Baturay Erdal

https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.1853301

https://izlik.org/JA97RS85GC

Öz

This article explores the image of the serpent and the reinterpretation of its association with women in Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent. The serpent, formerly a symbol of renewal and intuitive wisdom, turns into a representation of evil along with the rise of Judeo-Christian theology, and thus appears in the form a discursive apparatus serving the demonization of women through the culturally produced links to femininity. Challenging the patriarchal transmission of serpentine imagery, the author subverts this cultural lineage and restores it as a symbol of renewal and aesthetic transformation through the novel’s female protagonist, Cora Seaborne. While Cora rebuilds her identity through science and reason against the social constraints of the Victorian era, the novel’s understanding of contemporary feminist aesthetics reconsiders the serpent-woman image not as a mark of stigma but rather as a narrative of liberation and transformation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Serpent , Stigma , Feminism , Woman , Sarah Perry

Yılan Estetiği: Sarah Perry’nin The Essex Serpent Romanında Kimlik, Damgalanma ve Yenilenme

https://izlik.org/JA97RS85GC

Öz

Bu makale, Sarah Perry’nin The Essex Serpent adlı romanında yılan imgesinin ve bu imgenin kadın ile özdeşleştirilmesinin yeniden yorumlanışını ele alır. Bir zamanlar yenilenmenin ve sezgisel bilgeliğin sembolü olan yılan kavramı, Yahudi-Hristiyan geleneğin ortaya çıkmasıyla birlikte kötücül ve şeytani olanın simgesi olarak kullanılmış, kültürel olarak kadınlıkla kurulmuş bağlantılar üzerinden kadının şeytanlaştırılmasında söylemsel bir araç olarak kullanılmıştır. Yılan imgesinin eril aktarımına meydan okuyan yazar, bu kültürel mirası ters yüz ederek onu romanın kadın kahramanı Cora Seaborne ile yeniden doğuş ve estetik dönüşümün sembolü haline getirir. Cora, Viktorya dönemi toplumsal kısıtlamalarına karşı bilim ve akıl aracılığıyla kendi kimliğini yeniden inşa ederken, romanın çağdaş feminist estetik anlayışı, yılan-kadın imgesini bir damgalanma biçiminden çıkarıp, özgürleşmenin ve deri değiştirmenin bir anlatısı olarak yeniden ele alır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Yılan , Damga , Feminizm , Kadın , Sarah Perry

Kaynakça

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