Over the Garden Wall's Portrayal of Anxiety and Guilt
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“THERE IS ONLY SURRENDER”: OVER THE GARDEN WALL’S PORTRAYAL OF ANXIETY AND GUILT by Kelsey DuQuaine A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts English Committee: ___________________________________________ Director ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Department Chairperson ___________________________________________ Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Date: _____________________________________ Spring Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA “There is only surrender”: Over the Garden Wall’s portrayal of anxiety and guilt A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at George Mason University by Kelsey DuQuaine Bachelor of Arts University of Wisconsin—Green Bay, 2013 Director: Teresa Michals, Professor Department of English Spring Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noderivs 3.0 unported license. ii DEDICATION This is dedicated to my family for all their love and support, and to my thesis director Dr. Teresa Michals for her hard work and patience. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not be possible without the constant support of the people around me. Dr. Teresa Michals was a dedicated collaborator, and her insight and knowledge was key to creating this work. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Eric Anderson and Dr. Cynthia Fuchs for taking the time to read and respond to my thesis and its proposal, and Dr. Amelia Rutledge for her assistance in finding appropriate sources. Finally, I thank my friend Billie Sue Desrosiers both for her support and her proofreading efforts. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................ viii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Discussing Fear and Gender in Children’s Literature ..................................................... 1 Over the Garden Wall’s Distinctions .............................................................................. 8 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 10 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................... 23 Anxious but Sympathetic Wirt, Fearful but Comic Scooby.......................................... 25 Decision-Making Anxiety ............................................................................................. 37 Endicott: The Warning Wirt Gives Himself ................................................................. 45 Act II: Coping Improves ............................................................................................... 54 Optimism and Improvement.......................................................................................... 67 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................... 69 Good Girls and Guilty Girls .......................................................................................... 70 Curses and Paralysis ...................................................................................................... 84 Girl Power ..................................................................................................................... 96 Gendered Struggles ..................................................................................................... 101 Coda ................................................................................................................................ 105 Additional Materials .................................................................................................... 105 Fandom ........................................................................................................................ 109 Final Thoughts............................................................................................................. 113 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 114 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1: Shaggy holds the map upside down and gets his friends lost. .......................... 29 Figure 2: The same frame is recycled within a single episode. ........................................ 31 Figure 3: Scooby bargains for more treats in exchange for walking into danger. ............ 32 Figure 4. Wirt is surprised Beatrice wants to hear more about his hobbies. ..................... 35 Figure 5: Wirt looks on in horror as Sara finds the tape. .................................................. 43 Figure 6: Wirt smiles as he explains the mystery of the haunted houses. ........................ 47 Figure 7: The teens explain the mystery at the end of an episode of Scooby-Doo. .......... 48 Figure 8: Books on architecture and interior design lay on Wirt’s bedroom floor. .......... 51 Figure 9: Wirt and Greg hide behind a gravestone bearing Quincy Endicott’s name. ..... 52 Figure 10: Wirt kicks the lantern out of the Woodsman’s hand. ...................................... 56 Figure 11: Wirt smiles after sucessfully escaping from the Woodsman. ......................... 57 Figure 12: Wirt blushes at suggesting Lorna run away with him. .................................... 58 Figure 13: Wirt is reminded of his mistakenly placed trust in Adelaide and Beatrice. .... 59 Figure 14: The Beast watches as Wirt admits he has no plan. .......................................... 60 Figure 15: Wirt begins his fall into despair. ..................................................................... 61 Figure 16: Greg flees the North Wind in a cartoon-style run cycle. ................................. 63 Figure 17: Wirt shivers in the wind on the ground. .......................................................... 64 Figure 18: Beatrice looks embarrassed after admitting she wants to hear Wirt play bassoon. ............................................................................................................................. 72 Figure 19: The Tavernkeeper in “Songs of the Dark Lantern” both looks and sounds like Betty Boop. ....................................................................................................................... 73 Figure 20: The Queen of the Clouds appears as Pinocchio’s Blue Fairy does and offers Greg a wish. ...................................................................................................................... 74 Figure 21: Snow White flees through a forest distorted by her own fear. ........................ 75 Figure 22: As Snow White recovers, the forest recovers its true appearance................... 76 Figure 23: The second episode’s visuals reflect its a lighter tone. ................................... 77 Figure 24: The final episode contains darker themes and equally dark visuals. ............... 78 Figure 25: Wirt’s negative emotions are reflected in the Unknown’s appearance, but Greg’s are not. ................................................................................................................... 79 Figure 26: Lorna frowns as she discusses how she is forced to clean. ............................. 80 Figure 27: Beatrice’s first appearance, just before Wirt realizes he and Greg are lost..... 86 Figure 28: Beatrice pretends to be tangled in a bush in order to trick Greg and Wirt into following her. .................................................................................................................... 86 Figure 29: Snow White lays in a cursed sleep in her coffin. ............................................ 87 Figure 30: Wirt lays on a fainting couch to wax poetic. ................................................... 88 vi Figure 31: The highly detailed landscape of the dwarf’s cottage, wherein Snow White takes refuge. ...................................................................................................................... 90 Figure 32: The highly detailed, similarly composed image of Lorna’s cottage, where Wirt and Greg take refuge. ........................................................................................................ 91 Figure 33: Adelaide plays a string game with yarn. ......................................................... 92 Figure 34: Adelaide wears a pointed witch’s hat and bears a red hourglass on her back as a black widow spider does. ............................................................................................... 93 Figure 35: Auntie Whispers weeps as she admits she believes Lorna will leave her. ...... 94 Figure 36: Snow White cleans the steps of her stepmother’s castle in rags. .................... 95 Figure 37: Beatrice, returned to human form, wears a dress and bound hair. .................. 97 Figure 38: Bluebirds help Snow White to clean. .............................................................