{"id":321,"date":"2017-03-10T21:49:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-11T02:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/?p=321"},"modified":"2019-11-12T00:21:09","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T05:21:09","slug":"mesuline-and-the-fae-a-recollection-of-a-senior-capstone-by-ashley-vassar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/2017\/03\/10\/mesuline-and-the-fae-a-recollection-of-a-senior-capstone-by-ashley-vassar\/","title":{"rendered":"Capstone Corner: Mesuline and the Fae by Ashley Vassar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I initially became acquainted with the subject matter for my capstone thesis in the English Department during my Senior Seminar with Dr. Demarco. In this seminar, I encountered the concepts of liminality, otherness, and other themes surrounding the blurred lines of animality and humanity. One of the works we read was Le Roman de Melusine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Le Roman de Melusine<\/em> was written in the late 14th century by Jean d\u2019Arras in order to help legitimize Jean de Berry\u2019s claim of the fortress of Lusignan. The titular character, Melusine, is a half-human, half-fairy woman who, after entombing her father in a mountain\u2014as revenge for his betrayal of her mother\u2014is cursed by her mother to turn into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. In order to break the curse, become fully human, and attain salvation, Melusine must find a husband who will agree to never look at her when she is in serpent form. She marries a nobleman, and raises him to riches with her cleverness and fairy powers. They have many sons, and it seems as if all is going well. Until her husband sneaks a look at her as she bathes one Saturday. He later denounces her. Then, she turns into a dragon and flies away. My argument focused on the themes of penitence and salvation that appear within the narrative, as well as how these themes of penitence weave into a greater narrative that serves to legitimize Jean de Berry.<\/p>\n

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It was really exciting to have the opportunity to research anything that interested me. That was a lot of freedom to have, and it allowed me to choose a topic that I knew would produce some of my best work. I was able to dive deeper into the scholarship surrounding a piece that had fascinated me when I first encountered it in class. I got a more \u201cauthentic\u201d idea of the type of work that graduate level scholars do. This paper definitely felt like a bridge between undergraduate and graduate work. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my undergraduate career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I initially became acquainted with the subject matter for my capstone thesis in the English Department during my Senior Seminar with Dr. Demarco. In this seminar, I encountered the concepts of liminality, otherness, and other themes surrounding the blurred lines of animality and humanity. One of the works we read was Le Roman de Melusine…. <\/p>\n

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