“Completion of a Circle”: Female Process of Self-Realization and Individuation in Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride and “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth”

In The Robber Bride and its sequel, “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth,” Margaret Atwood underscores complex feminine identity through femme fatale, who is depicted using mythic Gothic figures, such as vampire. contradicts socially-sanctioned roles for women. She shapes newer more complete social personal female identities, questioning how inadequately patriarchal system represents their multiplicity. author describes protagonists challenge definition Self on Jungian journey towards individuation, which fatal woman, Shadow Self, acts a catalyst.