29 pages • 58 minutes read
Margaret AtwoodA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Simulacra is the plural of simulacrum, which, in Latin, means likeness, or similarity. In short, it’s a representation of a person or thing. Postmodern social theorist Jean Baudrillard took the likeness notion a step further, saying that simulacra are not copies of the real or original but become real in their own right, in postmodern culture. A good example of this would be a copy of an album purchased as a grouping of mp3s. At one point, the artist or musical group in question actually played the series of songs live, in a studio, to be recorded. This may be seen as the true “original.” However, the purchaser’s copy of the album (regardless of format) becomes, effectively, their version of the original, even though it’s a reproduction.
We see Atwood apply this to both character and plot in “Happy Endings.” Characters effectively become reproductions of the story’s version of the “original,” which would be the John and Mary in Section A. However, the John and Mary in Section A are so generic that they themselves may also be seen as reproductions, thereby placing the true “original” someplace outside the realm of the
By Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace
Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood
Backdrop Addresses Cowboy
Backdrop Addresses Cowboy
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Cat's Eye
Cat's Eye
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Death By Landscape
Death By Landscape
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Hag-Seed
Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold
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Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing
Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing
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Lady Oracle
Lady Oracle
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Life Before Man
Life Before Man
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MaddAddam
MaddAddam
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Oryx and Crake
Oryx and Crake
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Rape Fantasies
Rape Fantasies
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Siren Song
Siren Song
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Stone Mattress
Stone Mattress
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Surfacing
Surfacing
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The Blind Assassin
The Blind Assassin
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The Circle Game
The Circle Game
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The Edible Woman
The Edible Woman
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The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale
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The Heart Goes Last
The Heart Goes Last
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The Landlady
The Landlady
Margaret Atwood