Rosemary's Baby Discussion Q's
1) How do you interpret the final scene of the novel? What is most horrifying about it?
2) What might this novel ultimately be saying about religion? Why is religion so closely linked to horror?
3) Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966, although a few historical precedents exist. Prior to the public practice, Satanism existed primarily as an accusation by various Christian groups toward perceived ideological opponents (similarly to calling someone a "witch"), rather than a self-identity. Satanism, and the concept of Satan, has also been used by artists and entertainers for symbolic expression.
Satanism relies on Christianity, as the figure of Satan is a part of Christian mythology. Therefore, Satanism is seen as an inversion: someone who violates social codes and norms and intends to do harm for selfish gain.
Why do you think the author chose Satanism as the religion that is oppressing Rosemary?
What aspects of Christianity or the Christian narrative does the novel "invert" and to what ends?
4) According to Jack Halberstam, the gothic is "a narrative technique, a generic spin that transforms the lovely and beautiful into the abhorrent. It disrupts the dominant cultures representations of family, heterosexuality, ethnicity, and class politics." Rosemary's pregnancy is a gothic pregnancy, a category of the 'monstrous feminine.'
The gothic relies on hyperbole or exaggeration to invoke horror in the viewer/reader, but ultimately what it is exaggerating can be tied back to real life horrors. What real life horrors does this book "exaggerate," specifically related to pregnancy, and motherhood? What is it critiquing about the "family unit" of the 1960s?
5) How might the feminist slogan "the personal is political" be applicable to this novel?
5.5) Also, who does Rosemary's body belong to?
BONUS:
6) What is the role of paranoia in the novel?
7) How might the novel be a feminist critique of institutionalized medicine?
8) What is the role of gaslighting in the novel? How frequently does Rosemary doubt herself or do others attempt to get her to doubt herself?
2) What might this novel ultimately be saying about religion? Why is religion so closely linked to horror?
3) Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966, although a few historical precedents exist. Prior to the public practice, Satanism existed primarily as an accusation by various Christian groups toward perceived ideological opponents (similarly to calling someone a "witch"), rather than a self-identity. Satanism, and the concept of Satan, has also been used by artists and entertainers for symbolic expression.
Satanism relies on Christianity, as the figure of Satan is a part of Christian mythology. Therefore, Satanism is seen as an inversion: someone who violates social codes and norms and intends to do harm for selfish gain.
Why do you think the author chose Satanism as the religion that is oppressing Rosemary?
What aspects of Christianity or the Christian narrative does the novel "invert" and to what ends?
4) According to Jack Halberstam, the gothic is "a narrative technique, a generic spin that transforms the lovely and beautiful into the abhorrent. It disrupts the dominant cultures representations of family, heterosexuality, ethnicity, and class politics." Rosemary's pregnancy is a gothic pregnancy, a category of the 'monstrous feminine.'
The gothic relies on hyperbole or exaggeration to invoke horror in the viewer/reader, but ultimately what it is exaggerating can be tied back to real life horrors. What real life horrors does this book "exaggerate," specifically related to pregnancy, and motherhood? What is it critiquing about the "family unit" of the 1960s?
5) How might the feminist slogan "the personal is political" be applicable to this novel?
5.5) Also, who does Rosemary's body belong to?
BONUS:
6) What is the role of paranoia in the novel?
7) How might the novel be a feminist critique of institutionalized medicine?
8) What is the role of gaslighting in the novel? How frequently does Rosemary doubt herself or do others attempt to get her to doubt herself?
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