Mrs Kim Pratt

Professional biography

Outline of Research Project

Thesis title: Monsters as the Other: A Defence of Polyphemos from Homer's Odyssey to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Supervisors: Dr Joanna Paul (Classical Studies), Dr Peg Katritzky (English) and Professor Genevieve Liveley (Classical Studies, University of Bristol)

Monsters are usually considered repugnant – loathed and vanquished by those who encounter them, and only rarely accepted and loved. Yet, despite the surge in interest in Monster Studies in recent years, this aspect of the monster’s plight has not been given serious attention by scholars so far and few have undertaken an in-depth study from the perspective of any one particular classical monster or considered his hero (or god) antagonist within the context of Monster Studies. Also largely overlooked by the majority of scholars is casual written correspndence between Mary Shelley and her close friend, the essayist and poet Leigh Hunt, where she remarked that she had written a 'defence' of the classical Cyclops, Polyphemos. Building on this correspndence I will be conducting a diachronic comparative study and in-depth reappraisal of the Cyclops and his hero/divine fellow antagonists and searching the selected ancient texts that feature Polyphemos for aspects that could have prompted Mary Shelley to write a defence in his favour.

 The main texts I have selected for close reading are: Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey (c.8th century BCE), Euripides’ satyr play, Cyclops (5th century BCE), the pastoral poetry of Theocritus’ Idylls VI and XI (3rd century BCE), Ovid’s poem, Metamorphoses (1st century CE), and MWS’s novel, Frankenstein (19th century CE). However, I will also be giving in-depth consideration to other relevant texts, both ancient and modern, during the course of my study, and will also engage in depth and detail with a number of visual depictions of Polyphemos and the Creature.

Since March 2019 I was involved with 'Athena's Owls' - a workshop aimed at children of primary school age which promotes interest in the ancient world. The original workshops were run by two PhD students from the University of Manchester and it was my intention to extend coverage to Liverpool but due to the Covid pandemic this had to be shelved but it was then run online hosting competitions instead which I helped to judge. 

In November 2019 I gave a talk to inmates at HMP Stafford as part of the Students in Secure Environments (SiSE) scheme run by the Open University. 

Since its inception in October 2020 I have been co-convenor of the GOTH (Gender and Otherness in The Humanities) PG Forum held on the first Thursday of each month. Topics we have covered include, the trope of 'The Madwoman in the Attic', gender fluidity in the arts and humanities, the non-human as Other, and fairytales: feminist readings and examining the Other.