Dramatic Intertextuality in Alison Bechdel’s "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic": Exploring Gender and Sexuality Through Shakespeare and Wilde

This thesis will examine how Alison Bechdels 2006 graphic memoir "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" uses references to William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and their works to explore Bechdels and her fathers sexual identities and gender identities. First, I will argue that Bechdels use of dramatic intertextuality is often ignored in favour of her use of modernist canonical fiction. Then I will proceed to explain why dramatic intertextuality is important for the graphic narrative and for Fun Home in particular. Afterwards, I will specifically focus on the dramatic intertextual references to Shakespeare and Wilde. I will argue that Bechdel explores her own gender identity by indirectly referencing Shakespeares use of theatrical transvestitism. Then I will argue that she explores her fathers sexuality by comparing him to Oscar Wilde and the homosexual archetypes he used in his plays. I will conclude my thesis with a discussion on how Bechdel employs indirect and direct dramatic intertextual references and what these references convey about her gender identity and her fathers sexual identity.