Gloves, Dresses and Thimbles : Class and Queerness in Adaptations of Fingersmith

M. Bruins

This thesis examines the representation of the relationship between the two main female characters in adaptations of the novel Fingersmith (2002) by Sarah Waters, namely the BBC TV series Fingersmith (2005) and the South-Korean film The Handmaiden (2016). This thesis uses intersectionality theory as well as queer theory to examine how this relationship is portrayed and focuses on how class, colonial relations, queer identity, and the differences and similarities between the two adaptations from different cultures determine this portrayal. This thesis argues that although The Handmaiden was produced in a culture where same-sex relationships are not accepted as much as they are in the West, the women in The Handmaiden have more agency in the narrative than the women in Fingersmith. Both relationships start out with definite social inequalities between the women, but it is the differences in how they act upon their feelings that makes for different representations of this relationship.