Date of Publication

8-2025

Document Type

Bachelor's Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in Literature major in Creative Writing

Subject Categories

Fiction

College

College of Liberal Arts

Department/Unit

Literature, Department of

Thesis Advisor

Clarissa V. Militante

Defense Panel Member

Ana Margarita R. Nuñez
Robin Jason A. Sebolino

Abstract (English)

Butterflies with Clipped Wings is a domestic horror novella that incorporates dreams as part of world building. It explores human complexity through morally ambiguous characters and their respective guilt and traumas. It explores the grief-ridden world of Reine as she struggles to live a new normal after the death of her older sister May with her mother Marianne. The mother and daughter navigate life as outsiders in the community, with the villagers treating them with caution due to rumors and gossip about the mother’s failing marriage, the mysterious suicide of the eldest daughter, and the family’s ongoing financial struggles. The mother and daughter are seen as cursed with bad luck and only keep to themselves. As Reine descends deeper in her dreams and memories, madness and mayhem seem to creep through her reality as horrific entities of her sister seem to haunt her everywhere in the house. The horror manifests in the house and the world perpetually changing as Reine lives between the present and the past. The secrets of the family unravel as the lines between dream and reality, past and present changes in every chapter, which encapsulates the unbecoming of the main protagonist through her escapism in her dreams and memories. The novella is split into two parts that focuses on Reine’s fall to madness and insanity as well as the truth of what happened the day May died. The narrative explores themes of isolation, familial discord, and the psychological impact of grief and loss. It takes inspiration from ideas and tropes found in Female Gothic narratives through a third person limited narrative that follows the main character’s perspective through her downward spiral.

Abstract Format

html

Abstract (Filipino)

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Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Keywords

Horror tales; Grief in literature

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Embargo Period

8-12-2025

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