Plant Horror
Approaches to the Monstrous Vegetal in Fiction and Film
Editors:
Keetley, Dawn, Tenga, Angela (Eds.)
Editors: Keetley, Dawn, Tenga, Angela (Eds.)
In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
(1999), a monstrous animal necessitates both the care and the
depredation of a monstrous plant. A basilisk, unleashed by dark forces,
petrifies animals with its gaze, and these animals can be revived only
by a potion made from the mandrake, an uncannily homuncular plant with a
lethal cry. As more and more animals lose animacy—petrified into forms
of immobile life—the animality and humanity of the plants grow. Like
sacrificial virgins (albeit very ugly ones), the mandrakes are tenderly,
painstakingly cared for until their eventual slaughter. In effect, the Harry Potter
mandrake may be said to live like a human and die like a plant,
fulfilling what is typically considered a plant’s sole purpose: to
enable animal life.
- Ainsworth, W. H. (1878). Rookwood: A Romance [Online]. London: George Routledge and Sons. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comBible Flowers and Flower Lore. (1885). [Online] London: Hodder and Stoughton. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comBrowne, Sir Thomas. (1835). Sir Thomas Browne’s Works Including His Life and Correspondence. Vol. II. S. Wilkin (Ed.), [Online]. Norwich: Josiah Fletcher. Accessed October 31, 2015, from http://books.google.comCarter, A. J. (2003). Myths and Mandrakes. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine [Online] 96, 144–147. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/The Country Squire and the Mandrake. (1792). In Collection of Fugitive Fables [Online]. London: J. Murray. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comDrummond, J. L. (1831). First Steps to Botany [Online]. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comFolkard, R. (1884). Mandrake. In Plant-Lore, Legends, and Lyrics [Online]. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comThe Folk-Lore of Drayton. (1884). The Folk-Lore Journal [Online] 2(12), 357–369. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comHardwick, C. (1872). Traditions,
Superstitions, and Folk-Lore (Chiefly Lancashire and the North of
England): Their Affinity to Others in Widely-Distributed Localities;
Their Eastern Origin and Mythical Significance [Online]. Manchester: A. Ireland and Co. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comKrug, A. S. (2013). Reproducing Plant Bodies on the Great Plains. In R. Laist (Ed.), Plants and Literature: Essays in Critical Plant Studies. Critical Plant Studies 1. New York: Rodopi.
Lincoln, A. H. (1845). Familiar Lectures on Botany [Online]. New York: Huntington and Savage. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comA Little More Plant Lore. (1885). All the Year Round 868, 413–417 [Online]. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comThe Mandrake. (1837). In The Family Magazine, or Monthly Abstract of General Knowledge. Vol. V. [Online]. New York: J.S. Redfield. p. 14. Accessed December 27, 2015, from http://books.google.comThe Mandrake in Folk-Medicine. (1918). Boston Medical and Surgical Journal [Online] 178(1), 131. Accessed December 27, 2015, from http://books.google.comMarder, M. (2011). Plant-Soul: The Elusive Meanings of Vegetative Life. Environmental Philosophy, 8 (1), 83–99.CrossRefMeeker,
N., & Szabari, A. (2012). From the Century of the Pods to the
Century of the Plants: Plant Horror, Politics, and Vegetal Ontology. Discourse, 34 (1), 32–58.
Meredith, O. (1882). The Fount of Truth. In Poetical Works of Owen Meredith (Robert, Lord Lytton) [Online]. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comNapier, J. (1879). Folk Lore; or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland Within This Century [Online]. Paisley: Alex Gardner. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comNares, R. (1825). Mandrake. In A Glossary; or Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Illusions to Customs, Proverbs, &c. [Online]. Stralsund: Charles Loeffler. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comNorthall, G. F. (1899). The Mandrake: A Fantasy. Gentleman’s Magazine [Online] 286, 91–99. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comReview of A Scriptural Herbal by Maria Calcott. (1842). Church of England Quarterly Review [Online] 13, 113–136. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comRousseau, J. J. (1794) Letters on the Elements of Botany, Addressed to a Lady. 4th ed. (T. Martyn, Trans.). [Online] London: Horace’s Head. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comRowling, J. K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic.
Rowling, J. K. (2007). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury.
Ryan, C. (2013). Playing with Plants. Theatre Journal, 65 (3), 335–353.CrossRefShakespeare, W. (1778). The Plays of William Shakespeare [Online] Vol. 6. London: C. Bathurst et al. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comSmythson, Tissot, Buchan, & Cornwell. (Eds.). (1798). The Universal Family Physician and Surgeon [Online]. Blackburn: Hemingway and Nuttall. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comSomething about Mandrakes. (1857). Frank Leslie’s New Family Magazine [Online]. 1(1), 148–149. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comTuan, Y. (1984). Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
The Wonderful Properties of Mandrake. (1896). American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record. [Online] 29(8), 266–267. (Accessed 5 June 2015).
Woodville, W. (1794). Supplement to Medical Botany [Online]. London: James Phillips. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.com
In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
(1999), a monstrous animal necessitates both the care and the
depredation of a monstrous plant. A basilisk, unleashed by dark forces,
petrifies animals with its gaze, and these animals can be revived only
by a potion made from the mandrake, an uncannily homuncular plant with a
lethal cry. As more and more animals lose animacy—petrified into forms
of immobile life—the animality and humanity of the plants grow. Like
sacrificial virgins (albeit very ugly ones), the mandrakes are tenderly,
painstakingly cared for until their eventual slaughter. In effect, the Harry Potter
mandrake may be said to live like a human and die like a plant,
fulfilling what is typically considered a plant’s sole purpose: to
enable animal life.
- Ainsworth, W. H. (1878). Rookwood: A Romance [Online]. London: George Routledge and Sons. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comBible Flowers and Flower Lore. (1885). [Online] London: Hodder and Stoughton. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comBrowne, Sir Thomas. (1835). Sir Thomas Browne’s Works Including His Life and Correspondence. Vol. II. S. Wilkin (Ed.), [Online]. Norwich: Josiah Fletcher. Accessed October 31, 2015, from http://books.google.comCarter, A. J. (2003). Myths and Mandrakes. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine [Online] 96, 144–147. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/The Country Squire and the Mandrake. (1792). In Collection of Fugitive Fables [Online]. London: J. Murray. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comDrummond, J. L. (1831). First Steps to Botany [Online]. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comFolkard, R. (1884). Mandrake. In Plant-Lore, Legends, and Lyrics [Online]. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comThe Folk-Lore of Drayton. (1884). The Folk-Lore Journal [Online] 2(12), 357–369. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comHardwick, C. (1872). Traditions,
Superstitions, and Folk-Lore (Chiefly Lancashire and the North of
England): Their Affinity to Others in Widely-Distributed Localities;
Their Eastern Origin and Mythical Significance [Online]. Manchester: A. Ireland and Co. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comKrug, A. S. (2013). Reproducing Plant Bodies on the Great Plains. In R. Laist (Ed.), Plants and Literature: Essays in Critical Plant Studies. Critical Plant Studies 1. New York: Rodopi.
Lincoln, A. H. (1845). Familiar Lectures on Botany [Online]. New York: Huntington and Savage. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comA Little More Plant Lore. (1885). All the Year Round 868, 413–417 [Online]. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comThe Mandrake. (1837). In The Family Magazine, or Monthly Abstract of General Knowledge. Vol. V. [Online]. New York: J.S. Redfield. p. 14. Accessed December 27, 2015, from http://books.google.comThe Mandrake in Folk-Medicine. (1918). Boston Medical and Surgical Journal [Online] 178(1), 131. Accessed December 27, 2015, from http://books.google.comMarder, M. (2011). Plant-Soul: The Elusive Meanings of Vegetative Life. Environmental Philosophy, 8 (1), 83–99.CrossRefMeeker, N., & Szabari, A. (2012). From the Century of the Pods to the Century of the Plants: Plant Horror, Politics, and Vegetal Ontology. Discourse, 34 (1), 32–58.
Meredith, O. (1882). The Fount of Truth. In Poetical Works of Owen Meredith (Robert, Lord Lytton) [Online]. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comNapier, J. (1879). Folk Lore; or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland Within This Century [Online]. Paisley: Alex Gardner. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comNares, R. (1825). Mandrake. In A Glossary; or Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Illusions to Customs, Proverbs, &c. [Online]. Stralsund: Charles Loeffler. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comNorthall, G. F. (1899). The Mandrake: A Fantasy. Gentleman’s Magazine [Online] 286, 91–99. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comReview of A Scriptural Herbal by Maria Calcott. (1842). Church of England Quarterly Review [Online] 13, 113–136. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comRousseau, J. J. (1794) Letters on the Elements of Botany, Addressed to a Lady. 4th ed. (T. Martyn, Trans.). [Online] London: Horace’s Head. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comRowling, J. K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic.
Rowling, J. K. (2007). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury.
Ryan, C. (2013). Playing with Plants. Theatre Journal, 65 (3), 335–353.CrossRefShakespeare, W. (1778). The Plays of William Shakespeare [Online] Vol. 6. London: C. Bathurst et al. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comSmythson, Tissot, Buchan, & Cornwell. (Eds.). (1798). The Universal Family Physician and Surgeon [Online]. Blackburn: Hemingway and Nuttall. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comSomething about Mandrakes. (1857). Frank Leslie’s New Family Magazine [Online]. 1(1), 148–149. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.comTuan, Y. (1984). Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
The Wonderful Properties of Mandrake. (1896). American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record. [Online] 29(8), 266–267. (Accessed 5 June 2015).
Woodville, W. (1794). Supplement to Medical Botany [Online]. London: James Phillips. Accessed June 5, 2015, from http://books.google.com
