“—because Gerty MacDowell was ...”: Disability, Womanhood, and Identification in “Nausicaa”

This essay questions the extent to which Gerty MacDowell fits the label of “disabled,” “lame,” or any other contiguous term; and, more broadly, it considers the ways in which “Nausicaa” engages with (or evades) contemporary disability and gender-related discourses. Identity and identification are key themes; I examine the fashioning of Gerty’s identity and address the impact of her multilayered characterization on readers—disabled women readers, in particular—seeking identification and relatability. In doing this, I challenge several ingrained interpretations, including the long-held view that Gerty’s limp was caused by a bicycle accident, the idea that “Nausicaa” can be neatly divided into two clear perspectives, and the identification of Joyce’s Gerty MacDowell with Maria Susanna Cummins’s Gerty Flint. Via genetic and intertextual study, paired with insights drawn from disability studies and personal criticism, I propose alternative models of disability with which Gerty (and her readers) might identify.