Identity and Performance in Margaret Atwood Novel Cat’s Eye
Duaa Hussein Hamoody, Dr. Azhar Noori Fejer

Abstract
Studies of gender identity show gender and sex are not natural but they are the products of working of power in societies such as institutions, discourse, and practices. One of the contributions of recent gender studies is to question the instability of masculine and feminine gender identity. This study is an application of Judith Butler concept ‘performative’ on Margaret Atwood novel Cat’s Eye(1988) relying on Butler’s concepts of identity and performance. The novel deals with gender performativity and the role of patriarchal society played on the female characters. Throughout her female protagonists, Atwood raises the question of woman’s place in a patriarchal society. The premise of this study is not only to determine the extent to which gender performativity determines the character’s identity but also to illustrate how gender identity is unstable and constructed socially and culturally.

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