Wonder Woman William Moulton Marston

1 wonder woman

1.1 creation
1.2 development
1.3 themes

wonder woman

creation

on october 25, 1940, interview conducted former student olive byrne (under pseudonym olive richard ) published in family circle (titled don t laugh @ comics ), in marston said saw great educational potential in comic books. (a follow-up article published 2 years later in 1942.) interview caught attention of comics publisher max gaines, hired marston educational consultant national periodicals , all-american publications, 2 of companies later merge form dc comics.

in 1940s, dc comics line dominated superpower-endowed male characters such green lantern , superman (its flagship character), batman, high-tech gadgets. according fall 2001 issue of boston university alumni magazine, idea of marston s wife, elizabeth holloway marston, create female superhero. marston recommended idea new kind of superhero, 1 conquer not fists or firepower, love. fine, said elizabeth. make woman.

marston introduced idea max gaines, co-founder jack liebowitz of all-american publications. given go-ahead, marston developed wonder woman, basing character on unconventional, liberated, powerful modern women of day. marston s pseudonym, charles moulton, combined own , gaines s middle names.

in 1943 issue of american scholar, marston wrote: not girls want girls long our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, , power. not wanting girls, don t want tender, submissive, peace-loving women are. women s strong qualities have become despised because of weakness. obvious remedy create feminine character strength of superman plus allure of , beautiful woman.

in 2017, majority of marston s personal papers arrived @ schlesinger library @ radcliffe institute advanced study; collection helps tell backstory of wonder woman, including unorthodox personal life 2 idealistic , strong women, olive byrne , elizabeth marston, connection margaret sanger, 1 of influential feminists of twentieth century. (collen walsh (2017). life behind wonder woman. harvard gazette. september 7, 2017)

development

marston s character native of all-female utopia of amazons became crime-fighting u.s. government agent, using superhuman strength , agility, , ability force villains submit , tell truth binding them magic lasso. appearance believed based on olive byrne, , heavy bronze bracelets (which used deflect bullets) inspired jewelry bracelets worn byrne.

after name suprema replaced wonder woman, popular term @ time described women exceptionally gifted, character made debut in star comics #8 in december 1941. wonder woman next appeared in sensation comics #1 (january 1942), , 6 months later, wonder woman #1 debuted. except 4 months in 1986, series has been in print ever since. stories written marston , illustrated newspaper artist harry peter. during life marston had written many articles , books on various psychological topics, last 6 years of writing devoted comics creation.

much of creation of wonder woman s world composed of allegories of theories , happenings in own life. wonder woman herself allegory marston s ideal concept of love leader .

william moulton marston died of cancer on may 2, 1947, in rye, new york, 7 days shy of 54th birthday. after death, elizabeth , olive continued live until olive s death in 1990, aged 86; elizabeth died in 1993, aged 100. in 1985, marston posthumously named 1 of honorees dc comics in company s 50th anniversary publication fifty made dc great.

themes

william moulton marston s philosophy of diametric opposites has bled design of wonder woman mythology. theme of diametrics took form of emphasis on masculine , feminine configurations dominance , submission.

marston s wonder woman example of bondage themes entering popular culture in 1930s. physical , mental submission appears again , again throughout marston s comics work, wonder woman , criminal opponents being tied or otherwise restrained, , amazonian sisters engaging in frequent wrestling , bondage play. these elements softened later writers of series, dropped such characters nazi-like blond female slaver eviless completely, despite having formed original villainy inc. of wonder woman s enemies (in wonder woman #28, last marston.)

though marston had described female nature being more capable of submission emotion, in other writings , interviews, referred submission noble practice , did not shy away sexual implications, saying:

the hope peace teach people full of pep , unbound force enjoy being bound... when control of self others more pleasant unbound assertion of self in human relationships can hope stable, peaceful human society... giving others, being controlled them, submitting other people cannot possibly enjoyable without strong erotic element.

one of purposes of these bondage depictions induce eroticism in readers part of called sex love training. through wonder woman comics, aimed condition readers becoming more readily accepting of loving submission loving authorities rather being assertive own destructive egos.

about male readers, later wrote: give them alluring woman stronger submit to, , ll proud become willing slaves!

marston combined these themes others, including restorative , transformative justice, rehabilitation, regret , roles in civilization. these appeared in depiction of near-ideal amazon civilization of paradise island, , reform island penal colony, played central role in many stories , loving alternative retributive justice of world run men. these themes particularly evident in last story, in prisoners freed eviless, have responded amazon rehabilitation , have dominance/submission, stop , restore amazons power.

some of these themes continued on in silver age characters, may have been influenced marston, notably saturn girl , saturn queen, (like eviless , female army) saturn, clad in tight, dark red bodysuits, blond or red-haired, , have telepathic powers. stories involving latter have been focused on emotions involved in changing sides evil good, stories green lantern s blackest night emotional spectrum influenced marston s research emotions. wonder woman s golden lasso , venus girdle in particular focus of many of stories , have same capability reform people in short term transformation island , prolonged wearing of venus girdles offered in longer term. venus girdle allegory marston s theory of sex love training, people can trained embrace submission through eroticism.