Menarche, Single Motherhood, and the Pathologization of Adolescent Agency in William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist

Abstract

William Peter Blatty’s 1971 The Exorcist remains a pivotal and genre-defining landmark that irrevocably altered the landscape of horror literature by bridging the gap between psychological realism and the supernatural. Through a critical lens, this paper examines how Blatty utilizes demonic possession as a metaphor for menstruation and menarche, framing the transition from girlhood to womanhood as a site of monstrous abjection that threatens social order. By applying Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, the paper reveals how Regan’s body becomes a manifestation of societal fears regarding female autonomy and adolescent rebellion during an era of significant social upheaval. Furthermore, this paper argues that the novel exhibits a covert contempt toward female autonomy, specifically targeting the figure of the single mother, Chris MacNeil, as a source of familial decay and the direct consequence of her daughter's affliction. Ultimately, the paper suggests that The Exorcist serves as religious propaganda, weaponizing horror to react against the progressive shifts of the 1960s and 1970s and reinforcing traditional gender roles by centering a man’s spiritual recovery over female trauma. Blatty’s work serves as a powerful reminder of how horror can be used to reassert moral order and dismiss the complexities of female adolescence as a problem to be conquered.