Gender, Power, and Satire in Will Self's Cock and Bull

Abstract

While Will Self's Cock and Bull has rightly been seen as a satirical critique of gender and sexuality, this article argues that critics have tended to overlook the intertwining critique of power that accompanies such themes. Placing Cock and Bull within the larger context of Self's subsequent writings and intellectual influences, this essay examines how these two early novellas self-consciously borrow from and engage with the tradition of British satire, which has long been concerned with questions of gender, sexuality, and power.