Incest is actually a pretty common theme in a couple of genres, but it is one of the "problematic loves" in gothic lit (and maybe romantic? it's been ages since I've done non-medieval lit).
The thing that surprises me about the emotional incest between Sam and Dean (as opposed to normal themes of incest in standard Gothic literature) is that it doesn't appear to be a forbidden thing that will one day come to light and rain horror upon them. Everybody knows about their romance, whether it's Bobby, their surrogate father; the Trickster, their enemy but potentially an ally in this war between heaven and hell; the random people they meet during case work. This emotional incest is, probably, the only thing keeping them sane and certainly the only reason they're alive today. (Dean sacrifices himself at the end of season two, but in Faith, 1.12, Sam doesn't care if others die and unwittingly and unwillingly give their lives for Dean's.)
The show would have ended a long time ago if they weren't buoying each other up with their emotional entanglement.
Feel free to quote me, if you like. (I'm blushing that you might want to use this for a paper.)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 12:51 pm (UTC)The thing that surprises me about the emotional incest between Sam and Dean (as opposed to normal themes of incest in standard Gothic literature) is that it doesn't appear to be a forbidden thing that will one day come to light and rain horror upon them. Everybody knows about their romance, whether it's Bobby, their surrogate father; the Trickster, their enemy but potentially an ally in this war between heaven and hell; the random people they meet during case work. This emotional incest is, probably, the only thing keeping them sane and certainly the only reason they're alive today. (Dean sacrifices himself at the end of season two, but in Faith, 1.12, Sam doesn't care if others die and unwittingly and unwillingly give their lives for Dean's.)
The show would have ended a long time ago if they weren't buoying each other up with their emotional entanglement.
Feel free to quote me, if you like. (I'm blushing that you might want to use this for a paper.)