Antagonist in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Chief Bromden describes her having unnatural orange lipstick and nail-polish, carrying a purse full of gears, and able to section her arms out like machine tentacles when she gets angry. Her one human attribute, what she is enternally bitter about, are her large breasts.
Comparison to Ti Grace Antkinson!
Names and double meanings:
Ti Grace
"Ti" is derived from french "petite," which is heard as "ti" because the "te" is silent. Coupled with the name "Grace," the spelling appears close to "tigress." This implies a diminuative woman becoming fierce.
Ratched
This spelling is close to "ratchet," a mechanical tool. The "-ed" suffix suggests the word is an adjective, possibly "wretched," which implies she is as miserable as the patients she "adjusts" and makes miserable.
Gender:
Ratched
She endevors to be sexless. Chief Bromden believes she hates her own bosom, the one distinctly "female" trait she can't disguise under her flat, starched uniform.
Ti Grace
As founding member of early feminist group "The Feminists," she advocated celibacy and seperatism for women avoiding the influence of male patriarchy.
Sex:
Ratched
Cooperates with his mother to coddle the 30-year-old virgin Billy Babbit in the hospital. One character, Harding, says she is a "ball-cutter."
Ti Grace
Adovcates political lesbianism, or lesbianism for the sake of women's independence. Also one of the first feminists to organize against pornography, which she believed was one more way for men to access women's bodies.
Electricity:
Ratched
Has patients sent for EST, Electro-Shock Therapy.
Ti Grace
Very good at "shocking" people.
Discourse:
Ratched
Justifies her actions to patients by mothering them, insisting she knows what's good for them. Generates her oppressive discourse by referring to the care of the mentally ill.
Ti Grace
Identifies institutions and ideas as patriarchal often by comparison with prostitution or rape. She generates her discourse about patriarchy by referring to the protection of women's bodies.