Narratives of Intelligence: Humor, Performance, and Cognition in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Resumo

This paper analyzes how The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017) represents different forms of female intelligence through narrative strategies grounded in comic performance, social adaptation, and cultural identity. Drawing from research that correlates humor and cognition, as well as theories of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence, the paper argues that the characters Midge, Rose, and Astrid articulate narrative models of cognition and moral judgment. These models organize their perception of the world, their social interactions, and their identities. Anchored in the idea that narratives do not merely reflect but actively shape experience, the series is understood as a fictional laboratory where female intelligence, often silenced or misrepresented, is dramatized and reconfigured. The paper contributes to the interdisciplinary debate on narrative and human cognition by focusing on how fictional narratives enact plural and situated forms of intelligence.