The Female's Role In Gothic Literature

A querying of normative gender behaviour and sexuality pervades the 19th century gothic fiction text. What does this reveal about the cultural context within the tale exists?

Women have a profound role in not only the society, but in all facets of culture. Their impact can be seen/felt in music, fashion, and even literature. After reading the short stories from the last few weeks, it has become more apparent that women truly encompass a definite role as well in gothic fiction. As a result, this paper will seek to analyze and define the roles of women in two (2) prominent gothic fiction pieces: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

The reader is able to satisfy his or hers innermost desires through the pages of the book. The reader finds refuge through Gothic text. This is no exception with the authors. The author also wants to satisfy their imagination by creatively and articulately channelling their thoughts into a work of art. Robert Kidd writes in his ‘Transgressing the Boundaries’ article, “The power and passion of Gothic Literature seemed eminently suited to the iconoclasts who wished to challenge the status quo”. There were many famous writers like this, for example, Horace Walpole, Lewis, Godwin and of course Mary Shelley. The authors and readers of Gothic Literature share a very special connection. Both sides gain from books and share the same feelings as one writes and one reads the book, with both satisfying their imaginations.

Gothic literature has been criticized as being a dreary, dark, and death-involving subset of Romanticism (a literary movement accentuating human individuality, imagination, and subjectivity). In addition, gothic lit incorporates several themes- not all about deathly acts - but includes some emotional and surprising themes such as dreams, nightmares, or hallucinations, and grotesque or bizarre occurrences. Two short stories, both written by Edgar Allan Poe, entitled “The Raven,” and “The Black Cat,” as well as the novel The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, all encompass these gothic elements, found throughout each story.

In medieval literature, the role of women often represents many familiar traits and characteristics which present societies still preserve. Beauty, attractiveness, and grace almost completely exemplify the attributes of powerful women in both present and past narratives. European medieval prose often separates the characteristics of women into two distinct roles in society. Women can be portrayed as the greatest gift to mankind, revealing everything that is good, pure, and beautiful in a woman's life. On the other side of the coin, many women are compared to everything that is evil and harmful, creating a witch-like or temptress quality for the character. These two aspects of European culture and literature show that the power of

‘The role of women in the gothic genre is as victims always subjected to male authority’, compare and contrast to which this interpretation is relevant to your three chosen texts.

The gothic literary movement is a part of the larger Romantic Movement. Gothic literature shares many of the traits of romanticism, such as the emphasis on emotions and the imagination. Gothic literature goes beyond the melancholy evident in most romantic works, however, and enters into the areas of horror and decay, becoming preoccupied with death. “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe is a powerful example of gothic fiction, whereas James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans serves as the romantic predecessor, illustrating the differences and the similarities between romantic and gothic literature.

This dissertation will examine and analyse two of the macabre and gothic tales from the English author Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865); The Old Nurses Story (1852) and The Poor Clare (1857). Indicating and demonstrating how representations of mystery and the supernatural are used as vehicles of imagination, expression and exploration into the hidden depths of the female psyche through the use of Gothic fiction within the Victorian era (1837-1901). I intend to delve and explore into the identity of the feminine-self exposing the darker and intimate issues of the female Gothic, otherwise hidden within the oppressive constraints of the female role residing in Victorian society. Applying psychoanalytical examples, I shall discuss themes of the

Consider how the Gothic elements present in The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and the Selected Poems of John Keats affect the presentation of women within the texts. In the course of your response make reference to how Dracula by Mary Shelley has illuminated your understanding. Gothic literature has the tendency to portray women as one of two archetypes; the ‘predator’ or the ‘victim’. The first is often shown to be the temptress of the story, ethereal and deadly; she helps portray the pain/pleasure paradox that has come to be synonymous with Gothic literature.

The Gothic genre is an increasingly popular area for feminist studies, showing contrasts in society at the time and the expectations of women within it. In pre industrial times, women were expected to play a subservient role to men, they were expected to marry young and bare children, they would simply care for their husbands and support the family, they were denied the right to vote or own property and were expected to be the innocently silent, supportive backbone behind patriarchal society. It is noted that female characters in Gothic novels and plays often fall into one of two categories: innocent victims, subservient to the strong and powerful

This essay examines the use of the Gothic when connecting writings to ideas of the past. Specifically, it analyses how writers develop these ideas, cultivated out of specific elements through the text. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley both show strong gothic themes, however, Northanger Abbey is a satire of the genre. The latter section of Austen’s novel draws heavily on Gothic elements whereas the former has a small reference to Ann Radcliffe’s book The Mysteries of Udolpho. Specifically, the ideas of the past that will be explored throughout will be those surrounding gender.

on the aid of Hell itself, and to find things familiar in the world of

The term gothic serves as the ideal backdrop for a literary era of suspense, mystery, and terror. A haunted mansion bursting with secrets, a naïve helpless heroine, and the male hero that saves the day are all quintessentially gothic. When Ellen Moers first coined the term “Female Gothic” in her 1976 book, Literary Women, she defined it as “the work that women writers have done in the literary mode that, since the eighteenth century have been termed Gothic” (Moers). Her argument that Female Gothic literature is a code for women’s fear of domestic entrapment, especially within their own bodies as was mainly experienced in childbirth and motherhood, was quite influential. Anne Williams, in her book The Art of Darkness: A Poetics of Gothic, argues that Female Gothic can be further dissected to include its intention to criticize the patriarchy while educating and socializing its female readers with an affirmation of absolute independence and strength. The Female Gothic is often pursued and haunted by a villainous patriarchal figure, but finds salvation on her own accord and more importantly, within herself. Another element of Female gothic is madness and monstrosity as an explanation for why the female would deviate from the conventional norm.

The class of the novel started just in the eighteenth century however since its exceptionally beginning it grew quickly. Distinctive sorts of the class rose, for instance a novel of conduct, a household novel or a Gothic novel. The Gothic novel is a well unmistakable sort among the others and has a critical effect on the improvement of the entire type of the novel. In opposition to Neoclassicism which adulated realism, Gothicism did not trail the principles of etiquette, did not matter instructive highlights but rather put highlight on secret, ponder and sublimity. Along these lines, Gothic fiction increased tremendous prevalence among the users. In any case, after numerous books of the kind being distributed, they ended up being regular too - every one of the stories connected a similar arrangement of highlights for the setting, plot and characters. That brought a rush of feedback of the Gothic novel and started the act of satirizing its traditions. One of the best parodists of Gothic moved toward becoming Jane Austen with her novel Northanger Abbey. This exposition exhibits the essential highlights of Gothic fiction and Jane Austen's techniques for mocking them.

In the Victorian Era, Gothic fiction was an exceedingly popular literature genre among numerous people because it was relatively new. Such elements as death, gloom, suspense, mystery, and terror make up a Gothic novel in literature. The novel Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, was the ideal Gothic fiction in the 19th century and still is today because of its incorporation of vampires, castles, spine-chilling murders, and overpowering emotions which contribute to the Gothic atmosphere.