In Literary Women, Moers claims that the Female Gothic is "easily defined: the work that women writers have done in the literary mode that, since the eighteenth century, we have called the Gothic" (Moers, 90). In answering the many questions raised by the spectre of the Female Gothic, I want to complicate that definition by including in its the depiction of women in the Gothic, as well as the depiction of the men in Gothic novels, who inevitably either marry those women or try to kill them, or possibly both. Moreover, because Radcliffe and Lewis (the defining authors of the 18th-century Gothic) were intentionally reacting to each other's work and incorporated that reaction into their novels, I also include Lewis' depiction of heroines and heroes in my definition of the Female Gothic.
This section is constructed to give the student of the Gothic a strong textual and critical introduction to the major issues that play themselves out in the politics of being a female (writer and character) in the 18th-century Gothic. Because so much of these gender politics are founded in the works of Radcliffe and Lewis, I have limited the discussion to their works. Specifically, the section investigates four aspects of the Female Gothic in the Radcliffean and Lewisian traditions: the gendered construction of the Gothic heroine; the similarly gendered construction of the Gothic hero; the link between the Gothic "place" and female sexuality; and the conflation of money/class issues with issues of femininity The last unit is devoted solely to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, for it, too, demonstrates a version of the Female Gothic in the issues it raises, but takes these issues in an entirely new direction.
While this section is certainly not a comprehensive overview of the Female Gothic, it should provide clear direction to readers interested in the constitution of femininity and gender politics in the genre. A bibliography of critical works consulted is available from the Gothic: Materials For Study homepage.
1. Virgins in Distress and Demons in Disguise
Primary excerpts:
Ann Radcliffe, The Italian
Matthew Lewis, The Monk
Secondary excerpts:
Cynthia Wolff, "The Radcliffean Gothic Model,"
Ellen Moers, Literary Women
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, "The Character in
the Veil,"
Kari Winter, "Sexual/Textual Politics of Terror"
Nina daVinci Nichols, "Place and Eros in
Radcliffe, Lewis, and Bronte"
2. Hero or Villain or Hero-Villain?
Primary excerpts:
Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe, The Italian
Matthew Lewis, The Monk
Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho
Secondary excerpts:
Cynthia Wolff, "The Radcliffean Gothic Model,"
Mary Poovey, "Ideology in The Mysteries
of Udolpho"
Nina daVinci Nichols, "Place and Eros in
Radcliffe, Lewis, and Bronte"
Primary excerpts:
Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho
Matthew Lewis, The Monk
Secondary excerpts:
Ann Ronald, "Terror-Gothic: Nightmare and
Dream"
Nina daVinci Nichols, "Place and Eros in Radcliffe,
Lewis, and Bronte"
Cynthia Wolff, "The Radcliffean Gothic Model,"
Nina daVinci Nichols, "Place and Eros in Radcliffe,
Lewis, and Bronte"
Primary excerpts:
Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe, TheItalian
Secondary excerpts:
Kari Winter, "Sexual/Textual Politics of
Terror"
Ellen Moers, Literary Women
Mary Poovey, "Ideology in The Mysteries
of Udolpho"
5. Frankenstein: Birthing the New Female Gothic
Primary excerpts:
Secondary excerpts:
Ellen Moers, Literary Women
Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Madwoman
in the Attic