Gothic Judgment of Women

               Over the course of the semester I have become acquainted with Romanticism and the major themes that run throughout Romantic works. There are many obvious and large themes present, such as the supernatural, death, or nature. After reviewing all of the assigned texts for the semester, as well as refreshing my memory to the blog, I realized a less obvious theme emerged in several of the texts. The role of women during this time as well as how they were perceived is shown in many of the assigned readings. Upon closer examination, I saw that this concept could be narrowed down even further to the judgment of women.  

Women in the Romantic Period             

Women were treated as second class citizens during this time. As the presentation on “Women and the Law, Inequality, Imprisonment, and Madness” illustrates, men were thought to be much stronger individuals than women as a whole. Women were considered weak, submissive, and unequal to men. If a woman was strong-minded, she usually faced societal difficulties. Many husbands thought of their wives as property, and treated them as if they were merely a possession. In addition, women generally did not receive the same level of education as men and had difficulties obtaining jobs of worth. Women were expected to be subservient and rely on their husbands for support.  This point is illustrated in the image below. It portrays some of the challenges a19th century British woman would face. She is concerned for the wellbeing of her young children while her husband looks down upon her as if she was not his equal.

 

      

For more information on what life was like for women in Britain during this time, visit http://www.hastingspress.co.uk/history/19/overview.htm.

Mary Wollstonecraft

The judgment of women did not only come from men during this time. Feminist women, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, judged the complacency of many women of this time. According to The History Guide, “She ridiculed prevailing notions about women as helpless, charming adornments in the household. Society had bred ‘gentle domestic brutes.’ ‘Educated in slavish dependence and enervated by luxury and sloth,’ women were too often nauseatingly sentimental and foolish.” As BG12 said, Mary Wollstonecraft was against sentimentalism and believed that husbands and wives should be equal in education and rationale. Mary Wollstonecraft believed that women had the power to become strong and independent. She believed complacency led to weak minded women and that education was essential to creating empowered women. Her judgment of the complacency of female society is shown in Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman. The setting has to be an insane asylum to allow free speech between the two women, Maria and Jemima. Women are taught from a young age to obey their husbands and follow the societal rules. After reading WorldWarZDude’s post on social class in “Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman”, I realized that it is only after Maria is placed in an insane asylum by her cruel husband that she allows herself to diverge from what is considered normal and what her husband would allow. This is crucial because it shows Mary Wollstonecraft uses an insane asylum as the setting to portray the insanity of complacent women. She acknowledges that society makes it hard, but stresses the necessity of education to eliminate this complacency that makes weak women.

Seductresses

               Another major judgment I have seen of women throughout Romantic works is the notion that non-complacent, strong women must in fact be evil seductresses who cause harm to men. This concept surfaces in two of John Keats’ works, “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and “Lamia”. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”, the knight meets a lady, a faery’s child, in the woods who is beautiful and wild. She claims to love him and then he falls asleep. He dreams of men who appear to be her dead past victims warning him and wakes up scared and sad. This poem portrays the wild woman as a potential seductress who must be of supernatural (faery) blood. This same concept appears in “Lamia”. Lamia is thought to be a horrific creature that seduces men and kills them. She is portrayed to be evil, even though the poem allows you to see there are not necessarily distinct lines between evil and good. As deadlyxpromise shows in his post on Lamia, the poem uses imagery to convey she is supernatural, such as the use of bright colors and animal prints. Even with all of these beautiful, unnatural descriptions, her words disguise exactly how supernatural she is. However, in the story she falls in love and just wants to be happy. She is described as “some penanced lady elf, some demon’s mistress, or the demon’s self”, which shows how unlikely her hopes of happiness are after being described in such horrible terms. Both of the poems show the main female character as a supernatural being. The reader is led to believe they are evil by claiming they killed men in the past. However, in both stories the women appear to simply be looking for love. BIGred13 agreed with this concept, as well, saying that the lady seemed to be caring and loving to the knight. The two images below convey the perception of both women.

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

 

Lamia

 

They are both depicted in a way that would suggest seduction. The two women are shown surrounded by nature, indicating they could be faery as well. They both appear to be strong, non-complacent women. In return, they are portrayed in a negative light. These examples help to show that women who diverged from the typical path were looked down upon by typical society. They were judged for their strength and courage and portrayed negatively for having that courage.

The Damsel in Distress

               The last, and probably most extensively used judgment of women in the Romantic period, is the notion that women are always in need of assistance. The “damsel in distress” has been used in stories for thousands of years. With the emergence of the gothic, and the type of stories associated with it, the damsel in distress reemerged. Many gothic works, especially gothic novels, have a female character in need of assistance. This can be seen in Horace Walpole’s, “Castle of Otranto”. As both Rose Thassally and ANA point out in posts on this novel, the role of women is subservience and helplessness. Isabella is helpless to stop Manfred if he finds her and enlists the help of several different male characters to help her escape.  Matilda is helpless to stop her father and control her fate. Hippolita is the definition of subservient. The women feel they cannot control their fates and need a hero to protect them or resolve an issue for them. This can be seen in Percy Shelley’s “The Cenci” as well. Beatrice has had horrendous acts done to her by her father and deserves justice. However, she enlists servants to kill her father for her, resulting in everyone’s eventual death. Percy Shelley notes that the audience’s desire to relate to her is what will keep her story tragic and alive forever. Gothic writers, particularly male writers, portrayed women as helpless and reliant on men because that’s how women were perceived during this time. The emergence of female gothic writers, such as Ann Radcliffe, brought heroines into the stories also. This allowed for the preconceived judgment that women are helpless to begin to dissipate. According to Ellen Moers of Brooklyn College, “Heroinism takes many forms, such as the intellectual or thinking heroine, the passionate or woman-in-love heroine, and the traveling heroine. Radcliffe's heroines fall into the category of the traveling heroine, ‘who moves, who acts, who copes with vicissitude and adventure.’” At the end of the novel, Adeline uses her new found influence to save Theodore’s life. While “heroes” are still predominant in this story, the female gets a chance to be strong and save someone. She is not weak or subservient at the end of the novel. She is a strong, independent woman. For more information on Ann Radcliffe’s use of literary elements, including heroinism, go to http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_18c/radcliffe/index.html.

Gothic Judgments of Women

               The judgment of women during the Romantic period is evident in many gothic novels, poems, plays, and short stories. Feminists judged complacent women on their lack of strength and will. Society in general judged strong and determined women as seductresses or evil-doers. With the notion that women should be complacent, society judged women as a gender as helpless and in need of assistance. Women have come incredibly far since this time. Women are expected to be strong and independent, and have access to the same education as men. It is important to look at the past judgments to be thankful for what we now have.

 

Work’s Cited

"Ann Radcliffe." 18th Century English Novel. Brooklyn College, 9 May 2003. Web. 09 May

2013.

Cowper, Frank C. La Belle Dame Sans Merci. 1926. Web.

"Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759-1797." The History Guide. 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 09 May 2013.

Waterhouse, John W. Lamia. 1909. Web.

Wojtczak, Helena. "Women’s Status in Mid 19^th-Century England: A Brief Overview” English

Women's History. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2013.