The Female Gothic

Over the course of the semester we’ve explored the myriad ways in which Gothic tropes and imagery helped shape the social and political sub-context of the Romantic era. There are abundantly common themes such as political unrest and upheaval, class structure and identity, as well as philosophical ideals of rationality and emotion that are brought to light in many of the works. One of the less prominent themes relates gender identity and consciousness within female characters and authors of the time. This is what I wish to explore; in affect, (how) did the female Gothic character and author emerge as a catalyzing social force during the Romantic era? Can we look at this as the beginnings of feminism and gender consciousness in a society that had previously suppressed its female counterpart? Does the Gothic genre destabilize this patriarchal structure or does it in fact reinforce it? 

At the beginning of the semester we read two very distinct novels that used similar treatment of the newly-minted ‘Gothic’ storyline: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and Ann Radcliffe’s The Romance of the Forest. I think that these two represent a good jumping-off point for gender studies within the Gothic, firstly because the authors are of opposing gender, and more importantly, that they both have female characters involved that must seemingly either be admired, protected, desired or (eek) even killed. As evidenced by literature of former eras, the role of women in literature mirrored that of society- women were expected to be obedient, controlled in their emotions and devoid of any rebellious thought or action. The female within the Gothic succeeded in voicing female identity and experience in a way that both male and female could understand and appreciate. Diane Long Hoeveler, author of Gothic Feminism states that “the female gothic novel should be seen as functioning as a coded and veiled critique of all those public institutions that have been erected to displace, contain or commodify women” (xii-xiii). This necessitates a literary world in which females are placed within a realm of abuses and dangers, followed with a subsequent struggle to overcome them in order to reach a realization of self. There is a sense that the danger for the Gothic female lies in the suspicious, mysterious and essentially terrifying, and it is this structure of place and setting that victimizes the heroines as much as other characters and perilous experiences. Oftentimes it is other minor characters that tend toward realism and rationalism, but it is the female ‘heroine’ that possesses a more romantic temperament. This is the temperament that allows for the perception of strangeness where others (often choose to) see none. The progression of the female character, as both victim and hero, undergoes a shift from innocent adolescence to a mature figure in the story. This individual progression ties itself to the Gothic storyline and tropes (vagueness, enormity, isolation, desolation), and demands that the outward strangeness of the novel reflect the inner strangeness of self-realization. Metaphorically, the place and setting intimates that the females’ most troublesome foe is herself, and is something that must be confronted within the novel in order to reach maturation. 

There is an interesting and comfortably-informal take on the philosophical leanings of the sublime and beautiful found here, where Burke and Kant are discussed in terms of how the sublime can be seen as the masculine, and the beautiful as the feminine.

From Walpole’s own ‘Strawberry Hill archives’ is a piece of artwork that vividly portrays the enormity and mysteriousness of the setting of the book itself; the Castle. Artist John Carter produced this piece title “Procession in the Castle of Otranto” and captures the external chaos that the Gothic female had to work through.

Walpole, in his foundation for the Gothic genre, incorporates two female characters that vacillate between ‘obeying the gender rules’ and completely defying what is expected of them. As acknowledged in the post “Atypical Female Behavior”, readers see both Isabella and Matilda defy their male counterparts. Isabella, despite her initial role as a bargaining tool used by the men around her, becomes a character that strives to control her own fate and choose what path she takes; as long as it still obeys the laws of Providence, and protects her innocence. This is important- this incorporation of rebellion into the expected decency of young women allowed for “the opportunity to engage in ‘unwomanly’ exercises while still maintaining her femininity and almost never violating female propriety” (Tóth 1). She escapes her physical and societal constraints in an attempt to avoid a future of compliance and submission, while also maintaining her virginity and innocence. Matilda is the other female character in Otranto that walks the line between typical submissive female and outright rebel. She chooses to follow her own moral compass and blatantly disobey her father by releasing Theodore from imprisonment. This is not to be taken as a purely feminist leaning, however. The women of the story are still under the control of the more powerful men, and are subject to their whims, desires, and passions without regard to independent female desires. Walpole here seems to acknowledge and ‘punish’ the extreme passions and subsequent abuse of power that men succumb to. Both Manfred and Frederic are depicted as nearly mad with passion and power. It is only Theodore, of a lower-class, that does not have power to abuse and cannot force Matilda into something she didn’t also desire. 

It is in this way that Walpole overlaps with Radcliffe, for they both use highly impassioned men to redefine roles in regard to gender stereotypes of emotion and rationale. As I mentioned in my own previous post- Radcliffe represents her characters’ emotions as determinate of their coinciding actions, especially when male characters are involved. At the beginning of the novel La Motte is described as an emotionally driven person (as opposed to someone of rationale), insofar as “his conduct was suggested by feeling, rather than principle … a man whose passions often overcome his reason” (Radcliffe 2). The quotation suggests that La Motte (and possibly the other men in the novel) are mostly driven by their passions and feelings rather than reason and principle. La Motte (fearing imprisonment) is overcome by his ‘passions’ of self-preservation and in turn Adeline is betrayed by this male father figure. In fact, both father figures in the novel are portrayed as suppressors; dangerous, irrational figures rather than a trusted protector or source of security. Adeline’s innocent trust in two male figures that both fail her relegates her to the role of “naive damsel in distress”. Adeline must struggle to become an actual ‘heroine’ because of this- for she (despite her small instances of atypical female behavior) is not truly independent. The scenes depicting extreme male emotion and irrationality are totally unexpected from men of ‘high’ society, and in many ways reflects the expected stereotype of an ‘unreasonable’ female affectation. The idea that men, and not just women, could be driven by their emotions and passions must have been a relatively shocking idea up until the Romantic period. Radcliffe succeeded in portraying men and women in an equally unflattering light, while still lifting the female character to a position of heroine within the novel and allowing for a balance of male and female, as well as maintained innocence and individual experience. The female is both the victim and the hero.

The problem with female identity within Otranto and Romance lies in the fact that female identity has no true continuation beyond the scope of the novel. The culmination of identity-building literary techniques seems too packaged and complete; the woman either marries or is soon to be married ‘happily’. The end. But later portrayals of the female in Gothic literature lend themselves to a more intriguing picture of femininity: one in which the female is in touch with or awakened to an emerging sexuality. The fully-realized woman must then be equated with the fully sexual women. This sexualized female protagonist can clearly be seen in John Keats’ Lamia. In a traditional sense, the Lamia is an archetypal image of feminine deceit and seduction, to the detriment of male society. More on this creature’s Greek/Latin mythology can be found in many online sources. Keats’ take on this typically vampiric, demoniacal creature is anything but traditional, and helps to shift general awareness toward a more sympathetic and respectful awareness of the feminine self. The lamia’s visual appearance is sexualized, just as in its mythology- but it is done to so in a way that inspires admiration and actual beauty as opposed to simply a siren-esque facade to something terrible. While we know that the Lamia is intended to bring destruction to men and mankind, she is adopted by Keats as a female that has more depth of character and inner morality than previously allowed, and is able to guide readers to open ourselves up to this possibility by describing her beauty through color, texture and simile- each more beautiful than the last. 

“Eyed like a peacock, and all crimson barr’d; /

And full of silver moons, that, as she breathed, /

Dissolv’d, or brighter shone, or interwreathed /

Their lustres with the gloomier tapestries-” (50-54)

I also feel that John William Waterhouse succeeds in creating a visual Lamia that is both beautiful and mysterious (below), without connotations of evil and only subtly seductive. In comparison to traditional portrayals (below Waterhouse), the reader/viewer would be much more likely to allow for the the Lamia as a sympathetic character in Keats/Waterhouse’s views.

        Keats’ Lamia is not evil. She is not just a seductress bent on destruction. She is beauty, and imagination, and yes, manipulation. But she does not harm anyone, nor does she wish to- the  deception she creates is done out of love and a desire to be free of her supernatural bonds. The female body and imagination represent something new here- not seduction and sin, but rather rebirth and creativity. The female of Keats’ Lamia is ephemeral and delicate, whereas the male is either overly philosophical and critical, or oblivious- not necessarily better. As we have seen in other Gothic works, though- the female is not immune from men and their abuses of power, even if they are females who are god-like and supernatural. Keats’ Lamia is exposed and ruined by men who point out her ‘fatal flaw’ and remove the possibility of a happy ending from her story. Her inner self, i.e, under the facade of beauty as well as the serpent/supernatural form, has not yet been fully addressed. She cannot therefore attain a fully matured level of character development and plot resolution despite mens’ involvement. 

We then come to perhaps the most blatantly feminist works of the Romantic era; those of Mary Wollstonecraft. In The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria, we find the female protagonist directly and obviously wronged by her husband and patriarchal society. And boy, does Mary W let you know where she stands on this. As I spoke about in my presentation, according to laws of the time women had little to no rights. Any and all ownership or property held by the female was forfeited to her husband at the time of marriage. Divorce was unheard of, if initiated by the woman. Custody went to the husband. This complete lack of social, financial, or political independence was seen as a travesty to women such as Mary W, who strove to write literature that encouraged female education, independence, and career opportunities that encompassed more than shame or deceit. Using the frame of an institution for the ‘mentally unstable’, Wollstonecraft is able to unleash the many “inappropriate” opinions of women’s rights and desires without placing them squarely within polite society. The boundaries are allowed to be broken down, and yet the institution also serves to reflect the oppression and confinement of then-accepted gender roles for women. The shared nature of intellectual discourse between Wollstonecraft’s heroine and her male counterpart is based on mutual respect and affection rather than temporary convenience or patronizing sentiment, and it was in this way that Wollstonecraft expressed her opinion of what could exist between the male and female. 

It’s obvious that the female character/author was something being explored throughout Gothic literature. There were various depictions and statements made in each work, whether it be a females’ role in society, sexual awareness, or the realization of a mature female identity. Each writer created a unique character to be identified with or repulsed by, and in this way each succeeded in involving their female readers with a personal realization of themselves. I for one was intrigued and excited at the chance to immerse myself in the world of the Female Gothic.

(Even Austen's characters realize the thrill of identification with the female heroines of the Gothic era!)

Works Cited

Black, Joseph, ed. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature- The Age of Romanticism. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Pr, 2010. Print.

Hoeveler, Diane Long. “Gothic Feminism”. Xii-xiii. The Pennsylvania University Press. 1998.Web.

Radcliffe, Ann Ward. The Romance of the Forest. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

Tóth, Réka. "The Plight of the Gothic Heroine: Female Development and Relationships in Eighteenth Century Female Gothic Fiction." Eger Journal of English Studies X (2010): 21-37. Web.

Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. London: Penguin, 2001. Print.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. Mary, A Fiction and The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria. Ed. Michelle Faubert. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2012. Print.