Voicing women : female oppression and subversion in gothic novels spanning from the 18th century to the present

Abstract

Since its conception in the 18th century, the gothic novel has been driven by underlying factors either psychological or social which were hidden by an atmosphere of the supernatural. This arose from the cultural environment of the Romantic period in England, as men went out to work and were expected to be the breadwinners of the family, women were confined to the home and became the centre of the domestic sphere. My dissertation tackles how female authors expressed the cultural oppression happening in the real lives of women living in a patriarchal society. Through an analysis of the laws and cultural environments spanning from the 18th century to the present I show how society dictated that women’s sole purpose was to find a husband and marry, ultimately becoming their husband’s property. With reference to Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian, Ann Bronte’s novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Sarah Waters’ Affinity I conclude that the real danger did not lie in the supernatural elements within the gothic novels, but it was used to hide the actual danger women faced in real life leaving women voiceless and aiming to subvert this order.