Gothic Heroines: Their Journey to Leadership
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Date
2020-01-01
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Department
English
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Texts, Technologies, and Literature
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Access limited to the UMBC community. Item may possibly be obtained via Interlibrary Loan through a local library, pending author/copyright holder's permission.
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
Abstract
While using feminist, historical, and some Marxist focus, this theses evaluates the trajectory of Gothic heroines beginning shortly after the French Revolution and ending in the late nineteenth century. This trajectory will be analyzed through a Gothic heroine's access to power through property, their major moments that transition them to leadership status, their relationship with the community vs. the individual, and by discovering the type of heroine the book needs/wants. The heroines evaluated in The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe, The Monk by Matthew Lewis, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, and Dracula by Bram Stoker show an evolution of women adapting and finding themselves as leaders in the world. A highlight of the theses is the idea of property though real estate and the female body is a concept that holds a lot of power for women and is prioritized in the novels listed than readers may have originally thought. Along with the emphasis of the property plot, this theses aims to frame Nelly from Wuthering Heights as a heroine whereas critics often frame her as an unreliable narrator or villain. Using extensive research on the French Revolution, property laws, divorce laws, and religious texts, this theses demonstrates just how drastically the role of Gothic heroine has evolved over time and serves as a bridge to connect novels from seemingly different areas and eras. ?