"We shall be monsters, cut off from all the world": Gothic Dynamics of Family and Monstrosity in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract

The aim of this study is to account for the formation and development of a Gothic narratology that was constructed through the interplay of family life and monstrosity, two of the most enduring and recognizable leitmotifs of Gothic fiction. I argue that writers during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries deliberately organized plot lines around this relationship dynamic because it helped create a flexible and versatile narrative with the potential to engage with a wide range of cultural concerns, including class, gender, politics, and spirituality. In fact, this mode of narration was so prevalent, it transcended the rigid boundaries drawn by literary and historical periodization. As a result, we have the ability to observe the emergence and progression of three distinct narrative trends within the movement of British Gothicism that aesthetically and structurally unifies the genre across multiple generations.