Gothic horror is considered to be an offshoot of literary Romanticism, because of their having many traits in common. Both are focused on emotions and commenced in the 18th century as the objection to the Enlightenment and its significance of rationality. These genres were also inspired by medieval literary works and imported its typical settings, superhuman characters and appearance of preternatural events.
Spiritualism, the faith that dead people’s spirits can contact with the living, thrived in the Victorian era. It fascinated many writers, had a great influence on Gothic literature and provided such motifs as loss, melancholy and death. It also helped people to handle beloved’s death and soothed their pain, since they lived in hope for …show more content…
Female Characters in selected Gothic Texts – Historical Overview
The portrayal of female characters within Gothic literature is various and women tend to play ambivalent roles. Depending on the times or author’s vision they are either perceived as trembling, naive, passive victims or dreadful, shameless creatures that refuse to submit to male power.
There is no hesitation that Manfred, the major male character in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) and the lord of the titular building, does not respect women. The man is preoccupied with the desire to marry Isabella, who was meant to take his son, Conrad, as her husband: “I desired you once before, said Manfred angrily, not to name that woman: from this hour she must be a stranger to you, as she must be to me. In short, Isabella, since I cannot give you my son, I offer you myself” (Walpole 2012, Chapter 1). Threatened with divorce, Hippolita becomes obedient and extremely bound to her lord’s wishes. The bereaved wife supports Manfred in getting what he wants regardless of her foregoing morals and her own contentment. What is more, the man does not have any pangs of conscience when he destroys Matilda’s hope of marrying Theodore and when he erroneously stabs her. Female characters in the novel lack free will and give superiority to the man, which seems to be confirmed in Hippolita’s words: “It is not ours to make election for ourselves; heaven, our fathers, and our husbands, must decide for us” (Walpole 2012, Chapter
Spiritualism, the faith that dead people’s spirits can contact with the living, thrived in the Victorian era. It fascinated many writers, had a great influence on Gothic literature and provided such motifs as loss, melancholy and death. It also helped people to handle beloved’s death and soothed their pain, since they lived in hope for …show more content…
Female Characters in selected Gothic Texts – Historical Overview
The portrayal of female characters within Gothic literature is various and women tend to play ambivalent roles. Depending on the times or author’s vision they are either perceived as trembling, naive, passive victims or dreadful, shameless creatures that refuse to submit to male power.
There is no hesitation that Manfred, the major male character in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) and the lord of the titular building, does not respect women. The man is preoccupied with the desire to marry Isabella, who was meant to take his son, Conrad, as her husband: “I desired you once before, said Manfred angrily, not to name that woman: from this hour she must be a stranger to you, as she must be to me. In short, Isabella, since I cannot give you my son, I offer you myself” (Walpole 2012, Chapter 1). Threatened with divorce, Hippolita becomes obedient and extremely bound to her lord’s wishes. The bereaved wife supports Manfred in getting what he wants regardless of her foregoing morals and her own contentment. What is more, the man does not have any pangs of conscience when he destroys Matilda’s hope of marrying Theodore and when he erroneously stabs her. Female characters in the novel lack free will and give superiority to the man, which seems to be confirmed in Hippolita’s words: “It is not ours to make election for ourselves; heaven, our fathers, and our husbands, must decide for us” (Walpole 2012, Chapter