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In many Gothic works “women are the figures most fearfully trapped between contradictory pressures and impulses” (Hogle 9) – they are either the protagonists coping with the terrors created within the story, or they are minor characters coincidentally trapped within these. Given that gender and Gothic accompany one another, there is also a distinction between female Gothic and male Gothic. Examples for female Gothic can be found in the vast twentieth-century by feminine Gothic romances such as duMaurier's Rebecca (1938). As a great number of Gothic stories not only concentrate on female characters, but are also written by women, they have been and are still popular among the female readership. Male-oriented Gothics would be Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and Stoker's Dracula (1897) (Hogle
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Some of their works are categorised as the latter: Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847), Charlotte Brontë's Vilette (1853) and Jane Eyre (1847).
While focusing on Jane Eyre, Gothic stances can be found throughout the plot of the novel. With hindsight to the previously mentioned characteristics of Gothic novels, Jane Eyre is predominantly effected by the uncanny.
The first striking event is the so-called “red room incident”. As the name already suggests, the dark room is painted in red, which is a symbol for blood. Given that Mr. Reed died in this room and Jane imagines to be haunted by his ghost, the connection between the supernatural afterlife and the earthly world is made (Brontë 14-21).
The second period is Jane's life at Lowood school. Jane has, amongst others, to face oppression, which can cause emotional injuries at children. A significant space of time is the typhus epidemic in school, accompanied by the presence of death. When her best friend dies of consumption she is again confronted with the death of a beloved person and forced to face the bleak occasion (Brontë 98). This is just one instance which illustrates that Jane's life is constantly affected by dismal disturbing …show more content…
As Jane was already haunted by the uncanny within her first home at Gateshead, she now has to face it again. Therefore, she becomes able of re-imagining “the uncanny as a familiar and even intimate part of her life” (Heiland 121). The places which should operate as her homes, her shelters, receive a completely new image and by doing so they force her to cope with it and to stand up straight. This defiance is spread to a new extend within Mr. Rochester's manor. To Mr. Rochester Jane even becomes an uncanny being herself: He is obsessed with her and unable to find peace until she finally makes her way to him
Some of their works are categorised as the latter: Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847), Charlotte Brontë's Vilette (1853) and Jane Eyre (1847).
While focusing on Jane Eyre, Gothic stances can be found throughout the plot of the novel. With hindsight to the previously mentioned characteristics of Gothic novels, Jane Eyre is predominantly effected by the uncanny.
The first striking event is the so-called “red room incident”. As the name already suggests, the dark room is painted in red, which is a symbol for blood. Given that Mr. Reed died in this room and Jane imagines to be haunted by his ghost, the connection between the supernatural afterlife and the earthly world is made (Brontë 14-21).
The second period is Jane's life at Lowood school. Jane has, amongst others, to face oppression, which can cause emotional injuries at children. A significant space of time is the typhus epidemic in school, accompanied by the presence of death. When her best friend dies of consumption she is again confronted with the death of a beloved person and forced to face the bleak occasion (Brontë 98). This is just one instance which illustrates that Jane's life is constantly affected by dismal disturbing …show more content…
As Jane was already haunted by the uncanny within her first home at Gateshead, she now has to face it again. Therefore, she becomes able of re-imagining “the uncanny as a familiar and even intimate part of her life” (Heiland 121). The places which should operate as her homes, her shelters, receive a completely new image and by doing so they force her to cope with it and to stand up straight. This defiance is spread to a new extend within Mr. Rochester's manor. To Mr. Rochester Jane even becomes an uncanny being herself: He is obsessed with her and unable to find peace until she finally makes her way to him