Confronting the Monster

The female Gothic emerged some argue around the eighteenth century. It is a genre uniquely written by women and reflective of their sociopolitical realities. As in traditional Gothic literature fear drives the plot and is a defining element. But in the female Gothic the heroine's fear is of self-expression: creativity intelligence sexuality - these are seen as monstrous. Even more frightening is that these traits cannot be suppressed; they eventually re-emerge threatening both the heroine and the patriarchal order around her. Women had to be the Angel-in-the-House a term popularized by Coventry Patmore in the nineteenth century. However as this book examines in more recent Gothic fiction writen by women heroines embrace self-expression to undermine patriarchy. They are no longer deemed as monstrous or deviant if they step outside of women's traditional roles - yet there is still gain to be made. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in Gothic fiction women writers art and feminist theory.