The Female and Male Gothic in Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Lewis’ The Monk
The gothic novel is characterized by mystery and supernatural fear, usually involving evil villains, and victimized protagonists. These elements are recognized in both Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey, and Lewis’ The Monk. The novels are composed of male and female gothic characteristics, involved in gendered portrayals of supernatural events. The gothic genre is used in these novels in unique ways, however they both portray gendered depictions of the gothic genre. Austen and Lewis use their characters to frame the text, and abide by conventions of the male and female gothic genres. Through the use of these gendered gothic qualities, they expose how characters, setting, and events work together to create a gothic story.
The female gothic is composed of a female protagonist, male villain, and terrifying landscape, with focus on the psychological, rather than the physical. These qualities are evident in Austen’s novel Northanger Abbey, where the female protagonist, Catherine Morland is kidnapped by the male villain John Thorpe, and taken away to Blaize Castle. Catherine pleads to Henry, “Pray, pray stop, Mr. Thorpe. I cannot go on. I will not go on…but Mr. Thorpe only laughed, smacked his whip…and drove on” (Austen 95). This cliché damsel in distress scene is Austen’s use of the subgenre called gothic parody, in which she mocks traditional gothic texts through aspects of the narrative. When Tilney threatens Catherine, she identifies with the female gothic, being a powerless heroine, overwhelmed with sensibility. This is evident in the passage where Henry creates stories about Catherine’s first night in Bath, foreshadowing the events that will take pl...
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... genre their novels, they both create multidimensional characters and plots, allowing captivating the reader through the characters minds and physical actions. Austen uses the female gothic genre to address the psychological elements of the gothic genre, entering into the mind of the female damsel in distress. Lewis depicts elements of the male gothic, using physical violence to convey the male’s perspective. It is through their use of gendered gothic elements that Austen and Lewis are able to play with the reader’s reaction to the novels, relating to the female and male characters within the texts. In turn, Austen and Lewis use the male and female conventions of the gothic novel to explore the supernatural in unique ways.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. Public Domain, 1890. IBooks.
Lewis, Matthew G. The Monk. University of Oxford. 2002. IBooks.
Various authors develop their stories using gothic themes and characterizations of this type to lay the foundation for their desired reader response. Although Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Peter Taylor’s “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time” are two completely different narratives, both of these stories share a commonality of gothic text representations. The stories take slightly different paths, with Poe’s signifying traditional gothic literature and Taylor approaching his story in a more contemporary manner.
I offer by way of introduction to the Gothic literary world an extract taken from Ann. B Tracy’s book The Gothic Novel 1790-1830: Plot Summaries and Index Motifs:
Key Elements of Gothic Literature Jasmine Giles People enjoy reading gothic literature due to its heart rate exciting nature. Without having to engage with any real danger, it is common for the reader to feel anxiety and impaitence when reading gothic fiction. In order for the reader to feel these emotions, the author uses certain elements, such as a gloomy setting and old-fashioned dialoge. In the stories “The Black Cat” and “The Tell Tale Heart”, by elgar allen poe, and “The Landlady”, by Roland Dahl, there are many similarites that remanticize the idea of horror and mystery. Some elements, however, bring out the disbolical horror of gothic literature: the setting, characterization, and the motif of suspense.
Gothic Literature was a natural progression from romanticism, which had existed in the 18th Century. Initially, such a ‘unique’ style of literature was met with a somewhat mixed response; although it was greeted with enthusiasm from members of the public, literary critics were much more dubious and sceptical.
In what follows, my research paper will rely on an article by Kathy Prendergast entitled “Introduction to The Gothic Tradition”. The significance of this article resides in helping to recapitulate the various features of the Gothic tradition. In this article the authoress argues that in order to overturn the Enlightenment and realistic literary mores, many of the eighteenth century novelists had recourse to traditional Romantic conventions in their works of fiction, like the Arthurian legendary tales (Prendergast).
Due to the conventions included in the novel, this is a perfect example of a gothic novel. The novel evokes in the audience fear and anticipation of the novels plot. The 19th century audience would have been overwhelmed with terror whilst reading the novel as the atmosphere creates suspense and the pace of the novel is fast.
Gothic literature and magical realism go hand in hand, both provide a lasting impact within the story, and they’re all unique. Romance, death, adventures and provoking sounds all work together in harmony rather than in
From the beginning of the novel, the main character, Jane encounters the supernatural. Charlotte Bronte uses both supernatural and gothic themes to enhance situations for the reader and to develop the characters. In particular natural imageries have been used to convey a human connection with the natural world and human nature (Franklin, 1995). Eyre portrays the intrinsic struggle between supernatural and the effects of nature. Branflinger and Thesing (2002) argue that Bronte used Gothic and the supernatural to explore and portray the darkest alleys of her own psyche which Bronte was deeply disturbed by (p309).
The ways women are presented in Northanger Abbey are through the characters of Catherine Morland, Isabella Thorpe, Eleanor Tilney, Mrs Allen, and the mothers of the Morland and Thorpe family, who are the main female characters within this novel. I will be seeing how they are presented through their personalities, character analysis, and the development of the character though out the novel. I will be finding and deciphering scenes, conversations and character description and backing up with quotes to show how Austen has presented women in her novel Northanger Abbey.
Jane Austen completes her story with a “Cinderella ending” of Catherine and Henry marrying. However, her novel is more than a fairytale ending. Although often wrong and misguided in their judgments, she shows the supremacy of males that permeated throughout her society. Jane Austen takes us from a portrayal of men as rude, self-centered, and opinionate to uncaring, demanding, and lying to downright ruthless, hurtful, and evil. John Thorpe’s and General Tilney’s total disregard for others feelings and their villainous ways prove Austen’s point. Whether reading Northanger Abbey for the happy ending or the moral lesson, this novel has much to offer.
the elements of a gothic novel as it is not set in a remote place or a
From deals with the devil, corrupt churches, and the decaying body of a lifeless baby, Matthew Lewis’s The Monk is the paradigm of the gothic novel. The main setting of the novel is the church, a place of barbaric and inhumane practices. Deep in the dungeons are prison cells for deviating nuns who are starved and tormented by the head nuns. The Monk, title role of the novel, belongs to the main character who is perhaps the most malevolent and cruel. The novel is the ideal example of a gothic novel because it encompasses all the themes that typify the gothic novel. The main tenets of gothic literature include, terror, violence, threatening of a women’s virtue and women being in constant danger. This can be seen in the case of Antonia
Although written during both the Victorian and Gothic time period, Jane Eyre draws upon many revolutionary influences that ultimately enabled it to become one of the most successful books of all time. Jane Eyre is merely a hybrid of a Victorian and Gothic novel, infusing a share of dark allusions with overzealous romanticism. The primitive cultures of the Victorian period reflect high ethical standards, an extreme respect for family life, and devotional qualities to God, all in which the novel portrays. Yet, to merely label Jane Eyre as a Victorian novel would be misleading. While the characteristics of a Gothic no...
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