The third figure is the Seeker who wanders for forbidden pleasure. The Vampire mocks God’s will because of his immortality. The Vampire is an inversion of Christian repression. Because of the wanderer’s mocking God, he is doomed to a life of eternal gloom. The wanderer represents man’s crime against God for blasphemy. There are three symbolic figures in Gothic Literature: the Wanderer, the Vampire and the Seeker (Hasanat 2). Indeed, the sublime is a very important part of Gothic Literature and the difference between fear and horror was explained by Edmund Burke in his philosophy novel, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful ( Hasanat 1 ). Radcliffe believed terror opens up the reader to the sublime while horror closes the mind with repugnance (Hume 285). Hume also points out that the Gothic literature draws a distinction between terror and horror. Hume believed that Ann Radcliff’s novels use the involvement of the readers’ imagination to create this Gothic endeavor (Hume 284). In “Gothic versus Romantic: A Revaluation of the Gothic Novel” writer Robert D. Gothic Literature opened the door for female writers, but fear was the emotion used to draw in the readers. However, the female Gothic was by all means feminist and Ann Radcliffe was recognized as the mother of this genre. Perhaps it was the overbearing father that the suitor has to convince. Women fought off suitors who merely wanted to reel them into the life of domestication.
The plots of the first Gothics hardly seem even a distant cousin to what is considered a Gothic novel by today’s standards. Key Gothic authors include Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley.Īnn Radcliffe was the first writer of the female Gothic novel to become popular.
Portrayals of women in Gothic literature may have first intended to keep them domesticated, but instead Gothic literature became a pathway for women to have a voice to fight for their sexual and political rights. Although throughout Gothic novels women’s roles would still be considered secondary in importance and would require a male protagonist, the literary climate certainly changed as did society’s political agendas. Female writers were often overlooked by publishers or were advised to assume a male name in order to be published during this time period. During this time, being literate provided a path for women to become employed outside the home and one step for women who wanted to become self-sufficient. At that time, women were beginning to become educated. Gothic literature may have begun in the Enlightenment Era, but for women it was the beginning of the female author writing for other women.
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