04/05/1523

I woke up with a dreadful migraine this morning. This tends to happen when I'm anxious. I suppose I ought to be grateful for the position I'm in. Most girls have to settle for marrying milkmen or tax collectors. But I was marrying a prince. A fairly handsome one at that. But it wasn't my decision and I was never asked if this was what I wanted to do. As you know, I never complain; I'm supposed to be ‘delightful’. But as I lay here, a ton of blasphemous swear words fill my mind as I struggle to understand why I was ever given away.
      
‘Prince Conrad’ I thought. Despite his health conditions, I could do worse. At least now I’ll know what really happens on a wedding night. Or find out a little more about the s word…Sex. My mother never dared to explain it to me properly. But whenever it was insinuated, I took in every clue vividly. I often considered the working class. Those ladies are ALWAYS getting pregnant before marriage and although they were labelled to be foul, I envied them. I suppose there is an element of freedom in being placed at the bottom. However being adored for your “innocence”, “beauty” and “ability to hold your tongue” felt a lot like jail; and I’d patiently wait till the day I was no longer those things and no use to your highness.

*****

The events of today collapsed like a ton of bricks. Matilda, (who I had grown fairly close to) shrieked as she told me her brother had died (Prince Conrad). In the midst of the ciaos, I couldn't escape this feeling of guilt. Which is ironic because I'm sure I wished this at some point, while anxiously pacing through the kingdom this morning. One would assume this mean't the wedding would be off, but now his father Manfred wants to take my hand! My stomach began to turn under my terribly uncomfortable gown. Why would I want to be with that old man? I watched the chances of ever falling in love fade from slim to nothing. The absence of my father didn't help my nerves either; I wondered if he’d approve or put a stop to this at once…I noticed an exit door at the back of the church and without thinking, my legs began to escape; maybe now I could break free.

Are Female characters important in early Gothic Literature?

The opening of this post was a subversion of the character Isabella in 'The Castle of Otranto'. In Gothic fiction females are often subjected to three categories 'an innocent victim', 'the femme fatal' or 'the mother figure'; therefore I chose to rewrite the character of Isabella having considered Walpole’s depiction. Through doing this, I chose to defy the norm by including elements of femininity and sexual awareness; as during the 1800's sexual behaviour from women was largely criticized (Jessica Bomarito. P1) the same time period 'The Castle of Otranto' was written. However, despite the relevance of the female character in early Gothic fiction, they aren't typically explored or given depth. Therefore I have offered a modernised and more brutal female through Isabella, to challenge any original assumptions. 

Continuing this blog post I will discuss the concept of female characters based on the novels I studied in my first semester; these being 'The Castle of Otranto' and 'The Old English Baron' and 'The Monk'.  One could argue that the female Goth in these texts are presented to be weak, bland and submissive. However, the women in these stories are helplessly oppressed by not just their husbands and fathers but the author himself, who creates flat characters without much depth or purpose. Due to the norms and values of society in that era, there are often circumstances where the female characters appear to be content living in misery as long as they were accepted. On the other hand, the role of the woman in Gothic romances may have developed over time as societal influences began to change. 

'The Nightmare' Painting by Henry Fuseli (1781). 

In the Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, the female characters are portrayed as a damsel in distress which is a typical feature of any Gothic novel, they appear to be oppressed and depend completely on men. However, if we look back in history to when the novel, (set in the 1500's) women still hadn't earned the same rights as the men therefore were not treated with mutual respect. For example, they could not own property and always had to walk behind their husbands. On the other hand, this is a lens that we must be aware of when reading early Gothic novels.

From the very beginning, Walpole displays a revered maiden which is the perfect example of a 'valuable' girl in the 1500's. We see this through his depiction of 'Matilda', here she is described as the "most beautiful virgin, age eighteen" (Walpole, Page 1). This indicates that during this time if a woman wasn't beautiful or innocent, it would completely subtract from her self-worth. Moreover, we see the effect the opinions of society have on women, when the narrator says "and if my lady, your mother, who knows a bad husband is better than no husband" (P.49) which suggests it is better to live miserable in private than be frowned upon in public. Here Walpole displays the conventional roles of husbands and wives and how this is accepted by both parties, such as Matilda who has heard it a "thoufand times". Moreover, despite the valuable qualities the narrator mentions about Matilda, we see that her father ‘Manfred’ shows less affection towards her in comparison to her brother ‘Conrad’. This may indicate how invisible the character may feel in her own home.


In ‘The Castle of Otranto’, both Matilda and Hippolita are traditional, honourable and submissive women. We see this when Hippolita accepts to divorce Manfred for the sake of kingdom and she says "I will go and offer myself to this divorce-it boots not what becomes of me. I will withdraw into the neighboring monastery and the remainder of life in prayers and tears for my child and –the Prince". This highlights her complete obedience and discipline as willingly followed the rules of her husband despite him wanting to replace her. In contrast, Matilda's obedience is brought to light through her declaration to her mother, “Oh! Doubt not my obedience, my dreadful obedience to him and to you”.
 Similarly, In 'The Monk' the female characters are presented in the same way (such as Antonia, Virginia and Agnes), although Lewis presents us with the binary opposite with women who are presented to be demonic such as 'Matilda and Mother St. Agatha. This to me, is ironic because the women who defy the early Gothic stereotypes mentioned in my introduction, are the most powerful in this text. When Matilda makes a pact with the devil, it opens up a new world to her as she discovers revelations such as predatory sexual attractiveness portrayed as darker than the "love" the heroes feel for the innocent heroines. Whereas, Lewis presents us with harmless, obedient girls such as Antonia and Agnes, but they do not achieve physical or even emotional strength, as they are characterized by their beauty. This as a reader makes me question the author being Matthew Lewis's intentions, perhaps he wanted to bring light to the fact that the only way a woman could have her independence during this time was if she were a widow, or making evil pacts with the devil. Or else she would helplessly fall into the trap of being nothing more than a woman who is revered for her purity and physical attraction. However, Mother St. Agatha, who was the Mother Superior of a convent, was appreciated for her own intellectual and managerial ability rather than her marital status or vulnerability.  It can be argued that she is portrayed as in many ways closer to a traditional male villain, rather than a female Gothic living in a patriarchal society.

Andrew Smith and Diana Wallace's critical essay on the 'Female Gothic' considers the characteristics that differentiate male and female characters in several Gothic texts; such as 'The Monk'. In this essay it is suggested that male writers such as Matthew Lewis have plots that consist of "masculine transgression of social taboo's" (P.2). This reassures my early point that the author's gender may have an effect on the way female characters are presented, as they are more concerned with the masculine aspects of the novel. However, in the twentieth century, woman writers such as Tania Modleski and Joanna Russ wrote modern Gothic romance, which focused more on the gender of the speaking subject, rather than the gender of the author. This suggested that the depiction of the Female Goth developed through time. Whereas now, we have Gothic literature such as 'Twilight' where a woman is placed in the centre of a love triangle. Published in 2005, Stephanie Meyer still adds conventional elements such as darkness, passion and 'the fear of the unknown' portrayed in her novel but the woman is no longer subservient to men.

Bibliography

Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. 1764, United Kingdom
 Reeve, Clara The Old English Baron, The Oxford World's Classics, 1778
Lewis, Matthew The Monk. 1796, United Kingdom.
Smith Andrew, Wallace Diana, The Female Gothic. University Glamorgan. 
Bomarito Jessica, Society, Culture and the Gothic. Gale Cengage, 2006.
Meyer Stephanie, Twilight. Little Brown, 2005.
Bronte, Charlotte, Wuthering Heights, (London: Wordsworth Classics ,1847)