Social Disruption in the Gothic Novels of Horace Walpole, Elizabeth Inchbald, and Jane Austen.

<p>The Gothic novel plays on the exaggeration of prescribed sex roles and uses various narrative techniques to produce a social commentary on gender politics and to illustrate the consequences of a destroyed social structure. Through the examination of the construct of the Gothic narrative and its fragmentary style, the novels of Horace Walpole, Elizabeth Inchbald, and Jane Austen reveal similar treatments of the sexuality of their characters. The implementation of key Gothic elements—such as the castle, tyrannical father, and distressed damsel—serve to propel the novels’ questioning of the patriarchal system, the theme of women as commodities, and the economic value of sexuality. In addition to creating bizarre atmospheres of suspense and mystery, the authors artfully weave the fantastic elements of the Gothic into real responses to the changing culture and sexual anxiety of eighteenth-century England.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MA (Master of Arts)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - unrestricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Pun-Chuen, Lia Criselda Lim

• Walpole
• Sexuality
• Inchbald
• Gothic
• Austen
• Arts and Humanities
• English Language and Literature

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1018

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-2175