Subversion from Within

A new Brontë-related thesis:

Subversion from Within: Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Mary Shelley's Gothic Feminism
Kiester, Hannah
Florida Southern College
Data: 2020-04

Abstract

Long before recognized feminist movements began, women were fighting the patriarchal structure of society with the aims of equality and recognition. Woman writers have had to fight to gain a standing with their male counterparts in the literary public eye. For centuries, many women could only achieve success in their contemporary circles by publishing their work under a male or gender-neutral pseudonym. One such woman, Charlotte Brontë, said in a letter to her editor that an early critic of Jane Eyre “praised the book if it were written by a man, and pronounced it ‘odious’ if the work of a woman” (Qtd in Margaret Smith 139). In addition to being considered inferior in everyday life, women were also depicted in literature as typically flat characters that fit into a regressive trope or patriarchal stereotype representing all women. Female characters were traditionally cast in one of three roles: the mother, the prostitute, or the divine, “pure” female muse. In particular, the Gothic genre is full of tropes that reflect a lesser view of women—tropes such as the fainting heroine, the mistreated female servant, and the brooding Gothic hero, who is often revealed to be an abuser. [...]