Ann Radcliffe, the mother of the English Gothic novel, used her tales of terror to look at feminist themes like inheritance and the dangers of marriage. Unfortunately, her own biography demonstrates that she was confined by what was expected of women writers and is still missing form Gothic 101 syllabi.
[1:22] “As a fun fact to start us off: if you’re a Jane Austen fan, you may recognize the title The Mysteries of Udolpho.”
[5:52] “In fact, there is an argument to be made that even though female protagonists are threatened, scared, and locked away, they find a way to endure throughout the story.”
[13:48] “She was an incredibly popular novelist during her lifetime—some believing *the* most popular of the era."
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