EXPLORING GENDER ROLES IN 19TH-CENTURY GOTHIC LITERATURE

Abstract

This study explores the complex portrayal of gender roles in 19th-century Gothic literature, focusing on how authors of the genre depicted masculinity and femininity, often subverting societal norms and expectations. Gothic narratives, with their dark and eerie settings, offer a lens through which to analyze the roles of men and women during the Victorian era. The paper examines key works, including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, to investigate how gender identities are constructed, challenged, and distorted. By analyzing characters such as the monstrous and the victimized, the study highlights the ways in which Gothic fiction both reflects and critiques the prevailing gender ideologies of the time. The role of power, sexuality, and agency in shaping the lives of male and female characters within these texts is examined in depth, as well as the implications of their portrayals on contemporary understandings of gender. Ultimately, this analysis contributes to the broader discourse on gender and genre, offering insights into how Gothic literature serves as a site for questioning the rigid boundaries of gender during a period of social transformation.