TheFemaleGothic-ThenNow.docxVIP

TheFemaleGothicThenandNowAndrewSmithandDianaWallace UniversityofGlamorganWhenEllenMoers firstusedtheterm‘FemaleGothic’inLiteraryWomen(1976), shethoughtthatitwaseasilydefinedas‘theworkthatwomenwritershavedone in the literarymode that, sincethe eighteenth century,wehavecalled“the Gothic.”’1Adefinitionof‘theGothic’was, sheadmitted,lesseasilystated,‘except thatithastodowithfear’(90).Moers’analysisof FemaleGothictextsasacoded expressionofwomen’sfearsofentrapment withinthedomesticandwithinthe femalebody,mostterrifyinglyexperiencedinchildbirth,wasextremelyinfluential. Itnotonlyengenderedabodyofcrit