The Maternal Gaze in the Gothic (Palgrave Gothic)

Synopsis

This monograph is an original project which plots the trajectory of the maternal gaze as a convention in the Gothic. It offers new directions for Gothic studies by exposing and challenging a critical and cultural myopia towards the capabilities of maternal desire, and in doing so engages with a range of texts from the Romantic to contemporary literary and visual cultures to locate a tyrannical maternal gaze in the genre. Compelling a seismic shift in the perception of the genre as the embodiment of patriarchy and the sexually violent male gaze, this is a new and unexplored area of both the Gothic and criticism of the genre, which has historically privileged the Oedipal paternal tyrant/female victim dynamic established in the Romantic Gothics of Walpole and Radcliffe. The monograph fills significant gaps in the Gothic academic publishing market. It is the first overview of the maternal gaze in the Gothic, it offers in-depth studies of previously neglected authors and their works, and it fundamentally changes how we see the Gothic mother/figure and child, both as a single entity and discrete tropes. The Maternal Gaze in the Gothic examines how articulations of maternal visual tyrannies in the Gothic—including kidnapping; incarcerating; gaslighting, hurting and killing the child under the guises of protection—are ignored by both the Gothic critical heritage and also feminist gaze theory. This book is a must read for those interested in the Gothic and Feminism alike.

Copyright:

2025

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9783031706660

Related ISBNs:

9783031706653

Publisher:

Springer Nature Switzerland

Date of Addition:

02/28/25

Copyrighted By:

The Editor

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Horror, Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Social Studies

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.