We know the Gothic when we see it. It’s the gloomy, mold-covered manor house called High Place in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. It’s the ghostly whispers of long-buried secrets in the dark rooms of Hundreds Hall, the English mansion in Sarah Waters’s The Little Stranger. It’s the heroine locked in a prison of her own mind, like Miranda in Helen Oyeyemi’s White is for Witching. Beneath these Gothic tropes is a rich of history of women writers, beginning with the literary success of Ann Radcliffe, whose novel The Mysteries of Udolpho is still considered one of the pioneering texts of the Gothic) and that of the other authors (Regina Maria Roche, Eliza Parsons) who published with Minerva Press in the last decades of the eighteenth century.

While the Gothic was a genre geared toward female audiences (and thus dismissed by the literary elite as “popular” fiction with little value), it often promoted radical ideas of the feminist movement, which was gaining popularity at the same time. The Gothic tradition continued through the next century with Mary Shelley (whose own mother was a leading feminist voice) and into the twentieth century with writers like Shirley Jackson. For these women, the Gothic was a space that allowed for the safe exploration of feminist themes like the lack of rights within marriage, the contested female body, women’s autonomy, and more. This lecture will examine women’s critical role in the creation of Gothic literature, as both creators and fans, from the earliest Gothic novels in 1790s England. Then, we will look to the modern Gothic, as it is being reimagined today in literature and film.

Please note this is a live broadcast event – the class cannot be watched later, so please be sure you are available at the date and time the class is being offered in before registering. All sales are final, and we will not give refunds for any reason other than class cancellation. Classes curated by Miskatonic Los Angeles are in Pacific Time.