The Female Gothic Subtext:Gender Politics in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

Abstract

This essay examines how Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper found, in the conventions of the Gothic genre, a forum in which to address the universality of female suffering, as well as introduce progressive notions for the modification of female conduct. Gothic literature, while allowing the reader to live vicariously through the heroine's ordeals in a world of danger and mystery, also provided women authors with the ideal medium in which to conceal radical critiques of the gender politics of their age. Socialist and humanist values are prevalent in both texts, and while Jane Eyre is an educational novel, aiming to show the reader what happens when the protagonist has integrity, and fights for her rights, The Yellow Wallpaper is a cautionary tale, warning readers of the result when the protagonist does not fight back against those who would oppress her.