Date of Award
Summer 8-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Lynda Hall
Second Advisor
Rei Magosaki
Third Advisor
Justine Van Meter
Abstract
In the late eighteenth-century, the rise of the English Gothic novel propelled an extension referred to as the Female Gothic. Through the complexity of the English Gothic genre, writers—particularly women writers—explore the intersectionality of gender, class, natural horrors, and race, creating a space where the heroines of these Gothic novels exist beyond the confinement of the domestic sphere. The Female Gothic was a way for these women writers to acknowledge the natural horrors that plagued the experiences of being a woman—it addressed the oppression of a patriarchal society in which the subversion of the female body was perceived as an incubator for reproduction and sexual pleasure. Although Jane Austen’s novels can be regarded as more traditional pieces, Austen’s Sense and Sensibility arguably applies the Female Gothic framework to highlight the patriarchal dangers of women engaging with men outside of their paternalistic/family sphere. Through the development of Marianne Dashwood and John Willoughby's relationship, we can observe the societal reprimands linked to gender, reputation, and the female Gothic body. Founded in the legitimization of the Gothic genre, the discourse of the Gothic female body deepened the conversation of the terrors suffered by women at the hand of male-dominated societies.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Lastname, Firstname. The Female Gothic and Marianne Dashwood: the Gothic Heroine of Sense and Sensibility. 2026. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons,https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000764
Included in
Comparative Literature Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Other Classics Commons, Women's Studies Commons