Gothic Incest: Gender, Sexuality and Transgression

This book explores how Gothic writers used incestuous desires to challenge societal power structures, providing interdisciplinary readings of incest in various relationships in texts by authors like Emily Brontë, Eliza Parsons, Ann Radcliffe, and Eleanor Sleath. The analyses reveal that the incest thematic allowed writers to explore sexual, social, and legal concerns, offering alternative agencies, sexualities, and family structures that remain relevant today.

Format: Hardback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 08 February 2018
Publisher: Manchester University Press

This groundbreaking work is the first comprehensive exploration of incest in the Gothic genre. It compellingly argues that Gothic writers actively resisted the oppressive power structures of their society by expressing their innermost desires through incestuous relationships. The book offers interdisciplinary readings of incest within various familial bonds, including father-daughter, sibling, mother-son, cousin, and uncle-niece relationships, drawing from a diverse range of texts by renowned authors such as Emily Brontë, Eliza Parsons, Ann Radcliffe, and Eleanor Sleath. By contextualizing these readings within historical, literary, and cultural frameworks, the author's analyses shed light on the profound ways in which the incest thematic enabled writers to explore a wide array of interconnected sexual, social, and legal concerns. Through their vivid representations of incest, Gothic writers envisioned alternative agencies, sexualities, and family structures that continue to resonate with readers today, offering a valuable lens through which to understand the complexities of power, desire, and familial relationships in the Gothic genre.

Weight: 516g
Dimension: 146 x 223 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781784993061