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The Gothic heroine was always a young, attractive woman who was a virgin. She usually ran in terror through old and dark
mansions in the middle of nowhere, escaping from a psychotic man or a supernatural demon. When she became terminally
helpless, she was always saved by the good guy who would become her future husband.
These characteristics have their roots in the Female Gothic of the 18th century, but the reality is more complex. The
following are some examples of more complex gothic female characters:
Ann Radcliffe's heroines
Many of Radcliffe's heroines have been considered an expression of literary feminism which can also be called heroism. This
can take many forms: the intellectual heroine, the passionate heroine or the travelling one.
Moreover, Radcliffe had usually two type of completely different heroines; on the one hand, that who would pick up a candle
to go to explore anywhere. On the other hand, the helpless and fearful one who would stay carefully behind a door.
Nevertheless, in both cases, their business seems to be to experience difficulty, not to get out of it.
The travelling heroine moved, acted and coped with adventure. She was usually forced to leave her home or her refuge.
Sometimes her travels were indoors, exploring castle's or abbey's corridors, abandoned wings, locked rooms and so on.
The propensity for travelling that these heroines had, could make the Gothic novel a female equivalent of the male
picaresque novel.
Matthew Lewis' female characters
In "The Monk", women who are at all self-assertive are tortured or killed. We have many examples of this:
- Ambrosio's mother interrupts his attempts to rape Antonia; that is why he kills her.
- The prioress abuses her power in the convent; so the mob murders her.
-Agnes is sexually indiscreet; therefore, the nuns entomb her alive.
Matthew Lewis suggests all the time that the victim is to blame for her own suffering. This serves the interests of the
dominant group in societies where wealth and power are unequally distributed.
Often the victims are blamed for their suffering because there are many people who are taught in their childhood that
punishment is the consequence they get when they do something wrong. As a result, they can not accept that cruelty is
usually inflicted upon the innocents not the bad ones. In the same way, Lewis blames women for the violence inflicted upon
them by men.
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