Female Characters in Gothic TextsGothic literature, also called gothic horror, is a literary genre that combines fiction, horror, and romance. It comes from the novel by the English author Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto. The name Gothic refers to the (pseudo)-medieval buildings, similar to the church or castle, in which most of the stories take place, such as in the original Otranto Castle. This extreme form of romanticism was very popular in England and Germany. Characterized by its castles, its dungeons, its dark forests and its hidden passages, from the Gothic novel genre was born the feminine Gothic. Feminine Gothic allowed the introduction of female societal and sexual desires into Gothic texts. The Relationship between Women and the Gothic focuses on works of Gothic literature written primarily by female authors. In the mid-1800s, women had far fewer rights than today and were expected to be submissive to men. They had neither voting rights nor property rights. They were supposed to avoid speaking openly in the company of men and were supposed to support them. ...