The Bloody Chamber

Gothic writing often stereotypically portrays women as secondary and weak characters, early gothic literature characteristically creates the image of a young, virginal, mild character, with no substance beyond this, and these 'perfect girls' do not speak back and show no interest in males or sexuality. A typical gothic female character, such as 'the girl' in 'The monk'- displays the key characteristics of females at the time (early 1800s) , they were innocent and seen often as sex and fantasy 'objects', whereas the males dominated, sexually, economically, politically and socially.

Within, 'The bloody chamber' all the stories feature women, whether typically gothic or not. The story- 'The bloody chamber' features two female characters, the more passive daughter who is noticeably never named and her fearless mother. The daughter enters marriage with fear and dread 'Into marriage, into exile' and allows the marquis to continually dominate her as he is often described as terrifying and emotionless 'Eyes that always disturbed me by their absolute absence of light'. The descriptions of the Marquis contrast massively to the images and feelings we are given of the girl 'I would always be lonely' 'I had to be content' this showcases her subdued feelings of marriage to the marquis, she feels she has no say in her happiness or her future, she is not in control of her own will, clearly showing a passive characteristic typical of early gothic literature. However, within this story her mother contrasts hugely to her daughter as she is described as a modern day heroine, switching the gothic conventions taking the place of a typical strong and valiant male 'You never saw such a wild thing as my mother' This therefore reminds the reader of the time of writing, the story is in fact a modern take on gothic literature written in the 21st century, the heroic mother therefore would not be seen as an unusual addition to the story in a modern day reading, yet if read in a more gothic year- the 1880s-1900s this would have been interpreted in a very different way, as it was a far more abstract and strange concept.

Furthermore within, 'The bloody chamber' the story 'The Lady of the house of love' also questions at times the classic gothic depiction of females, firstly she is shown as a predator, the classic role of a male 'Now she is a woman she must have men' this description portrays her as a strong individual taking advantage of the weak, as opposed to the innocent young and beautiful female victim' However, as the story progresses we see the juxtaposed and contrasting idea, that in reality she wishes to alter this strong and deadly side to her character 'In her sleep, she dreams of being human' this shows the characters desperation for normality, and the reader begins to question why.