Monsters in the Attic: The ‘Wicked’ Women of Gothic

Why are so many women in Gothic fiction imprisoned in attics, asylums, and haunted houses? Why has female anger so often been translated into madness, obsession, or monstrosity? And why does the figure of the ‘madwoman’ continue to haunt literature and cinema more than two centuries after the birth of the Gothic novel? 

This three-hour illustrated course explores the evolution of one of Gothic storytelling's most enduring figures: the rebellious, dangerous, and supposedly ‘wicked’ woman, whose perceived madness often conceals a deeper struggle against patriarchal power. Alongside literary and cinematic analysis, we will draw on feminist theory, social history, and accounts from women confined to Victorian asylums to uncover the cultural anxieties that shaped these narratives. 

The course expands beyond the traditional Anglo-American canon to explore how the Female Gothic has been examined through race, colonialism, migration, and cultural identity. From Wide Sargasso Sea and Mexican Gothic to Beloved, and from Rosemary's Baby to Nanny, La Llorona, and Mārama, we will explore how contemporary Gothic relocates the ‘madwoman’ from the attic to new cultural landscapes shaped by colonial hauntology and displacement. 

Finally, the course considers the future of female gothic, asking why audiences remain fascinated by women who refuse to be passive and obedient. Has the madwoman escaped the attic, or has she simply found new places to haunt?