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Ann Radcliffe's Superpaternal: A Study Of The Supernatural In The Romance Of The Forest And The Mysteries Of Udolpho, Lynn Kramer

English Theses

This study proposes a new way to examine the supernatural being in Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Romance of the Forest. Critics have argued that the supernatural being is used in these novels to remind the heroines to think rationally; however, I argue that his purpose is more complex than that of a figment who instills reason. Rather, his role is to make the females realize their sexual vulnerability within the imprisoning, Gothic house. He is able to show the women they are in sexual danger by creating sexually explicit situations with the heroine that occur …