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The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression To Redemption, Tyler R. Tichelaar

Dissertations

The Gothic wanderer of British fiction originated during the French Revolution. During the nineteenth century, the figure evolved from one of transgression into a symbol of redemption. While Romantic poets created wanderer figures to celebrate rebellion, Gothic novelists utilized the wanderer figure to explore the psychology of transgression. The Gothic interpreted the French Revolution as a transgression against God and His ordained institutions. The wanderer figure expressed the anxieties of the revolutionary period and the attempt to imagine a political world not based upon monarchy. Gothic novelists also questioned what effects the French Revolution might have upon England. The overthrow …