Literature in English, North America Commons^™

The Monster Within: Disability Narratology And The Representations Of Bodily Difference, Disability, And Monstrosity In Gothic Fiction, Tiffany M. Oharriz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the various depictions of monstrosity in Gothic literature through the lens of a new theoretical framework, disability narratology — coded patterns operating within literary texts that pertain to the impaired body and its portrayal as monstrous through repetitive tropes that paint bodily differences as horrifying. The villainous other, the monster, is often representative of something more than what the author plainly states. It often works as a stand-in for characteristics deemed undesirable within a cultural group. The monster is a complex being within each text, speaking—or not speaking in some instances—and acting …