The Female Gothic: The Demonstration of Woman's Subjectivity in Ann Radcliffe's The Italian

女性誌異小說：安‧拉德克利夫之《義大利人》中女性主體性之彰顯

林怡君(I-Chun Lin)

《國立金門大學學報》 7卷2期 (2018/03) Pp. 23-33

摘要

Born in 1764, Ann Radcliffe was one of the most popular writers of her day. She developed a new kind of Gothic novel which focused on the female protagonists. Published in 1797, The Italian is one of Radcliffe's representative works. Ellena di Rosalba, an orphan who is courted by Vivaldi, a young man from a noble family. Vivaldi's mother, Marchesa, fiercely objects to their marriage and hires her confessor, father Schedoni, to kidnap Ellena to prevent the marriage. Unlike the conventional Gothic female protagonist, Ellena does not submit to Marchesa but gradually develops her self-consciousness during the several journeys. Critics have different viewpoints from the definition of the female Gothic. Robert Miles admits that the female Gothic provides female protagonists an opportunity of self-assertion; however, he worries about the female Gothic will limit itself to gender dichotomy. Different from Miles, Ellen Moers praises Radcliffe's contribution of the female Gothic that female protagonists will create the potential of ＂heroinism＂ through the escape from the control of the patriarchal system. Based on these discussions, this paper will aim to explore how women sensibility is demonstrated in the female Gothic, and allow it to resist the patriarchal sublime. In addition, by investigating Ellena's resistance and her self-consciousness, this paper will also explore the empowerment of Radcliffe's female characters in The Italian.

關鍵字

the female Gothic ； sublime ； woman's empowerment ； woman's subjectivity

並列摘要

生於1764年，安‧拉德克利夫(Ann Radcliff)之作品多半聚焦於女性角色，也因此開創了「女性誌異小說」（the female Gothic novel）全新的題材。《義大利人》(The Italian)出版於1797年，為拉德克利夫代表性作品之一。小說中之女主角，愛蓮娜(Ellena)，被貴族青年維瓦第(Vivaldi)追求，但因出身問題，維瓦第的母親，瑪卻莎(Marchesa)極力反對兩人婚姻，並要求她的告解神父史德尼(Schedoni)綁架愛蓮娜。與傳統誌異小說柔弱女主角不同，愛蓮娜並未向瑪卻莎屈服，反而藉由每次逃脫壓迫的旅程當中，逐漸發展自我意識與動能。評論家對於定義女性誌異小說有不同意見。羅伯特‧邁爾斯(Robert Miles)承認女性誌異小說確實提供了女主角發聲管道，然而，邁爾斯也擔憂，此定義是否會侷限女性誌異小說於性別二元對立。不同於邁爾斯，愛倫‧摩爾斯(Ellen Moers)推崇拉德克利夫的貢獻，她指出，拉德克利夫筆下的女性角色，開創了「女性豪傑」（heroinism）的可能性。藉由這些討論，本論文將探討藉由女主角之獨特感受性，女性主體如何在小說中彰顯，並藉此對抗父權體系。此外，藉由探討愛蓮娜的抵抗與她的自我覺醒，本論文也將探討拉德克利夫的女主角在故事當中的增能性。

並列關鍵字

女性誌異小說 ； 壯闊景觀 ； 女性增能 ； 女性主體性

參考文獻

Bondhus, Charlie. “Sublime Patriarchs and the Problems of the New Middle Class in Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian.” Gothic Studies, vol. 12, no.1, pp.13-32, May. 2010, Print.

Broadwell, Elizabeth P. “The Veil Image in Ann Radcliffe’s ‘The Italian.” South Atlantic Bulletin. vol.40, no.4 , Nov.1975, pp.76-87. Print.

Clery, E.J. Introduction. The Italian. By Ann Radcliffe. New York: U of Oxford P, 1998, vii-xxxi.

Heiland, Donna. “Rethinking the Sublime in the Novels of Ann Radcliffe.” Gothic and Gender: An Introduction. Malden: Blackwell, pp.57-76, 2004.

Miles, Robert. “Ann Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis.” A Companion to the Gothic. Ed. David Punter. Malden: Blackwell, pp.41-57, 2000.