Institut Ramon LLull

“Although Gothic literature became popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the term ‘Gothic’ is used here anachronistically and in a distinctive queer sense to describe the supernatural, morbid, mysterious, fearsome and even abject manifestations of women that have endured disgrace, defamation and extreme violence.”

The monstress emerges as a liberated figure, herself capable of liberating others. She is a life force, as though it was always nature’s purpose to bring her into being. This book is a vindication of the women and dissident bodies whose voices and legacies persist no matter how fiercely they have been cast as monsters, written out of history or condemned to death. Here, instead of occupying the familiar role of victim in the Gothic tradition, the woman becomes the monster at the centre of the story.