Property and Power in English Gothic Literature

Eighteenth-century England witnessed major social and economic changes, including the commodification of property, person and text through legal containments—enclosure, coverture, primogeniture, copyright. English Gothic authors responded with tropes that worked to dispel the assurances of possession—the contested castle, the beleaguered yet enduring woman, the haunting ghost, the disjointed narrative—warning that seemingly mundane codes of ownership have menacing implications, such as the civil death of women through marriage. This book explores the masterplot of the English Gothic text as a response to the Enlightenment’s rational certainty regarding possession of self, property and narrative.