Gothic Feminism: Repression, Transgression, and Rage

Madwomen, ghosts, witches, monsters—the gothic genre has long been a vehicle for representing female characters deemed too transgressive for inclusion in “respectable” fiction. Indeed, much of what makes the gothic dark and mysterious, what inspires dread, is how it reckons with thwarted female autonomy, repressed desire, and past injustice. It’s no wonder the genre has proved so fruitful for feminist theory: in its tales and archetypes, the Gothic offers a powerful means for exploring key topics in feminist thought, from capitalism, reproduction, and race to sexuality, rage, and freedom. Is it a coincidence that a resurgence in gothic tropes has taken place simultaneously with the revitalization of a vocal, global feminist movement?

In this course, we’ll enter feminist thought through the gothic mode, reading fiction, poetry, and theory in order to look at central concepts in feminist theory. Who, we’ll ask, is the misogynist “monster” against which feminists have fought? We’ll think with the madwoman as a way to consider sex, rage, hysteria, and the postcolonial; and we’ll invoke the witch to look at misogyny, reproduction, and capitalism. Finally, we’ll allow the ghosts of historical violence to haunt us, and speculate on what the return of the repressed might be. Readings will include writing by Mary Shelley, Maryse Condé, Edgar Allan Poe, Jean Rhys, Sara Ahmed, Susan Stryker, Silvia Federici, Toni Morrison, Saidiya Hartman, Julia Kristeva, and Selma James.

“Gothic Feminism: Repression, Transgression, and Rage” will also run in-person at BISR Central, starting Monday, October 19th; for more information, please visit the course page.

Course Schedule

Tuesday, 6:30-9:30pm ET
October 20 — November 10, 2026
4 weeks

$355.00

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