Femicidal Fears - Narratives of the Female Gothic Experience

Argues that contemporary female Gothic novels of death can, in fact, breathe new life into feminist debates about victimization, essentialism, agency, and the body.
In Femicidal Fears, Helene Meyers examines contemporary femicidal plots-plots in which women are killed or fear for their lives-to argue that these female Gothic novels of death actually bring the nuances of feminist thought to life. Through her examination of works by Angela Carter, Muriel Spark, Edna O'Brien, Beryl Bainbridge, Joyce Carol Oates, and Margaret Atwood, as well as such infamous cases as the Montreal Massacre and the Yorkshire Ripper, Meyers contends that these femicidal plots restage and embody feminist debates flattened by such glib and automatic phrases as "essentialism" and "victim feminism." Bringing the Gothic and the quotidian together in discussions of heterosexual romance, the sadomasochistic couple, female paranoia, postfeminism, and images of the female body, the book affirms that refusing victimization may not be a simple story, but it is nevertheless one worth telling.

About the author

Helene Meyers is Associate Professor of English at Southwestern University.

Product details

• Authors: Helene Meyers
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 19.10.2001
• EAN: 9780791451519
• ISBN: 978-0-7914-5151-9
• No. of pages: 223
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 218 mm x 140 mm
• Weight: 118 g
• Series: Suny Series in Feminist Critic; Suny Feminist Criticism and Th
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies