In the traditional gothic romance the heroine is seen to be weak and emotional, often they swoon and faint out of fear. This is witnessed within My Lover’s Lover when on page 115 Lily faints in the bathroom; the fear of Sinead’s spirit bought on by the smell of jasmine (page 95) that appears from nowhere and grows stronger with each second. This belief by Lily that Sinead met her maker and is now haunting the apartment highlights Lily’s isolation and the feeling that she will never escape. The fact that Lily is unable to discover where Sinead went slowly drives Lily mad, she begins seeing things that are not there until she comes to the conclusion, as i have mentioned, that the apartment is haunted. At one point Lily is looking for keys for the locked door, eventually finding them in Sinead’s mug that Lily had never seen before. Also the glint in the shower and the note on the window that appears as if from nowhere leads to the madness suffered by Lily. This madness is another key feature of the gothic romance that O’Farrell demonstrates well. Lily’s madness grows as her curiosity over Sinead becomes more prominent, to the extent of Sinead taking over Lily.
My Lover’s Lover is often associated with Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, a prime example of a gothic romance. In this text the room is preserved exactly, everything in it’s place; this bears a striking similarity to O’Farrell. When Lily first views Sinead’s room everything is still in place, even the bed left as if she had just got up. Then once Lily has moved in there still remains the single dress hanging upon the rail (page 31). My Lover’s Lover can also be compared to Jane Eyre, Aidan is very similar to the character of St John, Aidan is the hero (page 71). There is also the element of madness which is a key theme within Jane Eyre, Rochester has a Wife in the attic whom he describes as mad. In Jane Eyre her ramblings and screams are put down to a servant or ghosts; in My Lover’s Lover it is the other way round, it is the belief in a ghost that leads to the madness.
Another example of contemporary female writers using the genre of the gothic romance is Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Sue is a thief in London and is offered the job of going to the country to fool Maud into marrying ‘gentleman.’ In turn she would go into the madhouse and lose her fortune. In truth Maud and ‘Gentleman’ are going to make Sue become Maud so that she will go in the madhouse and Maud keeps her fortune, yet there are others involved and before long it becomes apparent that both Sue and Maud have been tricked. There are many key features within this text that highlight it’s gothic elements; foremost amongst these are the various settings within the text. To begin with, the slums of London that are described as hot, crowded, dark and full of foul smells.
‘We did not feel the cold at Lant Street, for besides our ordinary kitchen fire there was Mr Ibbs’s locksmith’s brazier...’ (pg 14)
‘The smell of it was powerful before a fire...’ (pg 16)
The kitchen could be likened to hell itself; then Briar is set in the country, isolated from everywhere, forbidding, dark, old, lifeless. These two setting conform to the traditional setting of the gothic genre, even the very rooms within Briar are traditionally correct. The Library is dark, lit only by desk lamps, there is little light within Briar due to Mr Lily’s peculiar obsession with his work.
‘...rising vast and straight and stark out of woolly fog, with all its windows black or shuttered, and its walls with a dead kind of ivy clinging to them...’ (pg 57)
Doubling is another key aspect to the text that is usual with gothic literature; Sue is to become Maud, Maud is to become Sue and though they do switch identities by the end they have become someone else entirely. They dress as each other, do everything together so that their behaviours become the same. Sue a thief learns to be a servant, then learns to become a Lady, she learns to be Maud. Maud learns to be a servant before returning to her upper class status; the two could be compared easily to twins with one being the evil twin, though in this case it is difficult to decide whether it would be Maud or Sue that were evil. Identity is important to the text with ‘Gentleman’ and Sue having different names; ‘Gentleman’ claims to be upper class but he isn’t, it is all for show and he goes by various names. Sue believes herself Susan Trinder, becomes Susan Smith, then Maud Lily before finally Susan Lily. There is a blurring of identity when Sue is told in the madhouse that she is Maud that she begins to believe it.
The overall theme within Fingersmith is Facade, the truth is shrouded until the end when the truth is too difficult to believe. The respectability at Briar is a facade as Mr Lily as a scholar is making a catalogue of erotic texts; what’s more is he enlists the help of a young girl to assist him in his work. Rather than a respectable household it is corrupt as are the men that visit, whilst portrayed as gentlemen they really come to hear a young woman read erotic stories to them. Another theme is desire which is seen most prominently between Sue and Maud, it is during one of these moments that another gothic element is bought into the text. Sue is described as having a ghostly presence, ghosts and haunting are key feature of the gothic genre. This fear or terror of ghosts and haunting is emphasized through Mauds’ nightmares, she is so terrified that she needs drops to sleep.
As i have explained the two texts use many of the conventions of the gothic romance genre, most prominently in the gothic settings of the texts. Each text though contemporary maintains the traditional gothic setting, a warehouse with courtyard in one and in the other numerous locations that are described in gothic terms. This conventional setting is the factor that enables us the reader to identify the texts as a part of this genre; without this setting it would be difficult to claim. The characters of these works also follow convention, heroes, villains, madwomen and doubles. The key theme in both texts is secrets or secrecy, this in itself is often associated with the gothic romance, adding an air of mystery to the text. In My Lover’s Lover Sinead’s disappearance remains a secret and is central to the plot with each character acting upon this mystery. Lily start to go mad and believes that she is being haunted by Sinead, whereas Marcus knows about Sinead yet acts suspiciously when the topic arises. In Fingersmith it is much the same yet the secret is misinterpreted by the reader until the end where the truth is finally revealed. Sue believes that she is tricking Maud, Maud in turn believes she is tricking Sue when all along both are being tricked by ‘Gentleman’ and Mrs Sucksby.
It is believed that he gothic romance genre has been taken by contemporary women writers and used largely in conventional terms. In the case of My Lovers Lover the conventions are in place, the setting, characters and general features are easily attributed to the genre. In Fingersmith, which is set in Victorian England, the gothic aspect adds to the plot, intensifying the experiences of Maud and Sue. The isolation and crumbling of Briar creates the notion that neither can escape, this is also seen in the London slums. The kitchen is described in hellish terms, with Dainty and John acting in devilish ways; at the beginning of the story, though she is free Sue is watched closely to protect her and at the end Maud is unable to leave. On the other hand whilst Fingersmith uses the conventions faultlessly, My Lover’s Lover is different using the conventions merely as a starting point. It seems that in terms of contemporary women writers applying the conventions of the genre they do so completely. Yet also each convention is adapted to suit the modern text, no longer is the gothic romance about werewolves, vampires and demons; no longer is it necessarily man and woman live happily ever after. In these texts the characters now only convey personality traits similar to those of demons, and especially in the case of Fingersmith it is woman and woman live happily ever after. To conclude, i believe that contemporary women writers have taken this genre and pushed it into the modern realm of literature, encompassing freedom, modern views and sexuality. The genre has changed, it has evolved to ensure that us the readers are satisfied with the story we are told; despite this the conventions are the same, we still have a tale of deceit, terror and love.
Word count: 2,056
Bibliography
Bronte, Charlotte Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily Wuthering Heights
O’Farrell, Maggie My Lover’s Lover Review 2002
Waters, Sarah Fingersmith Virago Press 2003
Wright, Angela Gothic Fiction Palgrave 2007
