Representation By Association

In Jacobean tragedies such as The Duchess of Malfi, the audience is presented with the character of the Duchess whose characteristics as a female in this type of tragedy differ greatly that that of women found in other genres, such as gothic novels. It is vey interesting to see the many comparisons that can be made with the two genres. Both gothic novels and Jacobean tragedies possess factors such as a love story, incest (if not carried out then implied, a scheming female character, and a faulty religious character. The main question that arises is why in two genres that are so closely related, the central female characters differ so greatly. In the noel entitled The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, the reader is presented with the character of Ellena, a fair Italian young lady with all of the desirable attributes of an English woman. The Duchess and Ellena are portrayed in two totally different lights. It is imperative to view how the two women react in their somewhat similar situations in order to understand why there is such a difference in character of the two women. Both are involved in a shceme brought on by love, but how they react to the situations define their characters. Although the genres have a small time gap between the two, it is important to note why women are represented so differently in a gothic novel as opposed to a Jacobean tragedy.