Date of Award
Spring 5-10-2023
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
From the inception of the genre, Gothic horror has been fixated on the domestic space in distress. This essay explores domestic archetypes and roles of the Gothic novel, serving as a “tour of the house”, analyzing the iconography of the dark castle, and how it externalizes and exacerbates the fears and behaviors of its inhabitants. The power dynamic of the household is starkly divided by the expectations and authority of masculine and feminine figures. In turn the “house” becomes a vehicle for the anxieties of the inhabitants—both experienced and inflicted—regarding gender, sexuality, isolation, and abuse. Exploration of the visual and thematic vocabulary of the genre allows for discussion of the afterlives of the tradition, and how the scaffolding of the genre can be used to address issues of domestic abuse and gendered violence in a nuanced way.
Language
English
Program Chair
John Hendrix
Recommended Citation
Bielski, Emily, "The Dark House and its Inhabitants" (2023). MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture. 16.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/16
Included in
Fiction Commons, Graphic Design Commons, Illustration Commons, Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Visual Studies Commons