Synopses & Reviews
The Gothic and the Rule of Law is the first full-length theoretical and historical study of the relation between early Gothic fiction and an emerging modern rule of law. The work identifies not only a political and cultural, but also an ontological relation between what critics have conceptualized as 'Gothic' and the nature and function of modern juridical power. It represents a highly significant contribution to Gothic criticism and to law and literature scholarship.
About the Author
SUE CHAPLIN is Senior Lecturer in English at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements * Introduction: Thresholds * Fictions of Origin * 'Written in the Black Letter': The Gothic and/in the Rule of Law * Spectres of Law in
The Castle of Otranto * Clara Reeve and the Problem of Romance * The Law's Gothic Space: Sophia Lee's
The Recess * A Maternal Tale Unfolds: Radcliffean Gothic * A Supplement:
Gaston de Blondeville * Before the Law: Godwin's
Caleb Williams * In Excess:
St Leon and
Melmoth the Wanderer * Conclusion:
Frankenstein - Reproducing the Gothic * Bibliography * Index