Elizabeth Gaskell vs. Anne Brontë: Monsters and Madmen

In the shadows of 19th-century domesticity, writers Elizabeth Gaskell and Anne Brontë used the gothic to question the status of powerful and abusive men. Beyond the supernatural, how can we read short stories like The Grey Woman as powerful criticisms of the real monsters in Victorian society?

While Elizabeth Gaskell is famous for her social realism, she was also a prolific writer of gothic and supernatural fiction. Ghost stories like The Old Nurse’s Story use eerie atmospheres and psychological terror to explore family relationships and the weight of the past.

Anne Brontë shattered the silence of the domestic sphere with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. By depicting a woman’s flight from an abusive marriage and her struggle for financial independence, Brontë replaced spectral horrors with something more terrible, the reality of women’s contemporary status.

Join us this Halloween to explore the real monsters and madness hidden in the works of these two groundbreaking women.

Speakers:
•    Dr. Amy L. Montz is Professor of English Literature at the University of Southern Indiana, USA.
•    Andrew Stodolny is Learning Coordinator, Brontë Parsonage Museum

Part of Short Stories - The Gothic Season and in partnership with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.

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