Queering Gothic in the Romantic Age : The Penetrating Eye

This new study argues that Gothic writing of the Romantic period is queer.

Discussing a variety of texts, it argues that contemporary queer theory can help us to read the obliqueness and invisibility of same-sex desire in a culture of vigilance over transgressive sexuality.

It articulates the complex manifestations of desire through examining the discourses of the body, in particular the gaze.

Max Fincher shows how the Gothic's ambivalent gender politics destabilize heteronormative narratives and give a voice to queer desires.