A. Radcliffe; C. Bronte; Gothic; Character; Space.

This study investigates the gothic spaces and characters in Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. In these two novels the female protagonists suffer from the cruel treatment and oppression of the wicked male characters. In both novels, the protagonists are forced to experience certain ambiguous, dark, mysterious, horrific and supernatural events. It is seen that the majority of Gothic novels are marked by the gender based inequality between female and male characters in that almost always male characters are the ones holding power in their hands. The powerful male figure plays a major role in turning the heroine’s life into a miserable one. Whenever the heroine acts or speaks against his will, she is exposed to violence, either physical or psychological, or both. In addition, the gothic spaces in both novels contribute to heighten fear and terror the heroines feel in the presence of brutal male power. Thus, woman’s reaction against male tyranny becomes the central focus of both novels. The two novels of the thesis, which are selected as the two representatives of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries gothic fiction written by two women writers, convey woman’s struggle on the way to achieve independence as a free individual within a patriarchal society. The ultimate aim of the thesis is to trace the terrorising impact gothic spaces create on the heroines of The Mysteries of Udolpho and Jane Eyre in that the feeling of horror triggers both heroines’ impulse to fight back and survive. In the end, both protagonists become independent individuals who can speak and act in accordance with their free will. As a result, both novels present liberated female identity which stands for the two authors’ desire and hope for providing women with a free space within a male dominated society.