A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: THE CONCEPT OF GENDER IDENTITY IN ELIOT’S GOTHIC: “THE LIFTED VEIL”

During the period between19th and 20th century the characters, in particular the women, in the Gothic structures were more likely to be trapped in domestic spaces than semi-ruined castles, which were often used. Expression of women’s fears of entrapment within the domestic was extremely influential at the time. It engendered a body of critical work that focused on the ways in which the Female Gothic works articulated women’s dissatisfactions with patriarchal society and addressed the problematic position of the maternal within that society. Nevertheless, the horrors of the loss of identity are not limited to women; men were also exposed to these horrors. It is here that there sometimes occurs a reversal of roles. A woman who used to be passive, turns to be active in bringing the male counterpart under her submission; he can no mere impose his will upon her, and finally, gives in to the demands of the woman. This subject is the central issue of many 19th and even 20th century novels; “The Lifted Veil” is an example.
Although 19th century is characterized by the realist tradition, but gothic subjects dealing with identity and gender issues in their contemporary societies have been a favorite topic used in the 19th and 20th centuries. Eliot made an attempt at it, although what she attempted was not only concerned with the fears of women but those of men. This is exactly what she has been trying in her novella, “The Lifted Veil”. An attempt is made in this article to focus on the concept of the loss of identity of characters in Eliot’s “The Lifted Veil”.
Keywords: Identity, female, Gothic, Veil, Patriarchal