Urban Gothic in Charlotte Dacre'sZofloya

Abstract

Charlotte Dacre's novel Zofloya marks a turning point in Gothic literature. Although Dacre draws on both the Radcliffe and Lewis modes of Gothic novel, Zofloya insists on the importance of Venice as the center of the action, distinguishing it as an urban Gothic text. Various characters' identities are closely linked with Venice in ways that question the boundaries between self and city. Pride, violence, and revenge may typify the novel's depiction of Venetians, but Zofloya's central action depends on a break in urban identity, when the central character fails to act like a Venetian. In keeping with the Gothic convention of displacing contemporary concerns to earlier times in foreign places, Zofloya's exploration of the relationship between personal identity and constructed urban space addresses early nineteenth-century anxieties regarding London's rapid development.

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