The Archetype of the Terrible Mother in Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance (1790)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34739/fci.2025.06.06Keywords:
Ann Radcliffe, A Sicilian Romance, Terrible Mother, evil stepmother, gothic novel, archetypal literatureAbstract
Rooted in Jung’s theories of the unconscious, and further developed by scholars like Erich Neumann or Northrop Frye, the archetype of the Terrible Mother appears to emerge with special intensity at times of trouble and social unrest to remind us of our deepest fears. This article explores this archetype within the pages of Ann Radcliffe’s gothic novel A Sicilian Romance (1790), examining the marchioness Maria di Vellorno as an embodiment of the evil stepmother figure, a common manifestation of the Terrible Mother archetype. By analysing the marchioness’s controlling demeanour and the destructive attributes associated with the darker aspect of the Feminine, the paper reveals how Radcliffe’s novel reflects the anxieties of late 18th-century England in the face of French revolutionary radicalism. The analysis highlights the Terrible Mother’s links to social unrest and the triumph of English social order through the heroine’s victory and the demise of the evil stepmother. The article contributes to understanding the psychological and cultural meaning of the Terrible Mother in literature and its portrayal of historical anxieties.
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