10 of My Favorite Gothic Women for International Women's Day
I wanted to celebrate International Women’s Day with a list of some of my favorite Gothic women. These women are all spooky and macabre, and can be be fierce, sometimes supernatural, adversaries or heroines combating nefarious Gothic villains. Spoilers of course.
Lady Lucille Sharpe from Crimson Peak (2015)
I saw the incestuous twist in Crimson Peak coming from a mile away, but I still enjoy the villainous Lady Lucille Sharpe. She’s a female Bluebeard who slowly poisons her brother/lover’s wives and stashes their bodies in the basement, using their money to fund the decaying Allerdale Hall and her brother’s mechanical inventions. Lucille knows what she wants and is not afraid to get her hands dirty to get it which makes her a dangerous woman to cross.
Lucy Westenra from Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Lucy is modern girl who wants to have it all, but instead of a harem of handsome husbands, she’s transformed by Dracula into one of his many undead brides (bummer). I loved Lucy’s burial outfit, designed by the late Eiko Ishioka, who based its enormous lace ruff on the Australian frill-necked lizard, underlining the transformed Lucy’s bestial nature. Lucy is staked in the heart by her intended husband in a graphic act of male dominance that Mel Brooks (of course) exploits for comedy.
Elizabeth Lavenza Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)
Elizabeth Frankenstein (nee Lavenza) gets a raw deal in this film. She is killed by her husband’s Creature then resurrected by her spouse to serve as a mate for the thing that murdered her. It was so satisfying to watch Elizabeth destroy herself in an act of radical resistance rather that get caught up in that weird love triangle.
Wednesday Addams from Addams Family Values (1993)
Wednesday Addams was my weird girl role model growing up. She comes from a family of badass women like her mom Morticia and her great aunt Lavinia, a witch who “danced naked in the town square and enslaved a minister.” Wednesday was smashing white patriarchy in the 90’s. During the best Thanksgiving play ever, she stands up for the kids of color and those with disabilities who have been marginalized and burns Camp Chippewa to the ground.
Dr. Miranda Grey from Gothika (2003)
Halle Berry’s vulnerable performance drives this thriller that combines two of my favorite things: true crime and the supernatural. Dr. Miranda Grey wakes from a trance covered in blood next to the dead body of her husband. She spends the rest of the film trying to figure out what the hell happened while incarcerated in the very mental hospital where she used to work.
Sarah and Nancy from The Craft (1996)
What weird 90’s girl didn’t love The Craft?! Sarah and Nancy represent the dark and light sides of my personality. Nancy may have gone power-mad, but her history of domestic abuse resonated with me and I could totally understand her using her powers to get even with her enemies. On the other hand, Sarah also had it tough. She struggled with depression and attempted suicide, but instead of lashing out like Nancy, she commits to using her her powers for good and repairing the damage Nancy has caused.
Brigitte and Ginger from Ginger Snaps (2000)
The teenage Fitzgerald sisters are obsessed with death and make a suicide pact to escape suburban hell, but their plans take a turn when Ginger is bitten by werewolf and begins to change. Lyncanthropy is an easy metaphor for the monstrous transformation of puberty and Ginger finds power in her sexual awakening. Conversely, the virginal Brigitte decides to suppress her sexual urges and fight the beast raging inside her sister.
Catherine Deane from The Cell (2000)
Catherine Deane is a psychologist played by Jennifer Lopez who uses a virtual reality interface to enter the mind of a serial killer and locate his surviving victim before time runs out. She is a Gothic heroine of sorts who is thrust into the weird, incoherent, and threatening landscapes of a killer’s mind, making it difficult for her to differentiate between dark fantasy and reality.
Thanks to Gothic Girl for the inspiration for this post!