Abstract

This essay analyses the BBC Masterpiece production of Death Comes to Pemberley in the context of a proliferating field of gothic, horror, and paranormal adaptations of Austen, focusing on the gothic as a means of addressing issues of history, gender, and power. It argues that if historical identities are about control and order, and the ordering of time is a means of identity formation, then the writing of history should therefore be considered as a means of producing disciplined historical subjects. In this case, there may well be a liminal aspect to the anarchic, playful, and female-centred rewriting of history that is found in Jane Austen story worlds, which, in their popular gothic manifestations, seem increasingly bent on tearing history from its roots.

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