Radcliffe’s Construction of Female Identity in The Romance of the Forest

The Romance of the Forest,first published in 1791,was Ann Radcliffe’s first and major success,establishing her reputa⁃tion as one of the masters of Gothic novels in the eighteenth century.Given that Gothic novel is socially conservative,its construc⁃tion of female character has long been in line with the deep-rooted notion of the“proper women”,under which circumstance Ann’s treatment of feminism through Adeline is utterly confusing to many.Thus,based on Edmund Burke’s aesthetics concept of picturesque and sublime,this paper conducts a detailed analysis of the landscape in the novel,in an effort to argue that Ann con⁃structs a mixed female identity,an identity stressing on both feminine sensibility and masculine rationality.