<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The aim of this paper is to look into how Elizabeth Gaskell reflects trauma in her literary works and what she may have been trying to teach her audience through them. As a social and realist writer, she used narrative as a means to denounce the evils of her time, many of which give rise to social traumas. However, this paper will focus on more personal traumas, particularly the trauma of loss, and also how Gaskell handles these traumatic experiences in her writings. With this purpose in mind, it is important to consider Gaskell’s own experience, how she overcame her own traumatic losses and how she used fiction both to reflect her experience and as a form of therapy. At the end of this paper, we will establish how Gaskell uses traumatic losses as turning points throughout her literary works.</p></abstract>

The aim of this paper is to look into how Elizabeth Gaskell reflects trauma in her literary works and what she may have been trying to teach her audience through them. As a social and realist writer, she used narrative as a means to denounce the evils of her time, many of which give rise to social traumas. However, this paper will focus on more personal traumas, particularly the trauma of loss, and also how Gaskell handles these traumatic experiences in her writings. With this purpose in mind, it is important to consider Gaskell’s own experience, how she overcame her own traumatic losses and how she used fiction both to reflect her experience and as a form of therapy. At the end of this paper, we will establish how Gaskell uses traumatic losses as turning points throughout her literary works.

The Trauma of Loss as a Turning Point in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Works

Prague Journal of English Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"The Trauma of Loss as a Turning Point in Elizabeth Gaskell\u2019s Works"}

The aim of this paper is to look into how Elizabeth Gaskell reflects trauma in her literary works and what she may have been trying to teach her audience...

The Trauma of Loss as a Turning Point in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Works

Published Online: Oct 02, 2020

Page range: 33 - 47

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2020-0002

Keywords
Elizabeth Gaskell, trauma of loss, Victorian literature, Realism, literary trauma, fiction as therapy

© 2020 Blanca Puchol Vázquez, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Trauma of Loss as a Turning Point in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Works

Published Online: Oct 02, 2020

Page range: 33 - 47

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pjes-2020-0002

KeywordsElizabeth Gaskell, trauma of loss, Victorian literature, Realism, literary trauma, fiction as therapy

© 2020 Blanca Puchol Vázquez, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Elizabeth Gaskell, trauma of loss, Victorian literature, Realism, literary trauma, fiction as therapy