ABSTRACT

Gothic fictions have long held a fascination with virgins, virginity and its loss. Gothic genres, especially horror, are riddled with satanic virginal sacrifices, metaphorical explorations of the loss of innocence, and, of course, the much-discussed final girl' of the slasher film. The Tamar Jeffers McDonald's conception of virginity underpins, as the conflicts set into motion by the gothic bodies in author's examples demonic and angelic possession, vampiric bodily rejuvenation, and the supernaturally restored body all prompt an exploration and interrogation of the concept of virginity itself. Virginity is a complex topic with multiple meanings, definitions, and implications, the way that it is addressed in much mainstream popular culture remains highly normative in terms of gender and sexuality, and it's most common definitions are firmly embedded in very limited and limiting understandings of sex and relationships.