Mexican Gothic Themes

Throughout Mexican Gothic, the protagonist, Noemí Taboada, undermines masculine forms of authority and challenges conventions surrounding outdated gender roles. She begins the novel as a socialite in Mexico City, where the only expectation of wealthy young women is that they “devote [their] time to leisure and husband hunting.” Noemí, however, is presented as somebody unwilling to simply acquiesce to such limiting expectations, which is why she dreams of pursuing a master’s degree in…

The Doyles of High Place believe in eugenics, a pseudoscience with the goal of genetically improving the human species by promoting certain traits through selective breeding. It should come as no surprise to readers that this field of study has been discredited as unscientific and racially biased. The Doyles, however, believe that a person’s nature is determined at birth, and that their actions in life will always be in accordance with their nature. Furthermore, they…

Immortality in the novel does not come without a cost. Howard Doyle, for instance, chooses to bury his wife alive and let a powerful fungus slowly grow through her body—all because this will grant him immortality. Thus, his immortality is built from a central act of violence against a woman’s body. And though Agnes’s body is preserved in the chamber underneath the Doyle crypt, the Doyles are instructed never to look at it…