Aqa english literature nea query

So for my NEA we have the choice of:
Jane Austin – Northanger Abbey
Wilkie Collins – The Woman In White
Henrik Ibsen – A Dolls House
Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
Bram Stoker – Dracula
The Castle of Otranto
Wuthering Heights – Charlotte Bronte
to compare with 'The Bloody Chamber' by Angela Carter. I was just wondering which would have an interesting comparison and also if you could suggest some conceptualised ideas for comparison, it would be much appreciated

OK, so to summarise the options then - the Carter stories essentially deal with retelling of fairy tales, with a feminist edge. Lots of stuff here about women seeking to break free from entrapment/oppression/situations and lives they do not wish to lead. All of this in the gothic genre.

The list of comparative texts are all good ones:

The Jane Austen - this might be tricky for you to get a handle on as it demands that the reader has some awareness of the trend (at the time) for gothic fiction, and the conventions of the gothic. Austen satirises these. In terms of comparisons/themes, you could go with: the role of women, gothic fiction - horror or humour? (and explore the conventions of the form executed in different ways)

Wilkie Collins - here we have a very good example of women being cast in roles which shows them being disempowered, exploited, bounced into marriage (or stuck in the asylum). Lots of gothic elements in here also, but I think your comparison is about the societal constraints women find themselves struggling with/entrapped by.

Ibsen - this is a play, so you will be contrasting different forms: prose short stories versus a piece of drama. There's a great adaptation with Trevor Eve and Juliet Stevenson you might be able to access on YouTube. Not much gothic here, but you hve a situation where a woman finds herself married, infantilised by her husband, and financially in a hole. Again you would be comparing the roles women have, perhaps how marriage constrains them, and how the characters eventually have some agency over their lives.

Shelley - I think your focus is wholly on the gothic here - you could go into the elements of the fantastic and grotesque though.

Dracula - It's possible to do a reading of Mina as a feminist heroine, but I think you are again looking at a focus on gothic.

Castle of Otranto - arguably, where gothic originates - and that's your thesis. The evolution of the gothic.

Wuthering Heights - you have both elements here - the gothic - but also the role of women, what happens when women dare to step out of societal expectations and strictures.

Hope this helps - all of these are likely to be looking at similar terrain, but depending on your interests you can go more into the gothic dimension, or more into the feminist elements.

Hi, thank you so much! The themes we have to base our thesis around are :
minds under stress
the Gothic
representations of women
Which do you believe has the most comparative points? (I really can't decide on one )