Mapping the Dark Allure of Ackroyd’s Femme Fatale: Psychogeography, Walking and the Reclamation of Agency in The Limehouse Golem (1994)

Abstract

This paper explores the intricate transgressive, psychogeographical spatial narrative of Peter Ackroyd’s heroine Elizabeth Cree in The Limehouse Golem (1994) by emphasizing her relationship with London as both a historically layered and psychologically charged space. Ackroyd’s heroine, positioned within the gothic undercurrents of his works, use the liberating act of psychogeographical walking as a subversive tool to challenge gender and socio-spatial norms. London in this book is imagined as a palimpsest where the past and present exist side by side, becomes a critical site for her transgressions, enabling her to reclaim agency in spaces traditionally dominated by patriarchal authority. By analyzing the interplay of masking and mapping within these texts, this paper examines Ackroyd’s female character’s engagement with the spectral and historical as a form of resistance to conventional gendered constructs. This paper situates Ackroyd’s heroine as a pivotal figure within the broader discourses of psychoanalytical theory, urban space frameworks, and gender critiques.