Final answer:
The 'Madwoman in the Attic' tradition is rooted in 19th-century Gothic literature and has been addressed by critics like Elaine Showalter. It represents the confinement and marginalization of women, with Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' being a key literary example. Showalter's phases of women's writing evolution can also be seen in this context, with Virginia Woolf's works embodying the turn towards self-discovery and feminist advocacy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The literary tradition of the Madwoman in the Attic is represented by various figures in 19th-century literature, notably in Gothic tales characterized by supernatural and dream-like events. This concept is most famously explored in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, where the character Bertha Mason exemplifies the trope of the secluded madwoman. This term is also the title of a seminal work of feminist literary criticism by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, which investigates the role of female characters in literature, and the ways women writers have dealt with patriarchal oppression by using metaphors of madness and confinement.
Renowned critic Elaine Showalter discusses the evolution of women's writing in her book A Literature of Their Own, outlining three stages that reflect women authors' journey from imitation to self-discovery. The Brontë sisters initially wrote under male pseudonyms to gain acceptance, marking the Imitation or Feminine phase. Later, renowned authors such as Virginia Woolf, in works like A Room of One's Own, began to challenge traditional narrative styles and advocate for women's political, educational, and creative rights, signifying the phases of Protest or Feminist and Self-Discovery or Female.