Rosalie Ham's novel "The Dressmaker", published in 2000, is set in the 1950s in an outback Australian town called Dungatar. In the novel, Ham uses genre conventions such as the conventions of gothic, romance, detective fiction, and revenge tragedy to intrigue the reader's expectations of the novel and allow them to understand it better. This essay will demonstrate how Ham employs these conventions in “The Seamstress” through the use of imagery and figurative language. In the first paragraph of the novel, imagery is used to convey the stylistic conventions of the Australian Gothic genre. Ham's use of descriptive language in the opening paragraph creates an image of the haunted house element of the Gothic genre, where the house on top of the hill which is "seen from the surrounding plains - a shaking beacon in a vast black sea..." illustrates how geographically isolated it is from the rest of the city "casting a shadow over the city", which depicts a feeling of darkness. Although Mad Molly's house is not literally haunted, the stylistic way in which it is illustrated in the opening paragraph is identified as Australian Gothic. Furthermore, Tilly believes herself to be cursed, which is another peculiarity of the Gothic genre that Ham's novel focuses on. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned'?Get the original essayHam describes this in the novel using descriptive phrases such as 'it's the guilt and evil in me - I carry with me.” me, in me, all the time. It’s like a black thing – a weight…” (184), here Tilly expresses her belief that she is cursed, the uncertain feeling that she is somehow a murderer, the word “evil” creating a feeling. of the dark element of the Gothic genre. This is further illustrated by the juxtaposition of Tilly with "Morgan Le Fay" and a "Banshee" (192), as Tilly refers to herself, thus continuing this idea of ​​the gothic convention of a curse, which is in reality simply imposed. on it by the inhabitants of Dungatar. Additionally, Ham depicts elements of romance in "The Dressmaker", this romance is then interrupted to create meaning and impact in the novel. “The Dressmaker” offers compassion, kindness and love through the characters Teddy, the football hero and Tilly, the outcast who come together. Tilly and Teddy share a true love and Ham promotes this in the novel: “Teddy held her like she was crystal and she smiled” (178). However, this romance between Tilly and Teddy is cut short by her tragic death. Ham, therefore, could demonstrate that this normal romantic convention used is not the focus of the novel, with the focus being on the mother-daughter relationship. central point of the novel. Additionally, Ham demonstrates the distinctiveness of detective fiction conventions in his novel through the use of comic imagery. The detective conventions in this novel use humor and act more as a parody, with the District Inspector playing the role of the detective and Sergeant Farrat his assistant. This is evident in the conversation between Tilly and the district inspector, "The district inspector was captured by Tilly's plunging neckline..." (263), here the Pettyman case that the inspector was there to solve is made less serious, thanks to this use of humor. in the novel. Thus, the use of detective fiction in the novel is used as a comic effect in a sense to alleviate the despair of the lack of law and order in the city. Finally, the novel shifts to conventions of the revenge tragedy genre where Tilly's grief and indignation after the loss of her mother stimulates.