American Gothic Fiction

• A subgenre of Gothic Fiction• Elements include:

– Rational vs. irrational– Puritanism– Guilt– Das Unheimliche/ The Uncanny (Freud)- straddling the line between/

uncanny as the class of frightening things that leads us back to what is known and familiar/ can arise when something seemingly inconsequential in our everyday lives calls forth repressed content stemming from past experience

– Abhumans (werewolves & vampires- between human and monster)– Ghosts– Monsters– Domestic abjection- that which is rejected by/ disturbs social reason

Southern Gothic

in American Literature

Laurie Miller

Background• Sub-genre of the Gothic style

• Unique to American literature– relies on supernatural, ironic or

unusual events to guide the plot

– uses these to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South

• Plantations• Slavery• Belles• Soldiers

Background• Takes classic Gothic archetypes, such as the monster or the heroic

knight, and turns them into American Southerners – a spiteful, reclusive spinster; an uneducated drunk– a quiet, wise lawyer

• Most notable feature is the “grotesque”– a character whose negative

qualities allow the author to highlight unpleasant aspects in Southern culture.

– Something in the town, the house, the farm is bizarre and often falling apart

Defining Feature• Cast of off-kilter characters

– Broken bodies, minds or souls

• Used to symbolize problems created by the established pattern

• Used to question established pattern’s morality and ethical justification

– The “Innocent” is a common character, who may or may not be “broken,” but who often acts as a redeemer for others

Other Specific Features of Southern Gothic

• Freakishness

• Outsider

• Imprisonment

• Violence

• Sense of Place

Freakishness

• In most southern gothic stories, there is an important character who is set apart from the world by in a negative way by a disability or an odd, and often negative way of seeing the world.

Outsider

• Southern novels are filled with characters who are set a part from the established cultural pattern, but who end up being heroes because their difference allows them to see new ways of doing things that ultimately help to bring people out of the “dark.”

Imprisonment

• This is often both literal and figurative.

– Many southern gothic tales include an incident where a character is sent to jail or locked up.

– There are also Southern gothic characters that live in fate's prison.

Violence

• Racial, social and class difference often create underlying tension in Southern gothic novels that threatens, and usually does, erupt in violent ways

Sense of Place• You can’t read a Southern Gothic novel without understanding what a

Southern town “feels” like: – old small towns

• Houses have front porches with rocking chairs• Old downtown with stately but worn-down buildings

Puritanism and American Gothic

The Puritan Mindset

• Total Depravity- through Adam and Eve’s fall, every person is born sinful = concept of Original Sin

• Unconditional Election- God “saves” only those he wishes= PREDESTINATION

• Limited Atonement- Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone• Irresistible Grace- God’s grace is freely given, it cannot be earned or

denied. Grace is defined as the saving and transfiguring power of God

• Perseverance of the “saints”- those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God, and to live uprightly. If anyone rejects grace after feeling its power in his life, he will be going against the will of God- something impossible in Puritanism

Signs of Salvation- NO FREE WILL

• Receive clues by doing “good works”= going to church, praying, doing charity– Leading a “good” life might be an indication

that you were one of the “chosen”

• Lazy and immoral= going to hell

So, what’s this have to do with Gothic?

The New England Puritans were intolerant and their theology bred paranoia, if not

madness

Traits of Puritan Gothic

• Reflects the sense of helplessness the Puritans felt in changing their fates

• Passion and obsession for trying to discover if you are one of the “chosen”=– Fits– Paranoia– Dissatisfaction– Hallucinations– physical defects– Illness– self-delusion

Writer’s Notebook Activity

• For each story we read (5 total), you will complete the following:

1. Title and author at the top of the page

2. Write a short plot summary of the story

3. List American Gothic Traits found- give a quote and explanation for EACH

4. Main character- describe the physiological, sociological, and psychological aspects/ use one quote for each (3 total)

5. Literary Devices- find three devices and a quote for each

6. Theme- state the theme in a sentence/ support with a quote