Characteristics of
Gothic Literature
English III
Mrs. Dunn-Reier
When did it become popular?
• Later 18th Century• Started with a “Gothic
Revival” -- mid-1700’s• Visible in gardens• Seen in architecture
(gargoyles) of the Middle Ages• 1740’s - Horace Walpole -
Strawberry Hill estate near London
• Published The Castle of Otranto: a Gothic Story - 1764
http://www.puzzlehistory.com/gothgrdn.jpg
Application to literature
• Any kind of romantic, scary novel
• Came from Germany in the late 1700’s - early 1800’s
• Popular among female writers
• Became best sellers!
http://www.greatscotland.be/evenementen.htm
Famous Gothic Writers
• Ann Radcliffe - The Mysteries of Udolpho
• Jane Austen -- Northanger Abbey (parody of Gothic novels)
• Charlotte Bronte -- Jane Eyre• Emily Bronte -- Wuthering
Heights• Shirley Jackson, Daphne du
Maurier, Barbara Michaels, Anne Rice
A classic
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818)• Single most important
product of this tradition• Themes relate to
science, poetry, psychology, alienation, politics, education, family relationships, etc.
• Tradition: 8-foot tall monster made of separate body pieces
librarycommission.lib.wv.us/ WVLC%20BOOK/Frank...
Influence felt elsewhere
• Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge-- skeleton ship and the crew’s reaction
• Christabel by Coleridge-- atmosphere, setting, and fragmentary plot of seduction and witchery
• Manfred by Byron -- initial scene
• The Even of St. Agnes by Keats -- setting
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images2/ancient_mariner4.jpg
Famous Gothic Writers - cont’d.
• Edgar Allen Poe
• Steven King
http://www.3boysproductions.com/MIFF-2002-Fri-Nite-Program.htm
http://www.1001-votes.com/vote/fond.php?mcat=24&lg=fr
Characteristics
• Set in Medieval times• Dark, mysterious, evil
tone• Dark castles, palaces,
chambers, haunted mansions
• Isolated setting• All come together to
emphasize the sense of evil
http://www.encounterspri.com/Articles.htm
More characteristics
• Presence of ghosts, spirits, vampires, and other supernatural entities
• Mysterious disappearances and reappearances
• Supernatural or paranormal occurrences
http://www.penelopesweb.com/gargoyles.html
Characteristics -- cont’d.
• Religion, usually Christianity or at least spirituality, is confronted.
• A gothic “double” is used in which a character who seems to be good is linked with another who is evil
www.pagedepot.com/.../ GOTHIC%20CHAPBOOKSX.HTM
More characteristics
• Blood, pain, death• Cruelty• Eroticism• Characters with “aberrant
psychological states”• Events are “uncanny,
macabre, or melodramatically violent bordering between reality and unreality http://www.pantip.com/cafe/chalermthai/
newmovie/hauntedcastle/hc.html
Purpose
• To evoke “terror” versus “horror” in the reader because of situations bordering reality/unreality•Often used to teach a
message
• May lack a Medieval setting but will develop an atmosphere of gloom and terror
Differentiating between the two
• Horror•“An awful
apprehension”•Described distinctly•Something grotesque•So appalling,
unrealistic•Depends on physical
characteristics
• Terror•“A sickening realization”•Suggestive of what will
happen•Depends on reader’s
imagination•Sense of uncertainty•Creates an “intangible
atmosphere of spiritual psychic dread”
American Gothic
• Important from the mid-18th Century on
• Related to “Romantic Period”
• Criticizes “national myth of new-world innocence by voicing the cultural contradictions that undermine the nation’s claim to purity and equality” - Teresa A. Goddu•Tells of historical horrors that make
national identityhttp://photos1.blogger.com/img/154/1420/1024/american%20gothic.jpg
Southern Gothic
• Customary setting because it’s the source of values not necessarily welcome in the rest of the country
• Poe was the first Southern gothic writer
• Common themes: race, alienation, sense of “otherness”
http://www.madelinecarolgallery.com/images/Southern%20Plantation.jpg
Cyber gothic literature
• Situations seem unrealistic during this time period but possible in the future
• Dark setting• Nothing natural; all man-made• Characters’ bodies are often
altered, making them less human-like
• Based on knowledge and a “technologically enhanced future” http://darklands.ivory-tower.net/index.php?
module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=17&meid=-1
Your assignment
• Work in groups of 4-5• Take turns around the circle
creating a “gothic” story - campfire style - 3-5 mins. in length
• Take notes and write down key plot points
• Write down gothic elements included
• Be prepared to share with the class next time we meet.
http://www.illustrationweb.com/artist_pages/artist_images/artist_4/the_pit_and_the_pendulum.jpg
Sources of text
• http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~mdward/essay2.html
• http://www.wwnorton.com/nael/romatic/topic_2/welcome.htm
• And others