The GOTHIC Tradition “The world of Gothic fiction is characterized by a chronic sense of...

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“The world of Gothic fiction is characterized by a chronic sense of apprehension and premonition of impending but unidentified disaster. The Gothic world is the fallen world, the vision of fallen man, living in fear and alienation, haunted by images of his mythic expulsion, by its repercussions, and by an awareness of his unavoidable wretchedness . . .” (Ann B. Tracy, The Gothic Novel 1790-1830: Plot Summaries and index Motifs).

The Gothic explores the darker side of human

nature

•The Gothic asks the essential questions:• What is evil? •Are some of us innately evil? •Why do humans do evil?•What is sin? What tempts us? Why?•What do we fear? Why are we afraid?

•The characters and the reader confront evil.

The Gothic The Gothic alwaysalways includes the includes the PRESENCE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE

SUPERNATURALSUPERNATURAL For example:• Dopplegangers • Ghosts• Demons• Spirits , shadows, shades• Evil Monsters • The devil• Demonic possession• Black Magic• Shape Shifters

Narrator or character who is both innocent but curious

• with a need to know – which leads to confrontation with the taboo, the forbidden, evil

• With a desire to quest for knowledge – which leads to knowledge of evil

• With an urge to pry into [deadly and/or dangerous] secrets

•Why does the main character enter that attic/ basement/ old house anyway?

Gothic Conventions

CONVENTIONS =

Elements that often reappear in a specific genre, or form of literature; while they do not necessarily define the genre, they are common to the literary form.

Separate Worlds:

The narrator

is separated

from the real world

Dark horrific Realms – claustrophobic, sunless space

Remote locales Ruins of Castles,

mansions, houses Crypts, tombs,

cemeteries (physical decay, skulls, images of death)

Hidden rooms, passages, attics, dungeons, towers, a precipice, labyrinths, secret passage, hidden doors

Imprisonment or traps

Metonomy(a part represents a

whole)

of gloom and horror =

wind, rain, doors grating, howls in distance, lights blowing out

……..MORE

Witching Hours• Darkness & night

• Midnight

• Twilight

• Full Moons

Unnatural Acts of Nature

• Eclipse of the sun

• Blood red moon

• Fierce wind or storm

• Unnatural silence

Conventional Plot Devices• Manuscripts & artifacts

• Ancestral curses, family secrets

• Damsels in distress, abduction

• Revenge

• Burial alive

• Insanity or madness

Common Characters

• Doppelgangers

• Grotesques

• A Lady in distress

• A Mad or insane character

• The Byronic Hero

In conclusion . . .• Not all novels with gothic elements are part of

the traditional Gothic canon (1790-1830), Poe & Hawthorne fit this;

• The Gothic retains links to the past: folk tales, superstitions, medieval ballads, romances, epics and legends – all of which contain elements of the supernatural.

ALLEGORY

When every element of the narrative is symbolic.

What are narrative elements?

Plot, character, setting, objects