Gothic Literature
• Mrs. Talley
• English IV AP
Historic Context
• The words Goth and Gothic describe the Germanic tribes (e.g., Goths, Visigoths, Ostrogoths) which sacked Rome and also ravaged the rest of Europe in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries.
• By the eighteenth century in England, Gothic had become synonymous with the Middle Ages, a period which was in disfavor because it was perceived as chaotic, unenlightened, and superstitious.
Horace Walpole
24 September 1717 - 2 March 1797
• Walpole wrote what is
considered the first gothic
novel, The Castle of
Otranto (very
melodramatic)
• Published in 1764
• Inspired by his
reconstruction of his home
and a nightmare he’d had
Gothic Conventions
Murder Death Suicide Ghosts Demons
Gloomy
settings
Family
secrets
Dungeons Curses Torture
Vampires Spirits Castles Tombs Terror
A few more gothic conventions
• Damsel in distress (frequently faints in
horror)
• Secret corridors, passageways, or rooms
• Ancestral curses
• Ruined castles with graveyards nearby
• Priests and monks
• Sleep, dream, death-like states
Gothic architecture
12th~16th century
• Gothic architecture used pointed arches and
vaults, flying buttresses, narrow spires,
stained glass windows, intricate traceries,
and varied details; its upward movement
was meant to suggest heavenward
aspiration.
Literary Connection to Gothic
Architecture
• "gothic" came to describe a certain type of
novels, so named because all these novels
seem to take place in Gothic-styled
architecture -- mainly castles, mansions,
and, of course, abbeys ("Gothic...").
Metonymy of gloom and terror
• The metonymy of gloom and horror.
• Metonymy is a subtype of metaphor, in which
something (like rain) is used to stand for something
else (like sorrow). For example, the film industry
likes to use metonymy as a quick shorthand, so we
often notice that it is raining in funeral scenes.
Note the following metonymies that suggest mystery,
danger, or the supernatural
wind, especially howling sighs, moans, howls, eerie sounds
rain, especially blowing clanking chains
doors grating on rusty hinges gusts of wind blowing out lights
footsteps approaching doors suddenly slamming shut
lights in abandoned rooms crazed laughter
characters trapped in a room baying of distant dogs (or wolves?)
ruins of buildings thunder and lightning
Importance of Setting
• The setting is greatly influential in Gothic novels.
It not only evokes the atmosphere of horror and
dread, but also portrays the deterioration of its
world. The decaying, ruined scenery implies that
at one time there was a thriving world. At one
time the abbey, castle, or landscape was something
treasured and appreciated. Now, all that lasts is the
decaying shell of a once thriving dwelling.
Archetypal Characters
• The Gothic hero becomes a sort of archetype as we find that there is a pattern to his characterization. There is always the protagonist, usually isolated either voluntarily or involuntarily. Then there is the villain, who is the epitome of evil, either by his (usually a man) own fall from grace, or by some implicit malevolence. The Wanderer, found in many Gothic tales, is the epitome of isolation as he wanders the earth in perpetual exile, usually a form of divine punishment.
Basic Plot Structure for a Gothic Novel• Action in the Gothic novel tends to take place at night, or
at least in a claustrophobic, sunless environment.
• ascent (up a mountain high staircase);
• descent (into a dungeon, cave, underground chambers or labyrinth) or falling off a precipice; secret passage; hidden doors;
• the pursued maiden and the threat or rape or abduction;
• physical decay, skulls, cemeteries, and other images of death; ghosts; revenge; family curse; blood and gore; torture; the Doppelganger (evil twin or double); demonic possession; masking/shape-changing; black magic; madness; incest and other broken sexual taboos.
Other Gothic Novels• 1765: Horace Walpole. The Castle of Otranto
1794: Ann Radcliffe. The Mysteries of Udolpho1794: William Godwin. Caleb Williams1796: Mathew Lewis. The Monk1798: Regina Maria Roche. Clermont 1806: Ann Mary Hamilton. Montalva or Annals of Guilt1807: Charlotte Dacre. The Libertine1818: Mary Shelly. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus 1820: Charles Robert Maturin. Melmonth the Wanderer1826: Ann Radcliff: Gaston de Blondeville1826: William Child Green. The Abbot of Montserrat or The Pool of Blood
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
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. Ag
Modern Gothic Novels
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronté
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronté
Other Gothic Writers
• Anne Rice
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Joyce Carol Oates
• Stephen King
• Stephenie Meyer
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 identity
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”
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.