Conventions of the Gothic Romantic Novel

Standard Romantic Gothic Conventions --wild landscapes --remote or exotic locales --dimly lit, gloomy settings --ruins or isolated crumbling castles or mansions (later cities and houses) --crypts, tombs --dungeons, torture chambers --dark towers, hidden rooms --secret corridors/passageways --dream states or nightmares --found manuscripts or artifacts --ancestral curses --family secrets --marvelous or mysterious creatures, monsters, spirits, or strangers --enigmatic figures with supernatural powers --scientific tone (fantastic events observed empirically) --specific reference to noon, midnight, twilight (the witching hours) --use of traditionally "magical" numbers such as 3, 7, 13 --unnatural acts of nature (blood-red moon, sudden fierce wind, etc.) --And , finally, damsels in distress (aka. the heroine)

The Typical Traits of the Heroine Alone in the World Mother usually passed away when the heroine was young Father is usually cruel or uncaring Lower Bourgeois. Naïve and Unworldly. Out of her element. Carefree Delicate. Needs protecting Remarkably beautiful despite social circumstances