Southern Gothic Literature

Gothic Literature 18 th -19 th century Combines elements of both horror and romance Features include melodrama and parody Critique of moral blindness of medieval era Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman?

Visual Contrast Michelangelo’s Renaissance rendering vs. crucifixion motif emphasizing the physical suffering of Christ Michelangelo Buonarroti Roettgen Pieta circa early 14 th century

Gothic Settings Gothic Buildings Old, unfamiliar, mysterious and menacing “Dark Ages” architecture Designed to terrify or overwhelm the reader Natural Settings Forests and mountain to involve a sense of danger Designed to remove the reader from the ordinary, everyday world of the normal and familiar Action in the Gothic novel tends to take place at night, or at least in a claustrophobic, sunless environment.

Some Gothic Motifs Haunted castle Ascent (up a mountain or 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 of 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/psychosis Incest and other broken sexual taboos

Characters The protagonist deems himself/herself the most tortured soul in the world as the misfortunes occur. There are characteristic passages in the stories in which the character goes into a self pitying monologue of some sort. The characters in gothic stories are often tormented by horrendous actions for which they are sometimes responsible.

Southern Gothic Literature Characteristics Most notable Southern Gothic literature written in 20 th century Grotesque characters Issues of supernatural and uncanny ideas that border on lunacy Bizarre endings Themes of conflict intrinsic to the South Characters with stereotypic personalities (using supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to reveal the inequities of Southern society)

Southern Gothic Literature: Distinguishing Features The outsider Imprisonment (both literal and figurative) Violence Sense of place Family

Grotesque Characteristics One whose psyche is distorted because he or she develops an obsession or latches on to only one idea The characters’ bodies may or may not be deformed to reflect these psychic obsessions (may be physical, mental, or metaphorical) Induces both empathy and disgust