18 th and 19 th Centuries * From M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms and The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vols. 1 and 2

Began in the 1740s with Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) FIRST, THE BEGINNING OF THE NOVEL…

Literature of Sensibility: Fostered by a moral philosophy that had developed as a reaction against 17 th century Stoicism (which emphasized reason and unemotional will) and Thomas Hobbes’ claims that humans are innately selfish. Sensibility: An intense emotional responsiveness to human suffering, to beauty, the sublime. Associated with an upper-class status. Sentimental Novel: Emphasized the tearful distresses of the virtuous (either from human suffering or from awe at the natural world) 18 TH CENTURY SENSIBILITY

Age of Sensibility ( ) Shift from Enlightenment rationality to sensibility Romantic Period ( ) Shift from agricultural society to a modern industrial nation, Industrial Revolution, poetic return to nature and feeling Victorian Period ( ) Many social, economic, religious, and intellectual changes and issues, British Empire, emphasis on social respectability TIMELINE

Began in 1764 with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story 18 TH CENTURY GOTHIC NOVEL

VATHEK BY WILLIAM BECKFORD (1786)

THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO BY ANN RADCLIFFE (1794)

THE MONK BY MATTHEW LEWIS (1796)

Originally referred to the Goths, an early Germanic tribe Then began to symbolize the medieval Gothic Architecture: a medieval-type architecture Europe in the th centuries High pointed arch and vault Flying buttresses Intricate recesses GOTHIC

DUOMO DI MILANO, ITALY

Often set in the middle ages/medieval period And/or set in a Catholic country such as Italy or Spain Gloomy castle with dungeons, subterranean passages, and sliding panels Sufferings of a heroine by a cruel and lustful villain Includes the supernatural such as ghosts and mysterious disappearances (often explained away at the end) SettingStory GOTHIC FICTION CHARACTERISTICS

To evoke terror Using mystery Using horror Opened up fiction to: The realm of the irrational Perverse impulses Nightmarish terrors The things that lie beneath the surface of the civilized mind AimInfluence GOTHIC FICTION CHARACTERISTICS

A broader extension of the term May not occupy the medieval or Catholic setting Brooding atmosphere of gloom and terror Uncanny or macabre events Melodramatically violent Aberrant psychological states 19 TH CENTURY GOTHIC FICTION

FRANKENSTEIN BY MARY SHELLEY (1817)

18 th and 19 th Century Gothic Fiction included many female authors The novel was often considered a feminine form Lost some prestige because of this Women had almost no legal rights, considered inferior to men, limited education, strict code of sexual behavior Many critics see the features of the Gothic as a result of the suppression of female sexuality and a challenge to the gender hierarchy and values of a male dominated culture FEMALE WRITERS AND READERS

I waked one morning at the beginning of last June from a dream, of which all I could recover was, that I had thought myself in an ancient castle (a very natural dream for a head filled like mine with Gothic story) and that on the uppermost bannister of a great staircase I saw a gigantic hand in armour. In the evening I sat down and began to write, without knowing in the least what I intended to say or relate. The work grew on my hands, and I grew fond of it - add that I was very glad to think of anything rather than politics - in short I was so engrossed in my tale, which I completed in less than two months, that one evening I wrote from the time I had drunk my tea, about six o'clock, till half an hour after one in the morning, when my hand and fingers were so weary, that I could not hold the pen to finish the sentence, but left Matilda and Isabella talking, in the middle of a paragraph. --Horace Walpole (letter to William Cole 1765) BACK TO THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO…

STRAWBERRY HILL

The lower part of the castle was hollowed into several intricate cloisters; and it was not easy for one under so much anxiety to find the door that opened into the cavern. An awful silence reigned throughout those subterraneous regions, except now and then some blasts of wind that shook the doors she had passed, and which grating on the rusty hinges were re-echoed through that long labyrinth of darkness. Every murmur struck her with new terror;--yet more she dreaded to hear the wrathful voice of Manfred urging his domestics to pursue her. She trod as softly as impatience would give her leave,--yet frequently stopped and listened to hear if she was followed. In one of those moments she thought she heard a sigh. She shuddered, and recoiled a few paces. In a moment she thought she heard the step of some person. Her blood curdled; she concluded it was Manfred. Every suggestion that horror could inspire rushed into her mind. She condemned her rash flight, which had thus exposed her to his rage in a place where her cries were not likely to draw any body to her assistance. (Walpole 28) THE CASTLE

Castle as setting: What kind of atmosphere does it create? What kinds of feelings does it create? Castle as character: How does the castle itself impact the action of the novel? How does the castle influence the actions and experiences of the characters? Describe one piece of literature or visual culture (book, television show, movie, videogame, music, art, architecture, etc.) that reminds you of this scene. Explain why. WRITE DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS