1. And the Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Gothic Literature
And the Works of
Edgar Allan Poe

2. Characteristics of Gothic Fiction
Evil
Horror/Mystery
The Grotesque
Violence
The Supernatural

3. Gothic Ideals/Theories
Individuals are prone to sin and self-destruction and the natural world is dark and decaying.
Rebelled against the Transcendental philosophy that man is basically good.
Evil is a powerful force in the world.

4. Transcendentalism vs. Gothicism
Transcendental writers celebrated the beauties of nature.
Gothic writers were peering into the darkness of nature and the supernatural.
Transcendentalism developed as a reaction against the rationalism of the Age of Reason.
Transcendental Romantics freed the imagination from the hold of reason, so they could follow their imagination wherever it might lead.
For some Romantics, when they looked at the individual, they saw hope (think Thoreau’s “Walden”)
For some Romantic writers, the imagination led to the threshold of the unknown—the shadowy region where the fantastic, the demonic and the insane reside.
When the Gothic's saw the individual, they saw the potential of evil.

5. Gothic

7. Edgar Allan Poe
His life was filled with personal tragedy and professional failure
He made a grand total of $14.00 from “The Raven”
Poe drank to escape this failure but had a low tolerance for alcohol
Numerous women whom he loved died, most from tuberculosis
His true love, his wife Virginia, died from tuberculosis; Poe watched her slowly die for five years

8. Poe
Poe can be considered the father of the “detective story” and modern “horror story,” influencing writers such as Stephen King and Anne Rice

10. One more thing…
I also want you to click on the link below and go through the Prezi. Add any information about Gothic literature not in this PowerPoint. You don’t have to know all of the authors at the end of the Prezi.