1. Gothic Literature
Ms. Mailloux

2. What is Gothic? Prepare to enter a bizarre, new, yet perhaps oddly
familiar world.
Have your pens
ready to record the
highlights of your
journey…

3. Gothic beginnings… The gothic was first used as a Medieval,
architectural term
to describe a style
of building that
included gargoyles,
scenes of Hell, and
souls in torment.

4. Gothic…
Thematic elements/ Tropes
Characters
Settings

5. Gothic Thematic Elements

6. Ancestral Curse
The current generation suffers for the wrongs or evil-doings of past generations
Example: family curses, “karma”
Example: a witch curses all first-born children of a family line for having her burned at the stake
Hocus Pocus

7. Body-snatchers Grave-Robbing. Stealing corpses from graves, tombs, or
morgues.
Illicit trade in cadavers.
Violation of religious
space.
Commercially motivated
by science.
King’s Pet Cemetery

8. Dreaming/ Nightmares Dredge up strong emotions, such as terror, joy.
Reveal urges, impulses,
desires, even truths
about oneself one tries
to hide.
Reveal the future;
premonitions.
i.e. Freddy Krueger

9. Entrapment/ Imprisonment
Being confined or trapped, as shackled to a floor or hidden away in a dark cell.
Heightens the psychology of feeling there’s “no way
out.”
Saw series or being buried alive

10. Gothic Gadgets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0tnuTPG7W4
“Supernatural props”: vocal and mobile portraits; animated
statues and skeletons; doors, gates, portals, hatchways which open and close independently; secret passageways; secret
messages and manuscripts;
forbidden chambers and sealed compartments; casket lids seen to rise, etc.

11. The Grotesque Grotesque: comically or repulsively ugly or distorted
Mutations
Deformities
Distortions
Examples: mutants, zombies, distorted reflections, The Hunchback of Notre Dame

12. Mystery An event or situation that appears to overwhelm understanding.
i.e. Sherlock
Holmes

13. Necromancy The dark art of communicating with the dead
Examples: psychics, Oujia boards, “Bloody Mary,” séances

14. Revenge The act of repaying someone for a harm caused.
* Revenge can be enacted
upon a loved one, a
family member, a friend, an object or area.
Examples: curses

15. Superstitions Variously considered as a belief in the
supernatural or the
mystical, and as valuing
rituals and miracles.
i.e. Garlic/wooden stakes
for vampires spreading salt for witches

16. The Supernatural Events or phenomena that defy natural laws
Could be explained or dismissed by everyday reality
Examples: noises in a house being a ghost, creaking stairs, bad luck,

17. Transformation Dramatic and abrupt physical changes
Examples: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, werewolves, zombies, vampires turning into bats

18. Common character types in Gothic literature
Gothic Characters
Common character types in Gothic literature

19. Brainstorm
List as many gothic characters you can think of in the next minute.
Then, think about what makes them scary. Does this relate to any of the Gothic themes we learned about yesterday?

20. Devil A spirit of incarnate evil. Ranges from: - tragic villain-hero
- punisher of sinners
- tempter and deceiver
- pure evil

21. Doppelganger German for “doublegoer” or double/ twin
Ghostly counterpart of
another person.
Body double, alter ego,
identical other person.
Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde.

22. Ghosts, Werewolves, Vampires, Witches
Assorted
supernatural (usually
malignant) beings,

23. The Pursued Protagonist
A force that relentlessly,
terminally and unavoidably
pursues, persecutes or
chastises another for some
real or imagined wrong.
A crime and retribution
cycle, but also…
A hero-villain can be both
the pursued and the
pursuer

24. Unreliable Narrator The narrator’s ability to accurately relate events
is suspect.
The narrator makes
incorrect assumptions
or conclusions, or
misunderstands
situations or other
characters.
Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart

25. Villain-Hero
The villain poses as a hero at the beginning of the story, or…
The villain possesses
enough heroic qualities to be seen as more than just a
bad guy
i.e. Dexter, True Blood, Bane

26. The Pursued Heroine (lady being chased)
A virtuous, idealistic, and usually poetic
young woman is
pursued by a wicked,
older, potent aristocrat.
The pursuit threatens
the young lady’s morals
and ideals .
She usually responds
with passive courage.
Modified: Twilight

27. Gothic Settings…

28. Cemetery A place for the burial of the dead. Caves, temples,
mounds, catacombs, churchyards, crypts.
Crosses cultures and ages.

29. Haunted House, Castle, or Estate
A dwelling inhabited or regularly visited by a ghost or supposedly supernatural being.

30. Mist/ Fog
Literary convention used to obscure objects, reduce visibility, or
preclude the insertion of something terrifying.

31. Other common Gothic tropes…
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