1. The Dark Side of Individualism
American Gothic
The Dark Side of Individualism

2. Gothic Literature Characteristics: Grotesque characters
Bizarre situations
Violent events

3. “The door opened, and a figure glided in
“The door opened, and a figure glided in. The portmanteau dropped from my arms, and my heart’s blood was chilled. If an apparition of the dead could not deny, this was such an apparition. A hue, yellowish and livid; bones, uncovered with flesh: eyes, ghastly, hollow, woe-begone, and fixed in an agony of wonder upon me; and locks, matted and negligent, constituted the image which I now beheld.”

4. “The death. . . Of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world-and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.”

5. “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

6. Gothic literature Begin in 1765 with The Castle of Otranto
Most beloved characters include Frankenstein and Dracula
Currently, most well-know author is Anne Rice

7. What inspired Gothic Literature
Cathedrals and gargoyles
Romantic movement in literature
developed as a reaction to the age of reason
let imagination wander to the dark side

8. Romantics vs. Gothic See hope in individuals Beauties of nature
See potential evil in individuals
Darkness of the supernatural

9. Master of Gothic- Edgar Allen Poe
Elements of Gothic Poe uses:
Dark, medieval castles or decaying estates
Insane male narrators
Dead or dying beautiful female characters
Extreme plots (murder, live burial, physical and mental torture, retribution from beyond the grave)
Poe believed that only in extreme situations would people show their true nature

10. Poe’s literary contributions
Poetry
should be musical, expressive of beauty and composed logically
felt they were his greatest work
Short Story
First to insist that the story create a single effect
Detective story
Invented it

11. Hawthorne
Hawthorne used gothic elements, like Poe, to express what he felt were important truths.
Unlike Poe’s look at the mind, he looked at the human heart under condition of
fear
greed
vanity
mistrust
betrayal

12. Gothic’s end and rebirth
Popularity with Gothic literature ended with the Civil War.
Realism begin (like Crane and Bierce)
Reborn in the 20th century

13. Poe to Faulkner Crumbling medieval castle Ghostly figures
Southern plantation
Ghost of the past

14. Hawthorne to O’Connor Human heart and potential for evil
Crumbling person
Ghosts and goblins
Human heart and potential for evil
Crumbling morals
Criminal, con men and fools

15. Where is Gothic today? Characteristics: Grotesque characters
Bizarre situations
Violent events
Name it in:
Anne Rice
Stephen King