1. Characteristics of Gothic Literature
English III
Mrs. Dunn-Reier

2. When did it become popular?
Later 18th Century
Started with a “Gothic Revival” -- mid-1700’s
Visible in gardens
Seen in architecture (gargoyles) of the Middle Ages
1740’s - Horace Walpole - Strawberry Hill estate near London
Published The Castle of Otranto: a Gothic Story

3. Application to literature
Any kind of romantic, scary novel
Came from Germany in the late 1700’s - early 1800’s
Popular among female writers
Became best sellers!

4. Famous Gothic Writers Ann Radcliffe - The Mysteries of Udolpho
Jane Austen -- Northanger Abbey (parody of Gothic novels)
Charlotte Bronte -- Jane Eyre
Emily Bronte -- Wuthering Heights
Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, Barbara Michaels, Anne Rice

5. A classic Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818)
Single most important product of this tradition
Themes relate to science, poetry, psychology, alienation, politics, education, family relationships, etc.
Tradition: 8-foot tall monster made of separate body pieces
librarycommission.lib.wv.us/ WVLC%20BOOK/Frank...

6. Influence felt elsewhere
Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge-- skeleton ship and the crew’s reaction
Christabel by Coleridge-- atmosphere, setting, and fragmentary plot of seduction and witchery
Manfred by Byron -- initial scene
The Even of St. Agnes by Keats -- setting

7. Famous Gothic Writers - cont’d.
Edgar Allen Poe
Steven King

8. Characteristics Set in Medieval times Dark, mysterious, evil tone
Dark castles, palaces, chambers, haunted mansions
Isolated setting
All come together to emphasize the sense of evil

9. More characteristics
Presence of ghosts, spirits, vampires, and other supernatural entities
Mysterious disappearances and reappearances
Supernatural or paranormal occurrences

10. Characteristics -- cont’d.
Religion, usually Christianity or at least spirituality, is confronted.
A gothic “double” is used in which a character who seems to be good is linked with another who is evil
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11. More characteristics Blood, pain, death Cruelty Eroticism
Characters with “aberrant psychological states”
Events are “uncanny, macabre, or melodramatically violent bordering between reality and unreality

12. Purpose
To evoke “terror” versus “horror” in the reader because of situations bordering reality/unreality
Often used to teach a message
May lack a Medieval setting but will develop an atmosphere of gloom and terror

13. Differentiating between the two
Horror
“An awful apprehension”
Described distinctly
Something grotesque
So appalling, unrealistic
Depends on physical characteristics
Terror
“A sickening realization”
Suggestive of what will happen
Depends on reader’s imagination
Sense of uncertainty
Creates an “intangible atmosphere of spiritual psychic dread”

14. American Gothic Important from the mid-18th Century on
Related to “Romantic Period”
Criticizes “national myth of new-world innocence by voicing the cultural contradictions that undermine the nation’s claim to purity and equality” - Teresa A. Goddu
Tells of historical horrors that make national identity

15. Southern Gothic
Customary setting because it’s the source of values not necessarily welcome in the rest of the country
Poe was the first Southern gothic writer
Common themes: race, alienation, sense of “otherness”

16. Cyber gothic literature
Situations seem unrealistic during this time period but possible in the future
Dark setting
Nothing natural; all man-made
Characters’ bodies are often altered, making them less human-like
Based on knowledge and a “technologically enhanced future”

17. Your assignment Work in groups of 4-5
Take turns around the circle creating a “gothic” story - campfire style mins. in length
Take notes and write down key plot points
Write down gothic elements included
Be prepared to share with the class next time we meet.

18. Sources of text http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~mdward/essay2.html
And others