1. The GOTHIC Tradition

2. “The world of Gothic fiction is characterized by a chronic sense of apprehension and premonition of impending but unidentified disaster. The Gothic world is the fallen world,
the vision of fallen man, living in fear and alienation, haunted by images of his mythic expulsion, by its repercussions, and by an awareness of his unavoidable wretchedness . . .” (Ann B. Tracy, The Gothic Novel : Plot Summaries and index Motifs).

3. The Gothic explores the darker side of human nature
The characters and the reader confront evil.
The Gothic asks the essential questions:
What is evil?
Are some of us innately evil?
Why do humans do evil?
What is sin? What tempts us? Why?
What do we fear? Why are we afraid?

4. The Gothic always includes the PRESENCE OF THE SUPERNATURAL
For example:
Dopplegangers
Ghosts
Demons
Spirits , shadows, shades
Evil Monsters
The devil
Demonic possession
Black Magic
Shape Shifters
Doppelganger – evil twin, shadow double

5. Narrator or character who is both innocent but curious
with a need to know – which leads to confrontation with the taboo, the forbidden, evil
With a desire to quest for knowledge – which leads to knowledge of evil
With an urge to pry into [deadly and/or dangerous] secrets
Why does the main character enter that attic/ basement/ old house anyway?

6. Gothic Conventions CONVENTIONS =
Elements that often reappear in a specific genre, or form of literature; while they do not necessarily define the genre, they are common to the literary form.

7. Separate Worlds: The narrator is separated from the real world
Dark horrific Realms – claustrophobic, sunless space
Remote locales
Ruins of Castles, mansions, houses
Crypts, tombs, cemeteries (physical decay, skulls, images of death)
Hidden rooms, passages, attics, dungeons, towers, a precipice, labyrinths, secret passage, hidden doors
Imprisonment or traps

8. ……..MORE Metonomy (a part represents a whole) of gloom and horror =
wind, rain, doors grating, howls in distance, lights blowing out

9. Witching Hours
Darkness & night
Midnight
Twilight
Full Moons

10. Unnatural Acts of Nature
Eclipse of the sun
Blood red moon
Fierce wind or storm
Unnatural silence

11. Conventional Plot Devices
Manuscripts & artifacts
Ancestral curses, family secrets
Damsels in distress, abduction
Revenge
Burial alive
Insanity or madness

12. Common Characters Doppelgangers Grotesques A Lady in distress
A Mad or insane character
The Byronic Hero
Doppelgangers = evil twins, doubles with one the shadow
Grotesques = often dark caricatures which produce both horror and comic – the term itself refers to distortions or incongruities
Byronic – aristocratic, suave/charming, moody, solitary, secretive, mysterious, intriguing, brilliant, cynical, often wounded. Fatally attractive to women characters.

13. In conclusion . . .
Not all novels with gothic elements are part of the traditional Gothic canon ( ), Poe & Hawthorne fit this;
The Gothic retains links to the past: folk tales, superstitions, medieval ballads, romances, epics and legends – all of which contain elements of the supernatural.

14. ALLEGORY When every element of the narrative is symbolic.
What are narrative elements?
Plot, character, setting, objects