Washington Irving is identified with the gothic with his “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, however the gothic mode can also be identified in his story, “Rip Van Winkle”. To begin, both will be compared with their use of the Gothic Mode. Edgar Allan Poe’s writing set the mold for most gothic literature to follow. From “The Raven” to “The Tell-Tale Heart” his writing sets the reader on edge and fills them with unease. “Its style tends to be ornate, unnatural” (Carter 134).
Brahm Stoker’s “Dracula” highlights concerns prevalent within the Victorian era, shown through characters, symbols and themes throughout the novel. Prior to this, Samuel Taylor Coleridge worked within the Romantic era absorbing a multitude of radical political and theological ideas, ideas which often underpinned his works. Coleridge’s “Christabel” confronts concerns surrounding universal human characteristics, particularly those most prominent within his era, such as female purity and innocence. In contrast to these more traditional beliefs, “Blood; The Last Vampire” articulates anxieties surrounding the breakdown of a society and the repercussions of this in relation to a younger, more contemporary society. The “dark side’ within these texts are often projected through a singular symbol, character or theme that is unaccepted or feared by its surrounding society.
Explore the ways Shelley uses setting to contribute to the gothic concept of the novel. Shelley uses setting as a vital contribution to the gothic concept of the novel; Mary said “The very room...he glassy lakes and the high Alps beyond”, would be the pivotal settings in her novel. Shelley knew from this stage that exterior and interior settings would be significant; interior “dark room” which refers to Victor’s laboratory of “filthy creation” in Chapter 4, an epitome of the gothic genre revealing a sense of darkness and seclusion mirroring the eponymous character Frankenstein. The idea of the lake and high Alps can be observed as being influenced by the Romantic poets, Percy and Wodsworth on nature being a restorative agent. Hence Shelley’s use of the exterior setting of the Arctic, which unravels the framework of the novel through epistolary form.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, are both excellent examples of Gothic literature and the elements which set this genre apart from others. Each author employs such Gothic elements as metonymy, mystery and suspense, and overwrought emotion to create pieces of writing that have affected the way we tell stories even to the present day. Metonymy is an element that affects the way the reader interprets the scene without knowing it. In Gothic literature, metonymy usually makes for much “doom and gloom.” Blowing winds, howls, moans, sighs, and eerie sounds are all entwined within Frankenstein, illustrating Shelley’s use of metonymy. All of these are used to subtly reference the overall air of darkness and horror apparent in the novel.
Thus, a Gothic tradition, which continually developed and widely affected, came into being. 1. Gothic novels: The historical origin The word “Gothic” firstly came from the name of the Gothic tribe in the teutones. The teutones, which originally lived in the northern Europe, finally defeated the powerful empire of west Rome in the migrating course during several centuries. After more than 1000 years of the perdition of the west Rome empire, a Italian named Vasari(1511-1574)found the word “gothic” in the dust of history in order to refer to a kind of medieval architectural style which is disliked by the Renaissance thinkers.
Why Dracula is a Gothic Novel The horror story Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, is a thrilling novel about the notorious vampire, Dracula, and about a group of men and women who suffered from his evil and fought back. This novel, written in 1897, is one of the most famous gothic novels, and one of the most famous pieces of literature still to this day. The setting of the novel, the terminology, and the deep emotion that Stoker used allows the reader, and literary critics, to classify Dracula as Gothic Literature. The elements that Dracula contains to make it gothic include the setting of a castle, a suspenseful atmosphere, dreams and visions, inexplicable events, overwhelming emotions, distressed women, metonymy of horror, and of course gothic vocabulary. For a novel to be considered gothic, it must contain certain elements; Dracula reflects many of these unique principles.
Both books have similar writing style as gloomy, but foreshadowing and dystopia bring about the effectiveness of gothic literature in both books. Firstly, the story’s title “The Fall of the House of Usher” has a symbolic meaning to itself. “The House of Usher” refers not only to the house, but to the family as well, the Usher bloodline. The title refers not only to the literal fall of the physical house, but the symbolic fall of the Usher family. There are many events which lead to the true meaning of the title, the author uses foreshadowing to enlighten the meaning.
English 113 February 16, 2013 “The Tell-Tale Heart”: Elements of Gothicism As an offshoot to Romanticism, Gothic literature became keen in the 19th Century, leaving Edgar Allen Poe to claim his title as the father of Gothicism. In Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator himself is a classic character of Gothicism. Witnessing the insanity his character is consumed by and the murder he commits, this story really gives the reader a dark perception and demonstrates a feeling of abnormality and general deviance. Throughout the entire story, the conflict morphs from the narrator versus the eye, to the narrator versus his own madness. The “Tell-Tale Heart” can be definitively be classified as Gothic literature because Poe’s strong use of imagery, symbolism, and the element of suspense captivates and further heightens the sense of how insane the narrator really is.
Page 1 Gothic Themes of Frankenstein JacquelynWilliams-Eid English Literature Tue-Thu 10:30-11:45 Page 2 Mary Shelley is a British writer who is best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein. Frankenstein was written in the eighteen hundreds and is now one of the most best known novels of the time period. When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein she used a gothic theme throughout the novel. The term gothic refers to a genre or elements that came about in the eighteenth century. In a gothic novel there are elements of horror, mystery and suspense.
After reading The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I found three elements that impressed me the most: the atmosphere of mystery and horror, the unbelievable event of doubling in that century, and the disappearance of hope. First of all, the author put the reader in the scene of the night in London in order to create the setting of mystery. It reminds me of every time when I see a vampire movie, it’s all happen in London. The old buildings, the weather, and the night in London are often being used to make the whole fiction or movie more suspicious. By creating the horrifying setting, the readers can have a feeling that they are also inside the story and watching all these events happening.