Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey: a Gothic Parody The Gothic fiction is a literary genre that combines elements of both horror and romance. It flourished in England during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a “reaction against the rigidity and formality of other forms of Romantic literature. [1]” It has often been said that the first true Gothic romance was The Castle of Otranto, written by Horace Walpole and first published in 1764. Although during this period many of the highly regarded Gothic novelists published their writings and much of the novel’s form was defined, this genre is not limited to this time whatsoever. Indeed, the Gothic can still be found nowadays in the
Gothic has been described as “excess: excess in moral terms, excess of realism into the supernatural, [and] formal excess” (Becker, 1999:1). Discuss this view of the Gothic mode in specific relation to The Castle of Otranto, and M.R. James’s stories. When Horace Walpole published his Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, in 1764, he became the first author credited with changing the meaning of the Gothic genre forever. With his tale of corrupt patriarchy filled with mystery, romance, and tragedy, Horace Walpole bridged the gap between the wantonly romantic and the excessively realistic (Scott 11); filling the space with dark settings, stark characters and tangled narratives.
The setting is very important in the elaboration of this specific fictional text. The time and space we are dealing with are much relevant for creating the perfect background for a heroine like Jane to live in. Culturally speaking, Gothic novels were in evidence at the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It involved a lot of stereotypes, fantastic elements, and melodrama. Yet, although some critics define Jane Eyre as a Gothic piece of literature, it is true that it ruptured several aspects to create something quite new, including characterization points that will be discussed further.
Primarily the first flow has discussed how this minor genre of literature starting in England in the 18th century was Americanized and brought to the New World as a unique expression of the terror and horror experienced in the frontier between the settled land and the wilderness. The Americanization of European Gothic apparatus and devices as an old castle, a well, a letter, an abbey, into the wilderness, a cave, a great swirl, a somber residence; an "Indian," and murder impelled by madness have been widely researched. The search for the transformation of the original Gothic to fit in the American culture leads to the conclusion that "the Gothic novels in Europe were born as a backlash of the authors against the outer world, the overwhelming power of church and nation, and also as a counter-reaction against the rationalism and the archaism up to the 18th century, while the American Gothic was imported to create an original genre in the background of political and
Theresa James English 121 Professor Jesse Stommel Frankenstein Is a Gothic Novel Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 – 1851), a classic occult fiction, was first published in London in 1818 in three volumes. It tells a story of how Dr. Victor Frankenstein creates an artificial man out of fragments of bodies from churchyards, and dissecting rooms – a human form without a soul. The monster longs for love and sympathy but inspires only horror and loathing and becomes a powerful force for evil. It seeks revenge against its creator, murdering his family and friends, also, and bringing death to Victor himself. In the most important aspects of Frankenstein; Frankenstein is compelling in and of itself.
In each of these texts the Gothic influence is used to shape the literature in differing ways, creating different effects. In this essay I will highlight these influences and explain reasons why the Authors chose to use the ‘Gothic’ devices. The earliest of these is Austin’s Northanger Abbey. This Austin’s first published Novel is often referred to as a "Gothic parody"1 because it satirizes the form and conventions of the Gothic novels that were popular during the time. A number of Gothic novels are mentioned in the book, including most importantly The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe.
Poe as a Dark Romantic Edgar Allan Poe is viewed as one of the most known American writers. He is also classified as one of the few Romantic authors who became known in the United States. However, some suggest that his style derives more from the Gothic, whereas other point that he clearly satirises the Transcendentalist movement. Others still, perceive Poe as a writer that managed to cross the border of Romanticism and see in his works a significant example of the Dark Romanticism genre. In his stories, Poe clearly uses a variety of themes and literary devices that let us observe him as a Dark Romantic, rather than a Romantic.
In this sense, I would like to contrast and compare the two pieces of writing mentioned above in order to reach an idea of the different elements that compose the Gothic genre characteristic of the Victorian period, such as the setting, the dark atmosphere, and the fear and horror feeling, and the new ones that were added when introduced the ghost stories narratives, such as those of orphan children, the supernatural and the past, among some others. In both, The Turn of the Screw and The Old Nurse’s Story, the past becomes a focus of anxiety and the story itself a way of anchoring the past to an unsettled present in a continuum of life and death, which is a characteristic feature of Ghost Stories. Ghosts in the Victorian period were images of the lost past which threatened us, but which could be used to confront the demons of guilt and fear, as we can see in both of these stories, on the one hand in the case of James’s Governess and in the other hand in the case of Miss Grace Furnival. Comparing these stories, we can observe that both are pretty similar in content, this may be due to the influence that Charlotte Brönte and Elizabeth Gaskell, who was Brönte’s biographer, displayed on Henry James’s writing. In both stories we
Through the bewitching stories we see that Barth is exploring an entirely new style of writing, sometimes confusing, sometimes fragmented, but always captivating. The Literature of Exhaustion is said to be a contradicting document due to the fact that it comes from a novelist, however John Barth has made it his responsibility to change the face of literary art, and the movement known as postmodernism. In his essays he discusses the importance of a flexible literature a genre that can be continually reinvented with out changing grammar or words. He attempts to do this in the form of novels, such as The Sot-Weed Factor, and novellas collectively known as Chimera, and a collection of short stories, Lost in the Funhouse. The collection of short stories is a great example of his idea of Postmodernity.
The gothic genre has based itself upon refining concepts explored in genres such as horror and taking those notions to newer and more developed standards. Originally part of the Romantic Movement, the gothic genre advocates a connection to the use of supernatural themes, bleak remote landscapes, violent weather and dim, secret places where evil can often occur. Characteristics such as “the use of supernatural in the gothic”, “Gothic settings” and “Gothic Horror” make this genre unique in comparison to regular common genres and texts such as Rebecca and The Others show the variety displayed across the board throughout different gothic text types. Another gothic convention present in the 2 texts is “Gothic settings”. This is evident in the opening chapter of Rebecca where the narrator describes Manderley upon revisiting it in her dreams as “Unkept” and as if “nature had come into her own.” With the use of a metaphor to state “the site itself, was a jewel” we begin to understand how grand and majestic this amazing house is, and we are helped to picture a perfect place that is now overwhelmed with nature.