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.
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.
Macbeth is associated with the witches as they are waiting for him and their riddles mirror his opening remark to Banquo. Jack is the leader of the choir who, when first introduced, are associated with darkness and presented as some kind of a creature/beast. Both presentations of Macbeth and Jack in the beginning of both texts creates a negative atmosphere where the readers already think of them as bad characters who will do wrong, this is down to the presentational devices of the writer who has decided to portray the characters purposely in that particular way. In both texts, power is linked with the breakdown of morality. Both Macbeth and Jack desire power too much, they get hungry for it and it becomes a corrupting force.
Gothic horror was a common genre of use in the time Frankenstein was written. This was a time of great novels such as Dracula and Hound of the Baskervilles. Gothic horror is traditionally set in dark castles and countryside with eerie moaning music and bad weather Written in 1818 Frankenstein is the deeply disturbing tale of a monstrous unnamed creation that was created in the name of science. Huge and strong, the creature created by Victor Frankenstein kills and murders many throughout the tale, but considering his tragic beginnings I must ask, who is the real monster in this gothic tale of horror? Frankenstein is cleverly written in two parts.
Shakespeare initially exposes the audience to violence in the opening Act, as the “weird sisters” inform us about the existing conflict between England and Scotland. One could argue that the violence is excessive here as a sense of fear is established as the witches insinuate that it is not safe to “meet again” until the “hurly burly’s done”, revealing that even the supernatural “instruments of darkness” are frightened by the conflict. This violent setting is enhanced through the description of Macbeth unseaming a man “from the nave to the chops” in battle. It is ironic however, as the King praises Macbeth for his savage actions, and knights him “Thane of Cawdor”, revealing how only because the gothic protagonist is slaying under the King’s order, he is perceived as heroic. This is a different type of violence to the sort we are exposed to later on in the play, as this violence is legitimized as Macbeth is fighting as part of the king’s army, ultimately maintaining order within society as he is not in attempt to break The Great Chain of Being.
Gothic Elements in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde After reading the whole gothic literatures in this semester, I find The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde gives me the most impression. Since I was young, the only kinds of book that can make me feel interested in are gothic type of fiction. Gothic writing tends to be very dark, focus on the evil side of human nature, have supernatural and unexplained elements to it; for example, the mysterious setting and the suspicious events. These elements make me can’t help myself but be immersed in the book. 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.
The novel Frankenstein contains many of these gothic elements like the atmosphere, ugliness, killings, sadness and remorse. The first gothic element in Frankenstein is the atmosphere. The gothic atmosphere in the novel is full of darkness and rain surrounded by doom and gloom which gives it an air of suspense. In the novel this gothic atmosphere can be found in chapter four when Mary Shelley writes “It was a dreary night of November (Pg.34).” Mary Shelly used this gothic atmosphere to describing the night that Victor created the monster. We can also see this gothic atmosphere in chapter six when she writes “the darkness and storm increased every minute, and the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head (Pg.
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.
The numerous similes compare the character of Mr. Hyde with a horrid personality; in the chapter where the maid explains the death of Mr. Carew at the merciless hands of Mr. Hyde. The author has this quote to say, “…stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on (as the maid described it) like a madman.” With the help of this simile, a vivid image of Mr. Hyde and his true colors are shown. This simile helps to portray the eerie mood of the novel as well, “…in the lawyer’s eyes, like a district of some city in the nightmare.” With the help of this statement, the horrific scene is painted in the mind of the
The public-houses were just closing, and dim men and women were clustering in broken groups round their doors. From some of the bars came the sound of a horrible laughter. In others drunkards brawled and screamed.” The unexplained supernatural is a regular theme in gothic novels and in A Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian’s bargain with the devil and the magical effect of this on his portrait is the novels most important gothic element. In the first chapter when Henry manages to convince Dorian that beauty and youth is everything and that without these two things a man is worth nothing, Dorian’s subconsciously, in the pursuit of absolution says ‘I would give my soul’ . And for the next eighteen years his wish is fulfilled, not a hint of a crease marks his face.