This reversal of gender stereotypes and gothic conventions is used often in Carter’s work. In the Bloody chamber, it seems that although she has adapted gothic conventions into a modern way, presenting females as the more powerful characters than men, she also retains some of these typical roles in some of her stories. The lady of the house of love would be an immediate example of how Carter creates a role reversal that differs from the typically valued places in gender. Carter creates the role of the ‘Femme Fatal’, with this dangerous woman that lives in the castle. This representation of the woman as powerful differs from the original expectation in a gothic novel, as the woman would usually be portrayed as weak, and in need of saving.
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare shocks audiences with violent language, the supernatural witches and evilness. The nature of evil, in the context of this question, means ‘profoundly immoral and wicked’ which is true to most of the play especially after King Duncan’s murder. The nature of ambition in this context portends ‘a strong desire to achieve successes’. Based on these definitions, I agree with said view of this play to some extent. Evil is first inferred in Macbeth when we first meet the Weyward Sisters (witches) and they cantillate something: ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair.’ This juxtaposition of words indicates an unnatural feel which creates the feel of imminent evil from a possibly supernatural perpetrator.
Throughout Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein readers are forced to compare and contrast the morality and monstrosity of both Victor Frankenstein and ‘the monster’. In literal terms, behaving monstrously is described as ‘committing actions that are inhumanly or outrageously evil or wrong’. To this end, it could most definitely be argued that both of the main characters in the novel are monstrous at one point or another. Ultimately, the following essay is intent upon exploring whether it is in fact the humans or the monster that act ‘the most monstrously’. Firstly, Shelley depicts Victor Frankenstein as more monstrous than the ‘monster’ through the use of a careful plot structure.
The use of the word “Murder” is demonstrated in the quote as a powerful word to show how Macbeth subject believe that it was done in a terrible and most bloody way. This can be linked in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when the maid describes
Through Another’s Eyes: Point of View in “The Yellow Wallpaper” In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator’s point of view through first person narration gives the story it’s truly intrinsic tone. As the reader is lead first hand along one woman’s descent into madness, the fact that this story is to an extent autobiographical further increases the importance and appeal of the first person narrative. The story in itself has a deceiving prose, with the narrator initially appearing upbeat by the use of exclamation marks, sarcasm and humor but revealing to the reader that she is considered mentally ill by the outside world. Gilman’s personal experience with the depression and treatment described in the story undoubtedly comes forth in her ability to narrate “The Yellow Wallpaper” in such a believable manner. The narrator’s delivery from start to finish keeps the reader off balance, thus adding to the frightening style and evolution of the story.
Women were seen as mortal, yet at the same time they were seducers and manipulators. The novels main idea is about the conflicts that women, who were influenced by the Victorian Age, suffered. Grace’s identity is confusing, as it is made complex by her either trying to protect her innocence or by hiding her guilt. Atwood does an excellent job getting the reader to question this, but her main issue focuses on survival, and how the search for Grace’s true identity is symbolically the search that all women living in a suppressed environment are involved in. This theme is very true to Atwood’s feminist pursuit, which is seen in her other novels as well.
The next element is a woman or women in distress. Lucy is the damsel in this case and Mina almost is when the Count tries to go after her as well. This also is an example of another element, women threatened by powerful men. Finally the last element is metonymy of gloom and horror. Dracula diffidently contains gloom and horror.
Northanger Abbey was posthumously published in 1816 and despite this, was also one of the first written by her. It centres around the enlightenment of Catherine Morland, a naïve girl whom has a fascination for the gothic, a motive which is driven heavily throughout the novel, with heavy gothic leanings and imagery preceding over her narration. At the time, it was written as a parody towards the gothic, whilst further highlighting the idiotic viewpoints society held towards gothic literature; yet in by doing so, does this parody lean itself towards a celebration or a condemnation? It can be inferred that through the excessive hyperbole and extended socio-economic allegories, that Northanger Abbey is in fact a true celebration of all things associated with the Gothic. The uses of excessive description and hyperbole in Catherine’s language (especially during chapters 23, 24 and 25) can show in some ways that Northanger Abbey is very much celebratory of the gothic genre.
Insanity could be defined as “the state of being mentally ill; madness”, thus it is no surprise that writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and D. H. Lawrence beauteously integrated aspects of insanity into their stories in order to chisel the perfect piece of gothic literature, simultaneously luring the reader in to a world carved by madness and drowned in an eerie atmosphere. Portraying one as insane is a powerful gothic literary device that has been used throughout the era of the gothic, notably in Matthew Lewis' “The Monk” and Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto”. One way in which writers complement and enhance the insanity of their sadistic characters is through the psychological and mental torture that is often inflicted upon the victims
He created the mark by raking his claws across their flesh, or by making a red or blue bump using a hot iron; sometimes the mark was believed to have been left by the Devil licking them. To some extent witches are seen as significant within Shakespeare’s Macbeth for many different reasons; the core reason is due to their direct link with the gothic which is portrayed by the witches through supernatural means such as curses and spells. One reason as to why the witches are significant is due to their representation of the gothic. They can be seen as representing forces of evil, supernatural elements and manifestation of human desires; all of which are typical gothic conventions. The idea of the witches representing manifestation of human desires is a key element as they can be seen as the “alcohol” that “hinders performance”; they stimulate Macbeths desire to be king to such an extent that his own “black” desires cause his ultimate demise.