'Jane Eyre' is a narrative of darkness, shadows and eerie light. The female gothic genre, therefore, is a significant element within the narrative in which the author explores a woman's roles within society and her home, which leads to the protagonist’s dangerous attempts to challenge, protest and break free of these roles. Bronte applies the mysterious, the supernatural, the horrific and the romantic; to accentuate this. I will analyse the significance of the gothic forms used in Jane Eyre looking specifically at the use of; gothic paraphernalia, supernatural events, death scenes, the heroine, the male tyrant, other evil woman and good lover. Body Gothic paraphernalia is first shown in the novel in the form of the red room.
In the first stanza, the environment in which the speaker’s father committed suicide is personified as having “lips” that are “dabbled with blood-red heath” and “red-ribb’d ledges”. This violent imagery implies that the speaker is delusional, imagining the landscape as brutal and guilty, culpable for his father’s death. The reference to Greek mythology reinforces the idea of his madness as he imagines “Echo” who replies yet always answers “death”, underlining the stark indifference of nature and its unforgiving constancy. The speaker emphasises the murderous quality of the environment further, describing his father as having been “mangled, and flatten’d, and “crush’d”. The plosives exaggerate his father’s death, making it seem harrowingly painful and harsh.
“Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes” (I. V. 56). The darkness that Lady Macbeth called upon seems to be the cruelty that she needs to commit her Duncan’s death. This then lets the readers see the image of the scene about to unfold in their mind. Foreshadowing and aside are both Rhetorical devices used Macbeth but they are used in different manners. Foreshadowing plays an important role in Macbeth because most of the action of the play is hinted at before it happens.
In Macbeth, the darkness in the hearts of the characters either disappear or the characters realize what the darkness had done to them. When the images of witches are brought up in any piece of literature, they are usually associated with darkness and/or evil. This is also the case in Macbeth. Shakespeare uses many techniques to enforce this stereotype of witches. He uses pathetic fallacy to convey the dark surroundings as they “Hover through the fog and filthy air” (1 .
On the other hand, his wife becomes so guilty for their deed she begins to sleepwalk and talk of their crime in the night. She becomes depressed and soon after kills herself. Then Macbeth is murdered by Macduff and many others who rebelled against the crazy king. The imagery in Macbeth used to connect with the main theme are light and darkness, blood, and sleep. The image of light and darkness are used to highlight good and evil.
The witches in 'Macbeth' are undeniably gothic in nature and clearly display gothic elements. The setting in which they appear in is typical of the gothic genre and so is the language. The heavy use of paradoxical language suggests mystery and intrigue tied up with the setting clearly creates a gothic scene. On the other hand many suggest the witches are simply a figment of Macbeths imagination indicating that the play is in fact a psychological drama, however it would be impossible to ignore the suggestion of supernatural suggestion being used on Macbeth that eventually leads him to kill King Dunkan. The witches are surrounded by an aura of mystery and magic from the opening in which the stage direction “Thunder and lightning” points to pathetic fallacy, typical of the gothic genre and reflects the danger of the witches.
Is Frankenstein a Gothic Story? Can Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” be classified as a Gothic Story? Gothic Literature has multiple elements. The “Frankenstein” text is well written and Shelley uses different Gothic Elements to prove that it is a Gothic text; she uses distinctive diction to create fear and horror and has a staggering way of portraying the setting of the story. The first Gothic Element is setting which is a key aspect in the story; the setting is a unique part of the story because it states the time, place, and circumstances in which a novel takes place, and often it is dark and menacing, to reflect the mood of the novel.
One popular technique writers of Gothic fiction use to create such an atmosphere is to have story told through a madman or madwoman’s perspective. Madness suggests humanity's encounter with the fantastic side of reality that defies human reason. In Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the main character’s psychological disorder directly influences the development and elucidation of the plot. Similarly, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor’s narrative further influences the plot because it is explained through a sinister mind long after the event took place. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” the narrator’s disturbing minds have a direct impact on the development of the menacing atmosphere.
Frankenstein: The Traditional Gothic Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is, without a doubt, an iconic piece of Gothic literature. The Gothic genre evokes dread and horror within its readers and explores the extremes of human emotion, the unknown and supernatural, destiny, and impending doom. The story of Victor Frankenstein’s quest for knowledge and the tragedy which befell him when he tried to equal God and nature has filled the hearts and minds of readers with sadness, terror, and intrigue. The creature which he breathed life into has become a symbol of the dangers of science and how an innocent soul can be driven to barbarism. Overtime, the novel has become synonymous with gothic literature.
! ! The three evil witches are often associated with the darkness and symbolically represent as a part of the darkness which also forms the fate of Macbeth and other characters of the play.They are also defined as ‘instruments of darkness’ according to Banquo in Act 1 Scene 3. They are introduced to us in Act 1 Scene 1 which begins with ‘thunder and lighting’ in a place which is filled with thick ‘“fog and filthy air’. The meeting of the three witches are meant to be kept a secret.