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. It was the sum of all these parts that became the formula that is still followed today by writers of the genre. This essay will outline various elements of the typical gothic novel, and the way in which they are associated with excess in the themes, characterisation, and style of writing. In doing so, the differences in the techniques used in Walpole’s novel Castle of Otranto, and M.R James’s short story Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad, will be identified and discussed. The primary objective of Gothic novelists is to rouse the reader into eliciting emotional responses such as shock or fear (Hume 284).
The actual title of 'The Red Room' is significant to its genre. It immediately creates mystery and in a sense, suspense, as the reader does not find out what the Red Room is like until a way into the story. The title creates questions, as the reader does not know why the colour red is significant, only that it is usually associated with danger, and fear. This links directly to the Gothic genre, drawing attention to the supposedly haunted Red Room. The setting of 'The Red Room', 'Lorraine Castle', is extremely typical of the Gothic genre.
It attempts to immerse the reader in an extraordinary world in which ordinary standards and moral judgments become meaningless and good and evil are seen as inextricably intertwined. (Hume 282) The genre’s ”fascination with physical and psychological excremity, supernatural elements, and purported status set the pattern of the texts.” (Schmitt 4) ”Terror is the author’s principle engine and serves to grip and affect the reader.” (Hume 282) Besides the representation of extreme circumstances of terror, oppression and persecution, darkness and obscurity of setting, and innocence betrayed are also prominent features. (Lloyd-Smith 3) Gothic fiction is marked by an obsession with the macabre focusing on the mysterious and ineffable. (Schmitt 5) What is more, Gothic works are often centered in smaller numbers of characters, ultimately to operate within the consciousness of just one character (Fisher 73) Starting with the setting of The Black Cat, we can state that Poe broke with the European tradition (which I did not include in the previous section) and he pushed the charnel house elements of literary Gothic toward a fascination of with horror for its own sake. Poe senses the possibilities of urban Gothic.
The description Wuthering being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather" immediately creates the a dark and desolate image which would provoke a sense of fear within 19th century readers. They would visualise this gothic setting, and foreshadow that dark and mysterious events will unfold here. This element of pathetic fallacy can be identified through the description of the "gaunt thorns" surrounding the house and "a grotesque carving lavished over the front" since both of these reinforce the idea of entrapment and claustrophobia; something that a modern day audience could identify as being an irrational fear. The house is enveloped in an air of mystery, it's inhabitants, most likely Heathcliff, are renowned for being recluses to life away from the moors. The most poignant chapter that highlights pure unadulterated terror, is chapter 3.
He chooses many words that appeal to the senses, such as gray, sad-colored, and weather-stains. These words give a sense of dreariness by appealing to the sense of sight. The quote, “the door of which was heavily timbered with oak and studded with iron spikes” appeals to the sense of sight and, by doing do, contributes to Hawthorne’s establishment of a tone of sadness. The quote also indicates the strict conformity of the puritan society, which is the cause of its sadness, as shown through Hawthorne’s use of imagery. With his use of diction, Hawthorne firmly establishes the tone of sadness in the novel.
As soon as Lockwood is gone, or so he believes, Heathcliff cannot help but release ‘into an uncontrollable passion of tears’. 3. Identify the gothic elements in this chapter. How is the suspense built up in this chapter? Suspense is immediately built up in this chapter through introducing the reader to a room at the top of the house, which Zillah confides, is both secret and forbidden.
The film can be read as a dark, romantic fable for adults, another take on the disparity between the individual and society, on the unique nature of one single character and the horror of conformity. The Frankenstein story provides the model here. Edward Scissorhands takes up this tradition in so far as the creature becomes an object of sympathy and makes the world around him appear monstrous in comparison with his own innate goodness. ACTORS Starring | Johnny Depp Winona Ryder Dianne
5- Note that the pain felt lead to prejudice and non maternal feelings: - L.8: the use of "this" to show her despise - L.8: she already qualifies Ben as a "monster" - L.31: "what would she see? ", implying a different creature not to say a monster. 6- The underlying themes of this extract: - Solitude, loneliness and rejection - Ben's symbolism - Fear - Appearance 7- Genre of the book - Pick out the elements of the Gothic novel 8- Personal conclusion In which we mention the opening on some themes introduced in this extract and to be developed in the following
But Mann also conjures up a feeling of danger and decay in his passage, using words like “monstrous,” “primeval,” and “terror” (Mann 97) in describing the bleak scene. This lush and mysterious landscape petrifies Aschenbach, but entices him nonetheless; the scene seems to embody everything that the well-to-do writer wishes to know. This panorama encapsulates the protagonist’s
Byronic heroes were used to describe Lord Byron by his jilted lover, Lady Caroline. She would describe him as “mad, bad and dangerous to know” (Wikipedia). The term reflects a flawed character and has some of the same characteristics of a Gothic character, with more of Byron’s “negative” characteristics thrown into the mix. Such character istics would include: bipolar, hates social norms, outcast, sexuality (homosexual, prostitute), cynical, loner, and self-destructive (Wikipedia). The features of Gothic fiction are both psychological and physical.