Whilst both Dracula and Twilight explore similar themes they are expressed in different ways to represent different insecurities in society. For example in each text we see the classic universal battle of good versus evil however in Dracula this battle has been used to express societies fears for the loss of Christian values. In Twilight a key theme involves acceptance of others, which represents societies insecurities about the lack of acceptance for others within our modern society. The concept of the new woman used in Dracula demonstrates the 19th century role of women within society, this is then contrasted by the role of women in twilight, allowing the responder to see how differing themes in each of these gothic texts demonstrate the context of the society during the era in which they were composed. As these themes mirror the insecurities and fears of society as Dracula reflects the 19th Century society and Twilight represents a 21st Century society.
“Gothic literature is concerned with the breaking of social and moral codes” – to what extent do you agree with this criticism of gothic writing? Gothic literature often encompasses a large amount of taboos and transgressions that continue to populate the genre today, in which the breaking of social and moral codes is still a popular element that is continually explored. However, critiques often focus upon the driving force behind this exploration within the genre and its effectiveness where moral and social codes remain largely culturally relative and the line between normal and abnormal is unclear. This ambiguity continues to puzzle both readers and critics alike in a fashion that only breeds curiosity and fascination within society of what social and moral codes are available to be broken, particularly within literature. In many ways, the character of Heathcliff within Wuthering Heights may be seen as a complete antithesis to the conventions of society; the name “Heathcliff” acts as both his Christian name and surname in contrast to the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights with many names shared across the generations.
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).
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 War Prayer”, written by Mark Twain, and “Editha”, written by William Dean Howells, are two very different pieces of writing with similar themes and variant styles. Both pieces provoke emotional responses in addition to providing the dark truths of war. The two pieces both are effective in their similar themes, though written in completely different styles. “The War Prayer” and “Editha”, though being very similar pieces, do slightly differ in theme. The message provided by “The War Prayer” is more-so focused on the religious hypocrisy and one-sided view of Christianity in the vast topic of war.
Through the minds of Palahniuk and Stevenson a common ground is reached in the two books Fight Club and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; both the narrator and Dr. Jekyll create their own misfortune in trying to fix the problems of the world, or better yet what they perceive the problems to be. In a sense the doppelganger of Dr. Jekyll and The Narrator create a misery that is eerie. These characters could be considered Byronic heroes; they start off admirable individuals but by the end of their journey we pity them. Another observation than can be made is through the birth of their alter egos Dr. Jekyll is in essence attempting to play God, and Tyler Durden (The Narrator’s doppelganger) believes he is God. The consequences of their decisions lead them to, ceaseless misery,
It is the haunted houses, castles, and medieval gardens. Ideas that are present in Gothic fiction are generally ones that go against Catholicism, predominantly Roman Catholic. It
This idea of the supernatural being something just out of reach to be considered possible is common in gothic texts in relation to the views contemporary readers of the texts would have had. In the time that this text was written, though science was making many breakthroughs in all fields, the idea of ghosts and the paranormal was still very popular with the lower classes of society, classes typically associated with gothic texts at the time; séances and ghost stories were rife at the time. In this text Shelly blends the uncertainty of new science and the pushing of boundaries (another gothic trait) together with this obsession with the otherworldly and often scary, to create a scene that is quintessentially gothic in its nature, as well as extremely appealing to a large portion of the texts contemporary readership. Though perhaps not as prominent in this scene, the idea of excessive feelings leading to transgression is also
The main theme of marry Shelly’s Frankenstein is Gothicism. Within marry Shelly’s novel Frankenstein we see elements of gothic and the supernatural, sometimes represented through the grotesque. The gothic supernatural is described as being real and disturbing according to Linda Bayer. In fact it can be described as simply being something we are used to and implementing it in the world around us making it more immediate, more believable. Within this theme we see the reoccurring element of gothic villains where “the exaggeration of just one aspect of the beautiful can produce the hideous,” (Bayer 80) in this case it is literal and can be applied to the monster where this is achieved with “combinations of the normal or even beautiful through an unexpected fusion of different realms.
Reality TV not only takes up space of what could potentially be a great scripted series, it will put other shows out of business, affecting thousands of jobs. Reality TV could end up jeopardizing the economy and our society. With reality television reaching more audiences, the future of scripted dramas and movies will be short-lived, leading to the end of the entertainment industry as we know it. Reality TV serves as a cheap "filler" studios use instead of investing money on high-budgeted scripted series. With the continued success of reality TV, more and more writers for scripted shows will lose their jobs and change professions.