GOTHIC LITERATURE.

GOTHIC LITERATURE.

1. BACKGROUND.

   • The term Gothic fiction refers to a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion.
   • Gothic romances were mysteries, often involving the supernatural and heavily tinged with horror, and they were usually set against dark backgrounds of medieval ruins and haunted castles.
   • Here is a list of some common elements found in Gothic novels: Gloomy, decaying setting (haunted houses or castles with secret passages, trap doors, and other mysterious architecture) Supernatural beings or monsters (ghosts, vampires, zombies, giants) Curses or prophecies.

2. A TIMELINE OF GOTHIC FICTION.

   • 1764.
     • The Castle of Otranto: The first Gothic novel. Defining the Gothic novel. Clip from Gothic Ghost Novels: The Story of the Ghost Story. English aristocrat Horace Walpole combines the supernatural and horrific to create the first Gothic novel. Purporting to be translated from an earlier manuscript, The Castle of Otranto introduces what have become classic Gothic devices, such as a foreign location, a dark and ominous castle and a naïve young woman fleeing from an evil, lustful man. In a direct imitation of Shakespearean tragedy, Walpole introduces comedy to relieve the novel’s most melodramatic moments.
   • 1794.
     • The Mysteries of Udolpho: The dawn of female Gothic. Ann Radcliffe helps to define what makes a Gothic novel and enjoys massive commercial success. In her best-known novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho, Radcliffe introduces ‘the explained supernatural’, a technique by which terrifying, apparently supernatural incidents have a logical explanation. Over the course of her previous novels, Radcliffe developed the formula of ‘the female Gothic’, first introduced in The Recess by Sophia Lee. The formula is perfected in Udolpho, and has since become a Gothic norm.
   • 1796.
     • The Monk: Shocking society. Matthew Lewis scandalises the literary world. Lewis’s novel about the misdeeds of a spoiled priest features incestuous necrophilia, matricide, cannibalism, voyeurism, and a satanic pact – not to mention an incredibly gory finale. It was one of the characters censoring the Bible, however, which most upset its contemporaries – as well as the fact that its teenage author was an MP. The novel, which has been retrospectively classed as ‘Male Gothic', features the genre’s typical themes of a lone male, exiled and an outsider.
   • 1816.
     • The Vampyre: Birth of the tale in English. On the shores of Lake Geneva, Lord Byron challenges his friends to write a ghost story. Among them is John Polidori. He writes The Vampyre, the first vampire story to be written in English. The novel introduces the Byronic hero to Gothic. He is the attractive, dangerous outsider, whose struggles with melancholy will feature in numerous classics of the genre. On publication The Vampyre is incorrectly attributed to Byron instead of Polidori, to the annoyance of both writers, but the novel is a success and sparks a craze for similar vampire tales.
     • Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: Raising the dead. Lord Byron’s competition produces another Gothic classic: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Shelley’s story features many Gothic spine-tingling elements, including the macabre horror of raising the dead. However, the novel in which a creature created from disparate body parts is brought to life is often considered to be the first in the science fiction genre. Many believe it to be a warning about the dangers of contemporary science.
   • 1818.
     • Jane Austen parodies the genre. While not the first satire of Gothic to be published – The New Monk (1798) and The Heroine (1813) were among a number preceding it – Northanger Abbey is perhaps the most memorable of the genre. The novel, whose lead character is a young girl obsessed by Gothic stories, contains direct references to The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Monk
   • 1840.
     • Edgar Allan Poe’s collection of previously published short stories is published. While the tales feature many traditionally frightening Gothic themes, Poe’s characters also suffer psychological terror - “terror of the soul”. The collection includes Poe’s famous story ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, which charts the descent of Roderick Usher into madness through fear. Other stories in the collection feature a collection of madmen and unreliable narrators.