Gothic Literature

OriginationArose in late 18th century

Reaction against “The Age of Reason” or the Enlightenment

A philosophical movement of the 18th century characterized by belief in the power of human reason and by innovation politics, religion, and education

Emphasis on individuality and imagination appealed to Romantics

Romantics: writers who emphasized emotion over intellect, individual over society, and imagination over logic

First example of “Gothic” novel was Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764)

CharacteristicsMood of decay

Dramatic action

Generally violent or otherwise disturbing

Destructively passionate romances

Magnificent settings that are gloomy or bleak

Emphasis on chivalry and magic

CharacteristicsEvents that are macabre or melodramatically violent

Typically a romance

Supernatural phenomena

Ghosts

Mysterious disappearances

CharactersEmphasis on story line and setting rather than characters and characterization

Heroes and heroines may be mysterious with dark histories and secrets

Often deals with abnormal psychological states

Evil predominates and is usually personified

Often focuses on the sufferings of an innocent heroine by a cruel (sometimes lustful) villain

She is often repelled and attracted to the evil around her

SettingCalled “gothic” due to inspiration drawn from medieval

architectural style.

Often dark, mysterious medieval castles

Dungeons

Subterranean passages

Sliding panels

Secret passageways

ExamplesAnn Radcliffe The Italian (1797)

The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

Mary Shelley Frankenstein (1817)

Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)

Gregory Lewis The Monk (1796)

William Beckford Vathek (1786)

ThemeSometimes virtue wins…

But evil may dominate

until it ultimately destroys…

itself