Understanding the Transition

from Romantic to Gothic

Mrs. McCown English III

What is Romanticism?

The free expression of the feeling of the artist

Byproduct of the strict rules and regulations of the Enlightenment (Age of Reason)

“spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” William Wordsworth, on poetry

Art needed to come from the artist’s imagination with as little interference from rules as possible

Originality is essential

When the Romantics saw

the individual, they saw

the capacity for hope.

The romantics freed the

imagination from the hold of

reason, so they could follow

their imagination wherever it

might lead, especially if it was

toward the beauty of nature.

When the Gothics saw

the individual, they saw

the potential of evil.

The imagination led to the

threshold of the

unknown—the shadowy

region where the fantastic,

the demonic, and the

insane reside.

Gothic

Architecture

Most Gothic

works took

place in a

building that

would have

looked like this.

The Castle of

Otranto:

A Gothic Story

The first “Gothic Story;” published in

1764.

Aimed to combine medieval

romance (too fanciful) with the

modern novel (too realistic)

Developed basic traits of Gothic

Horror genre

Originally published as a medieval

French romance that has been

discovered and translated (people

loved it!) when he told the truth in the

second publication, people hated it.

Traits of Gothic Literature

• Death and decay

• Haunted homes/castles

• Family curses

• Madness and violence

• Powerful love/romance

• Ghosts and vampires

• Death of a beautiful woman

• Grotesque

Archetypes of Gothic Literature

•Byronic Hero – the protagonist in the story, sometimes

with evil intent.

•Villian – the antagonist who poses a challenge for the

hero.

• Damsel-in-distress – a female character in danger.

•Setting - the location, such as a castle or crypt,

becomes a character in the action of the narrative.

•Priest or Monk – a religious character

•Demon – could be represented through death, decay,

or the supernatural

Purpose of Gothic Literature

•To evoke “terror” by focusing on a sickening

realization built up to by a sense of uncertainty

•Often used to teach a lesson

•May lack a Medieval setting but will develop an

atmosphere of gloom and terror

Choose your story

Fall of the House of Usher

Masque of the Red Death

Minister’s Black Veil

Wives of the Dead

Young Goodman Brown

Wakefield

Pit and the Pendulum

The Tree

The Tomb

William Wilson

Monkey’s Paw

The Cask of Amontillado

Ligeia

The Black Cat

The Oblong Box