While literature often follows some pattern and can be predictable, it is often evolving and can change in an instant depending on the author. In most Gothic literature, a derivative of Romanticism, there is a gothic space in the work – a limited space in which anything can happen in contrast to the normal world in the work. In addition, normally, order is restored at the end of Gothic literature – the good is reward and the bad is punished. In his Gothic novella, The Terrible Vengeance (1981), Nicolai Gogol decided to expand the ‘normal’ idea of Gothic literature by, in the work, transforming the traditional Gothic space to encompass anything and everything; in addition to the use of space, through the ending in which these is no reward, Gogol conveyed the idea that evil is prevalent everywhere and in
In truth, the river is the border between the gothic space, the Other, and normal space in the novella. For example, in the beginning of the story, when Danillo and Katherine were travelling home on the Dnieper, they witnessed a rising on the side of the Other. “A withered corpse rose slowly from it [one of the graves in a graveyard]… one could see he was suffering terrible agonies” as he begged for air (Gogol 18). Things that should not happen, that should not be possible, happen on the Other side of the Dneiper because that is the gothic space. It is also in the same space across the river that an old castle can resides on, which can be seen from Danillo’s home – this is the castle where the Sorcerer lives. As is depicted in the quote, space is transformed several times throughout the novel - at some moments in the novella, like the instance in the quote, very obvious and, at other times, more
The two rivers that are part of the Devon School property symbolize how Gene and Finny grew up through the course of the novel. The Devon River is preferred by the students because it is above the dam and contains clean water. It is a symbol of childhood and innocence, because it is safe and simple. It is preferred to show how the boys choose to hold onto their youth instead of growing up. The Naguamsett is the disgustingly dirty river which symbolizes adulthood because of its complexity.
Running along the outermost rim of the shield is the Ocean River, the river that is at once the barrier between the quick and the dead, and also the frontier of the known and imagined worlds. One of the last descriptions on the shield, this river could perhaps be a symbol for total inclusiveness and eternity, and for the stability of the larger perspective.
Edgar Allan Poe 's The Cask of Amontidillo is a horror tale that contains many gothic elements. Poe’s terror-inducing story is filled with dark imagery that includes underground chambers, a costume-filled carnival, and sudden betrayal. He creates a world in the mind of the reader by using gothic literature traditions like irony, puns, double entendre and foreshadowing. He also utilizes the themes of obsession, premature burials, and the temperance movements to share his thoughts with the reader (Richards 2). These different elements work together to show the underlying twist in the story. Although they differ, these elements also firmly connect, as one element leads into another. However, revenge is the main theme and motive in the tale that
As we immerse ourselves into Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, a powerful story of a man’s vengeance with “impunity”, we find that the narrator’s revenge was merely a materialization of his sinister, unrestricted human nature. The author vividly describes the resentment that the narrator feels towards the man who insulted him, and the lengths he goes to for revenge. Montressor, the narrator, swears retribution for Fortunato, whose “thousand injuries…[he] had borne as best [he] could, but when [Fortunato] ventured upon insult, [he] vowed revenge” (Poe). While the scheme sinuously progresses, Montressor thinks and acts with a certain lunacy that one cannot help but notice. Generally speaking, people wouldn’t resort to murder for simply a case of a rude, insolent offender, but the narrator has found himself looking deep inside, and what he finds is a malicious soul that wishes to harm those who have insulted him. He crafts a plan...
The term Gothic refers to a genre that came about in the late eighteenth century. It can be a type of story, clothing, or music nowadays. In this paper it will refer to a style of literature. A very good example of this type of literature is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the whole novel, which is one of the basic necessities of the Gothic. This theme of the Gothic has different characteristics that all fit into the story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster and make this one of the first horror stories every told.
The term ‘Gothic’ has also been loosely used for those novels which do not have medieval setting, but generate a brooding atmosphere of gloom and terror. Among such novels are included William Godwin’s Caleb Williams, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens’s Bleak House, and of course Frankenstein. That the story of Frankenstein was designed to evoke terror, as it initially emerged from a ghost story contest in which Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Polidori and Mary herself, had joined, was described by Mary Shelley in the Introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein. In the Introduction Mary declared her desire to “curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart,” and this declaration has been
Moreover, Dante, the narrator of the Inferno, has succeeded in not only telling the frightening story of the Inferno, but also pointing out the importance of the relationship between human’s sins and God’s retribution, using the monsters as the symbols for each kind of sin and its punishment throughout the progress of the story, which teaches his readers to be well aware of their sins through the literature – a part of humanities; the disciplines that teach a man to be a human.
Word by word, gothic literature is bound to be an immaculate read. Examining this genre for what it is could be essential to understanding it. “Gothic” is relating to the extinct East Germanic language, people of which known as the Goths. “Literature” is defined as a written work, usually with lasting “artistic merit.” Together, gothic literature combines the use of horror, death, and sometimes romance. Edgar Allan Poe, often honored with being called the king of horror and gothic poetry, published “The Fall of House Usher” in September of 1839. This story, along with many other works produced by Poe, is a classic in gothic literature. In paragraph nine in this story, one of our main characters by the name of Roderick Usher,
Gothic literature is known for captivating readers by bringing to light the dark side of humanity. The Gothic possesses many key elements such as paranoia, anxiety, death, etc. It strikes fear and suspense in the reader not by creating fictional monsters, but showing the reader the types of monsters that lurk within human beings. In “the Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, various themes of the Gothic are present throughout the short story such as gloom and doom, darkness, and madness. These elements are used to enhance the central theme of the piece: revenge. I will argue that Poe uses a number of the Gothic elements to craft an intense dark tale of revenge: an unreliable narrator, madness, darkness, a haunted setting, and evil/devil
Reading Edgar Allen Poe’s works such as “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Tell-Tale Heart” are both written around 1840’s and written in the gothic style. Poe displays his horror short stories, in which the reader can differentiate his signature style. Although many of Poe’s significant works may have a similar theme, the reader can distinguish the themes through the characters in “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Tell-Tale Heart.”
In the short horror story “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe exhibits demonic evil, the evil of harming others for enjoyment and pleasure of their pain, through the character Montresor. Fifty years after the events occur, Montresor informs the readers of his descent with Fortunato into his family’s catacombs, leading Fortunato to what he anticipates is a cask of Amontillado—but what is actually his death. Montresor is the embodiment of humanity’s malevolence for he takes it upon himself to chain his “friend” to a wall in the catacombs. Throughout his text, Poe exemplifies demonic evil with the use of irony and first-person narration; he instills horror into readers by bringing to light to the evil in the world.First person narration allows the reader to witness Montresor’s demonic nature through his pleasure in killing Fortunato and his lack of guilt in doing so.
As readers scan Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” they can easily find elements of a Gothic story. The story’s evident decay and death, suspenseful setting, and passionate narrator legitimize its place in Gothic literature. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe devises a nerve-wracking setting by establishing the Montresor’s catacombs, a place comprised of “long wall of bones, with casks and puncheons,” as the setting (110). As the bones and caskets reappear throughout the story, the appearance of death and decay is clear throughout the story. The presence of death unnerves the readers, and as the characters travel deeper into the catacombs, the suspense grows as readers wait for the foreshadowed deadly end. In addition to the hair-raising
Taking place in Italy, Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” illustrates Montresor intense desire to seek revenge on his colleague Fortunato. The incorporation of imagery proves vital to the reader as it depicts the catacombs as an entrance to hell. With the use of symbolism and irony, the reader becomes aware of the significance the articles of clothing and naming of characters play in the representation of the horrors of society: evil and innocence. When individuals become driven to seek revenge, evil often takes control of the individual's thoughts not letting their conscious self-realize what they are doing is wrong. On the other hand, when individuals become too trusting of others their conscious may not be aware of the possible dangers they could face.
Additionally, due to this story being of the gothic the storyline is somewhat fixed with no real difference to other gothic works in regard to plot. The beginning illustrates the setting vividly employing very depressing adjectives to describe the setting words such as ‘bleak’ ‘vacant’
“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?” Gothic writing uses multiple elements to give it a scary feel. Poe does this by using a combination of these characteristics. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe includes gothic characteristics to prove no one can escape death.