When a person thinks about gothic today, they might think of a sparkly vampire or a hunky Frankenstein in popularized films. This has led to parodies upon these adaptations of the gothic. This relationship between traditional gothic characters and parodies is not a new subject but a very interesting dynamic. I would like to discuss how the typical gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, and Jane Austen’s parody of the gothic novel in Northanger Abbey work together to illustrate gothic realism through the compare and contrast between some of the main characters.
The first two characters that represent the dynamic between gothic and gothic parody are Manfred and General Tilney. Looking at The Castle of Otranto the readers see Manfred in action when he says, “Curse on Hippolita! Cried Manfred: forget her from this moment, as I do. In short, lady, you have missed a husband undeserving of your charms: they shall now be better disposed of. Instead of a sickly boy, you shall have a husband in the prime of his age, who will know how to value your beauties…Hippolita is no longer my wife; I divorce her from this hour. (Walpole 25). This excerpt illustrates how selfish and domineering Manfred is.
Another line, “Heaven nor hell shall impede my designs” portrays that Manfred will stop at nothing to get what he wants (Walpole 26). This illustrates how many gothic male figures acted as an unstoppable force. Manfred here is considered the monster of the novel because of his hyper-emotion and the way that power or male dominance is the driving force of his motives.
The character from Northanger Abbey that resembles Manfred in some aspects is General Tilney. A section from the novel starts with, “the General’s impatience for the ap...
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... a damsel in distress, and come back to reality as Catherine does. Austin here portrays gothic realism by reminding women of the folly of their overzealous imaginations and brings them back to the real world. This is why the female protagonist is necessary. It gives other female readers the opportunity to come to the realization that gothic is not reality.
In Final, through the comparison of different characters from The Castle of Otranto by Walpole, and Austen’s Northanger Abbey readers are able to see how a parody of the gothic creates a new way of looking at gothic works to further the understanding of gothic literature in relation to realism.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane, Barbara M. Benedict, and Deirdre Le Faye. Northanger Abbey. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2006.
Walpole, Horace, and W. S. Lewis. The castle of Otranto: A gothic story. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008.
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Written in 1818, the latter stages of the Gothic literature movement, at face value this novel embodies all the key characteristics of the Gothic genre. It features the supernatural, ghosts and an atmosphere of horror and mystery. However a closer reading of the novel presents a multifaceted tale that explores
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Grey, J. David., A. Walton. Litz, B. C. Southam, and H. Abigail. Bok. The Jane Austen Companion. New York: Macmillan, 1986. Print.
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Looking onto the novel, there is a perfect gothic look presented to us with its every aspect. Infact every single concept covered comes deep from mythology. It talks about blood and fire, death and love, good and bad, fantasy and magic. And the Count; who sometimes happens to be an atrocital monster, a romantic lover… No doubt, these make the novel even...
I offer by way of introduction to the Gothic literary world an extract taken from Ann. B Tracy’s book The Gothic Novel 1790-1830: Plot Summaries and Index Motifs:
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Michael Gamer, Romanticism and the Gothic: Genre, Reception, and Canon Formation (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2000) 15, Questia, Web, 29 May 2010.