Aside from the five themes of Democracy, Gender, Culture, Empire and Industrialization, the sixth theme, Victorian Gothic, provides just as much of an overview of the Victorian time period. This new theme appears in Elizabeth Gaskell’s short story, The Old Nurse’s Story and Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market. Both works illustrate common elements of Gothic literature, such as; old houses, mystery, horror, ghost, fantasy creatures, the unknown and oppression. Both author’s background stories provide insight to their reason behind their writings. Elizabeth Gaskell was a minister's wife that began to write when her only son died to cope with her depression. She wrote to “critique society and promote social reform” (Norton 1260). Christina Rossetii was a Victorian author that was strictly involved with the Catholic Church and had a high moral code. Her code was so strict she never married again and lived a quiet life. This paper argues that The Old Nurse’s Story and the Goblin Market provide important representation of Victorian Gothic literature by utilizing Gothic themes.
The Gothic addresses the fact that we cannot fend off the irrationality of our minds. Gothic literature departs from the traditional nature of the world to explore the unknown. There are six literary and culture elements of Gothic Fiction that include; castles, Catholicism, sexual oppression, wilderness, the supernatural, and the grotesque. The Victorians were known for their prudish ways, strict prudish moral code, imperial empire, gender roles, and technological advances and scientific discoveries. These attributes provide grounds for Gothic literature to flourish. Elizabeth Gaskell and Christina Rossetti's used some of gothic elements such as; the superna...
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...hold their moral values and emphasis the importance of sisterly love.
Victorian Gothic was a literary genre that went against the social norm. Gaskell’s loss of her child prompted her to write stories such as The Old Nurse Story, and she used haunted houses and oppressed women and children to not only bring dark terror to the audience but shine light on social issues that were arising in the Victorian era. Rossetti’s religious background inspired her to allude to temptation and fruits from the Bible and comment of the oppression of female sexuality in the Victorian period. The Victorian Gothics not only horrify and disturb the reader but speak out on social injustices such as the gender role.
Works Cited
Christ, Carol T., Catherine Robson, Stephen Greenblatt, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print.
Victorian literature is a representation of society at the time. These Victorian authors have expressed their concerns with the dangers of the restrictions of society and the effect it has on women. Both “The Yellow Wallpaper and Wuthering Heights show the repression of women, the dependency on men, but also the resistance to a patriarchal society and its norms.
Gothic Literature was a natural progression from romanticism, which had existed in the 18th Century. Initially, such a ‘unique’ style of literature was met with a somewhat mixed response; although it was greeted with enthusiasm from members of the public, literary critics were much more dubious and sceptical.
Gothic fiction is a genre of literature that combines fiction, horror and Romanticism with a particular focus on the mysterious and supernatural aspects. Gothic fiction originated in England during the latter half of the 18th century. This distinctive genre of literature soon developed into a 19th century phenomenon. The success of this dominant genre in England is frequently attributed to Mary Shelley. Despite its success during this time period, gothic fiction ceased to be a dominant genre by the Victorian Era. However, in many ways it had now begun to enter into its most ingenious phase. This paper will analyze the influence of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein on Flannery O’Connor’s work, specifically her novel Wise Blood.
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
Bram Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu’s texts, Dracula (1898) and “Carmilla” (1872), use gothic tropes in similar ways to captivate readers with horror and terror. This essay will illustrate how, in comparison, both texts include gothic tropes: the New Woman, sexuality and setting, in order to provoke emotions and reactions from the readers. To achieve this, this essay will focus on the women that challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes, and deconstruct each text in regards to the very strong undertones of homosexuality; specifically between Carmilla and Laura, and Dracula and Harker. By discussing the harshness and darkness of the environments described, including ruined castles and isolated landscapes; this essay will also explore the
Romanticism played a large role in the creation of gothic literature, and it was considered to be “a lunatic fringe version of romanticism” (Tiffin). Gothic novels often had a powerful unleashing of emotions to very extreme levels “beyond social constraining” (Tiffin). The genre’s character often had an excess of a specific type (Tiffin), and in an analysis of Frankenstein and Northanger Abbey, this excess can be seen in Frankenstein’s ambition and Catherine’s curiosity.
The Victorian Gothic era holds great interest to me, due to the horrific imagery conveyed in texts such as Poe’s ‘The Raven’ or Stevenson’s ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ as it’s interesting to compare this to the atmosphere projected in contemporary novels like Banks ‘The Wasp Factory’. This may explain my enthusiasm for thriller pieces as I find them to be the most rewarding if you can evoke a genuine feeling of suspense in the reader. I do find it hard to limit myself to one genre as I enjoy a wide selection of literature ranging from playwrights such as Tennessee Williams and Shakespeare, to the poetry of Larkin and Rossetti. These varied mediums have intrigued me into widening my understanding of English, as I’m enthusiastic to share ideas with other
This essay has recognised the way in which Bronte's romantic Gothic novel Jane Eyre portrays the supernatural, paranormal happenings and imagery throughout the story. It is important to recognise that her portrayal of Jane as a passionate woman with a strength of feeling which matched that of a man would have been seen as shocking and abnormal to Victorian sensitivity. Whilst Charles Dickens was able to paint a picture of blank facades which hid unsuspecting depths within, it would have been a revelation to Victorian readers to delve into the female psyche and its supernatural representations. (Branflinger and Thesing, 309) Thus Bronte created a masterpiece which has stood the test of time being relevant to the nature and supernatural of the modern world.
Abrams, MH, et al. Eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993.
Gothic literature was developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth century of the Gothic era when war and controversy was too common. It received its name after the Gothic architecture that was becoming a popular trend in the construction of buildings. As the buildings of daunting castles and labyrinths began, so did the beginning foundation of Gothic literature. The construction of these buildings will later become an obsession with Gothic authors. For about 300 years before the Renaissance period, the construction of these castles and labyrinths continued, not only in England, but also in Gothic stories (Landau 2014). Many wars and controversies, such as the Industrial Revolution and Revolutionary War, were happening at this time, causing the Gothic literature to thrive (“Gothic Literature” 2011). People were looking for an escape from the real world and the thrill that Gothic literature offered was exactly what they needed. Gothic literature focuses on the horrors and the dark sides to the human brain, such as in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein. Gothic literature today, as well as in the past, has been able to separate itself apart from other types of literature with its unique literary devices used to create fear and terror within the reader.
Christina Rossetti tackles multiple taboos of the Victorian era in her poem “The Goblin Market”. Introducing a sense of supply and demand with the physical body as a form of commerce. With a demon infested marketplace setting Rossetti tests her characters Lizzie and Laura sense of worth when it comes down to a tempestuous trade the goblin market men. Like any other Victorian maiden they cherish their virtue and value their religion. Struggling to fight the human urges of desire and sexuality to uphold a holy lifestyle and refrain from allowing their bodies to become nothing more than any other commodity at the market.
The term ‘Gothic’ conjures a range of possible meanings, definitions and associations. It explicitly denotes certain historical and cultural phenomena. Gothicism was part of the Romantic Movement that started in the eighteenth century and lasted about three decades into the nineteenth century. For this essay, the definition of Gothic that is applicable is: An 18th century literary style characterized by gloom and the supernatural. In the Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a wide range of issues are explored. Frankenstein represents an entirely new vision of the female Gothic, along with many other traditional themes such as religion, science, colonialism and myth.
Edgar Allen Poe was an English short-story writer whose work reflects the traditional Gothic conventions of the time that subverted the ambivalence of the grotesque and arabesque. Through thematic conventions of the Gothic genre, literary devices and his own auteur, Edgar Allan Poe’s texts are considered sublime examples of Gothic fiction. The Gothic genre within Poe’s work such as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, and The Raven, arouse the pervasive nature of the dark side of individualism and the resulting encroachment of insanity. Gothic tales are dominated by fear and terror and explore the themes of death and decay. The Gothic crosses boundaries into the realm of the unknown, arousing extremes of emotion through the catalyst of disassociation and subversion of presence. Gothic literature utilises themes of the supernatural to create a brooding setting and an atmosphere of fear.
The Norton Anthology: English Literature. Ninth Edition. Stephen Greenblatt, eds. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 460. Print.
Women in the 18th and 19th century were expected to follow the orders of the males in their lives. They were forced into arranged marriages to connect families in a pursuit for social power and they were expected to abide by anything the males in their lives asked of them. Free will was nonexistent. Much gothic literature effectively highlights the women’s expected role of the time. However, another aspect that seems to surface in gothic literature is whenever there is a woman who is not following the social norms, they seem to be the driving conflict behind the plotline and ultimately lead to any present happy ending.