"The Eyes" by Edith Wharton was quite a weird short story and is by no means, my favorite of the ones we have read so far. The language was a little more difficult to understand at times and I felt a little confused, especially in the beginning with Wharton's syntax. However, the story inside the story, of Culwin's eyes was very interesting. I felt there was a little bit of a sexual undertone to the story as a whole, but especially in the story Culwin tells. In the beginning, the narrator says "we had been put in the mood for ghost," which was an oddly phrased sentence to me. But when I read the story for the second time and had realized the sexual undertone of Culwin's story. I realized that the narrator had the same sexual undertone. The narrator's description of Culwin had the …show more content…
"But he was beautiful to see, and charming as a comrade." And even though to Culwin, Noyes had no writing talent, he kept him around because he was worried of Noyes' disappointed face. Culwin kept Noyes around for quite a while, and seemed more worried about his thoughts then he had Alice when they were briefly engaged. As for the gothic elements in the book, obviously the eyes that Culwin sees are the “meta gothic” that is shown, but the description of Culwin and where the group converses also have a gothic tone to it, “Seen through the haze of our cigars, and by the drowsy gleam of a coal fire, Culwin’s library, with its oak wall and dark old bindings, made a good setting for such evocations.” Besides the ghostly eyes and the setting I don’t see many other gothic elements. As for what Wharton was raging about, I’m not hundred percent sure, but I feel like its on the social standard that people shouldn’t do nice things for other people and that looking out for yourself is the best
For this literary analysis I am working with Edith Wharton’s short story “Roman Fever”. From the beginning of the story it is easy to see that Wharton uses gender stereotypes, from the time that the story is set in, to expose perennial antagonism of true human nature. The story’s two main charters, Grace Ansley and Alida Slide, early on in the story already have some past tension that continues to develop into a heated exchange until the shocking twist towards the end of the story. Gender stereotypes in Roman fever play an important role in creating tension between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley that ultimately leads to reason of why there is an underlying conflict between the two.
What gothic features help develop the dark and mysterious nature of the film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? There are a number of gothic aspects of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that help to develop the dark and mysterious nature of the film. Examples of this can be found in the characters and how the dramatic contrasts between good and bad are displayed through gothic personality traits, their physical appearances and mysterious pasts. This type of gothic can also be found in many locations in the text that portray an essence of the unknown, and also possess a dark emptiness that creates fear and therefore building gothic potential. Finally, the vast appearance of metonymy displayed within the text adds to the dark and mysterious nature of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
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.
Ethan Frome, created by Edith Wharton, has both a male narrator and male main character. The female characters, while being looked down upon by their male counterparts, rise above the stereotypes of feminism. The presentation of Zeena and Mattie as part of a feminist culture arouse. This novel expresses women’s individual wants and needs, but both female characters had no responsibility to fulfill them. This also examines the relationship struggles and interactions between men and women in literature.
popular at the time. The elements of a Gothic novel are, it is set at
From the beginning of the novel, the main character, Jane encounters the supernatural. Charlotte Bronte uses both supernatural and gothic themes to enhance situations for the reader and to develop the characters. In particular natural imageries have been used to convey a human connection with the natural world and human nature (Franklin, 1995). Eyre portrays the intrinsic struggle between supernatural and the effects of nature. Branflinger and Thesing (2002) argue that Bronte used Gothic and the supernatural to explore and portray the darkest alleys of her own psyche which Bronte was deeply disturbed by (p309).
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,
the elements of a gothic novel as it is not set in a remote place or a
Thought the entire story there is a constant uncanny element, the unreliable narrator, and with it the questioning reader. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the reader is forced to think whether they should believe the ramblings of a crazy and unreliable narrator or not. This really brings out the uncanny in the story.
What makes Poe 's story Gothic according to Nicole Smith is the killing of the old man and the way the narrator hides the body after murdering him. Even the way the narrator goes on to describe the eye as “pale blue that constantly follows him” is weird and unnatural. Edgar Allan Poe also briefly includes a scene of the supernatural. On the first page second paragraph of the novel the narrator talks of hearing voices before he goes to the old mans room “I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in
Due to the conventions included in the novel, this is a perfect example of a gothic novel. The novel evokes in the audience fear and anticipation of the novels plot. The 19th century audience would have been overwhelmed with terror whilst reading the novel as the atmosphere creates suspense and the pace of the novel is fast.
In conclusion to this essay, having examined these 19th century gothic texts, it is fair to say that normative gender behaviour and sexuality pervades them. This element gives the reader a deep insight into the culture context of the time in which these stories are situated. It enables the reader to delve into the darker sides of humanity at that time, that they would not have been able to do otherwise.
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.
Each author sets a gothic tone first and foremost by the techniques used to describe setting and characters. Irving and Hawthorne set their stories in ghostly mysterious forests. Each author uses phenomenal to truly connect the reader with the stories. Hawthorne’s use of similes to tie in what the forest was like gives a sense of letting the readers feel like they are there with young goodman Brown, “ . . . surrounded by four blazing pines, their tops aflame, their stems
Gothic writing is related to a style of fiction that deals with the mysterious or grotesque; Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Ministers Black Veil” is classified as a dark romantic work because it contains the themes of sin, guilt, and looking at the darker side of human life. He had trouble from his early life, his dreary adulthood, and his fascinations with common man. His early and more unsuccessful work is from his silent and productive years.