Examples Of Tenebrosity In Gothic Literature

Prevalence of Tenebrosity in Gothic Romanticism
Throughout Gothic literature, common themes, styles, and objects can be found. Edgar Allan Poe, for instance, often portrayed a narrator whose sanity was questionable. This tactic, among others of Gothic literature, are used often in today's writings such as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. In varying instances, works of Gothic authors and Riggs share a common theme - isolation - displayed through description of setting, eerie diction and imagery.
The literary setting communicates important details regarding the situation and characteristics of a subject; isolation is frequently one of these details. In Miss Peregrine's the main character, Jacob, believes his "[o]nly friend,” Rickey, is acting as a friend to support an unspoken contract in which

In Miss Peregrine's, the dilapidated house is described as he says, "the steps groaned as if woken from a long sleep" (Riggs 85). This figuratively states that no one has been in the house for a very long time, supporting the theme of isolation in the book. It is effective because in personifying the house, Riggs shows the reader another example of isolation through Jacob’s prolonged aloneness. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Mask of The Red Death”, the quote, “But in the western or black chamber the effect of the fire-light ...was ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the countenances of those who entered, that there were few of the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all” is used to display isolation. This is because the description of the fire light is discussed in a way to represent fear. In turn, this fear represents isolation because the premise of the story revolves around the isolation of the elite townspeople in closed quarters - separating them from the rest of the world both emotionally and