Fictional literature can be categorized into many different genres: drama, romance, science fiction, tragedy, comedy, horror, and gothic. Gothic fiction borrows from horror by sampling mystery, dire setting, and chilling architecture. Romance is sampled in gothic fiction by the use of characters, firm emotions, and misguided love. Greenblatt writes, " Gothic became a label for the macabre, mysterious, supernatural, and terrifying, especially the pleasurably terrifying, in literature generally; the link that Romantic-period writers had forged between the Gothic and antiquated spaces was eventually loosened" (584). Horace Walpole wrote The Castle of Otranto in 1764.
He created the criteria that all gothic writers use today. Gothic literature uses an atmosphere of mystery, shock and suspense to intrigue the reader or audience. The gothic vocabulary consists of words that create an atmosphere of; mystery, hate, tension, fear, sorrow and terror. Gothic novels usually are set in a house or place with a large amount of gothic architecture. Gothic literature has a common involvement with the supernatural.
Such descriptive words as shroud, grave-worms and corpse all create a sense of reality. They are harsh and produce internal horror. In all I think that Frankenstein can be classed as classically gothic novel. It contains continuous references to typically gothic features. Such scenes as the creation of the creature and the frequently occurring deaths all help to analyse the novel.
It encompasses all aspects that are vital to Gothicism and executes all perfectly. Stoker adds the element of darkness which clearly intensifies the foreboding ambience and he reflects it on every aspect of the book. The theme of superstition and the supernatural that centres on the villain creates an air of ambiguity and uncertainty concerning Dracula. This uncertainty causes a fear in the reader which enhances the gothic genre of the novel. Finally, the same uncertainty that clouds the supernatural elements of the novel drift into the characters understanding of what is real and what is not.
"Logic and Language in 'Through the Looking-Glass.'" 1961. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1971. Wilson, Edmund. "C. L. Dodgson: The Poet Logician."
In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights revenge is a common, reoccurring theme. According to Webster’s Dictionary, revenge is to inflict punishment in return for injury or insult. Within the novel, Wuthering Heights, revenge is an action taken by many people in order to redeem themselves. However, all of the characters end up in misery because of their hearts’ desire to avenge. In many novels, revenge is an action typically taken by the main villain upon the main hero.
Gothic novels have many different characteristics: they evoke terror both physical and psychological, they have character that keep themselves isolated in time or space from contemporary l... ... middle of paper ... ... Shelley’s Frankenstein truly displays the true essence of what a Gothic novel should represent through the many different characteristics of a Gothic novel. Mary Shelley takes these few basic characteristic and transforms them into a true representation of a Gothic novel. The transformations of these basic Gothic characteristics are what allowed Mary Shelley to create her outstanding and prominent Gothic novel, Frankenstein. Works Cited “Gothic Novels.” The World Book Encyclopedia. Ed.
Two popular fictions that follow the themes and conventions of gothic fiction are Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Guy de Maupassant’s “The Horla”. Both are short stories that embody most of the conventions that can be associated with stereotypical gothic literary fiction. Both literary works use the deterioration of the human mind and the supernatural phenomenon throughout the story, a commonly used gothic convention. Although both stories are inherently different in aspects like narration, they are both successful in demonstrating the descent of the human intellect from obsessing over the unknown which only leads to self-destruction. Fear is a guiding force in both the short stories and the fixation the main characters with it only leads to their demise.
Josh Barnette Honors English IV Mrs. Schroder 12/6/17 Frankenstein Essay Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was written in the early 19th century and contains many attributes of gothic characteristics in many different ways. Frankenstein carries many gothic characteristics, such as the mysterious and supernatural, the story taking place in a dark place, and the coming together of the mortal and the supernatural world. Shelley uses all of these gothic characteristics to her advantage when portraying the book as gothic and mysterious. Gothic Novels tend to focus on mysterious and supernatural things. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses strange circumstances for when Victor Frankenstein creates the monster.
Instead of conforming to this perception, people were only led to believe the word to mean “dark and ominous”. Gothic architecture, with the foreboding atmosphere posed around it, correlates with the Gothic novel because it has been a prevalent backdrop to gothic novels in the 19th century, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. These Gothic horror stories were some of the first examples of the horror genre, and are therefore vital for the understanding this field. In its historical context, the gothic horror genre is believed to have emerged as a response to a time of rational thought, the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. This intellectual movement a... ... middle of paper ... ...tablished in the modern horror genre, thus it is practical to observe the archetypes of the Gothic novel as well.