The Gothic
The Gothic Period
- The Gothic period was from around 1764 - 1820.
- There were other texts before and after this era which contained Gothic features within it.
- They used to play around with the genre and even challenged the conventions of the genre
Gothic Features
- Abbeys - monastery
- Ancestral Curse - a curse from generations before - Archaism - old language - Catholic - the idea of God and the devil - Concealment - hiding things - Crypts Cloisters - Crypts (basement in the church filled with dead bodies) Cloisters (where monks walk in a square) - Doppelganger - Dreams - Embedded Narratives - letters of escapes or failed attempts - Escape - Flickering Candles - Hyperbole language - Incest - Insanity - this was particularly with women - Isolation - Justice - Labyrinth - (Greek methodology) a maze - Masks - Mirrors - Religious figures - Monsters - Multiple narrative voices - Omen - forewarning - Oppression |
- Orphans
- Persecution - Portraits - Maidens - virgins, innocent and unsinful - Mystery - The Chase - Revenge - Religion - Ruins - Secretes - Sensational Shocking Events - Sex - Silence - Storms - Threat - Torture - Trespass - Underground Passages - Villains - Violence - Wills - Wild Remote Places - Women - young, vulnerable and alone - young, curious and independent - seductresses and corruptors (have the ability and power to change the minds of men) |
Gothic Concepts
- Horror - is fear which you experience from physically seeing or experiencing it. E.g. seeing a dead body or monster
- Terror - is fear which is felt from thinking/imagining that something is there, usually shadowy or uncertain figure. E.g. thinking/imagining seeing a shadow of a monster.
- The Sublime - something which you feel or experience which is too vast to comprehend of something which is much bigger than ourselves. If someone is in awe (too big to comprehend).
- The Uncanny - something which is strange, familiar event which creates an unsettling experience.
- Taboo - cultural, moral or religious rules which are challenged or violated. Challenging the norms of society.
- The Supernatural - something which is above nature, mysterious or inexplicable.
- Oppositions - opposites which is associated with Gothic such as; sanity vs madness, living vs dead, reason (to think about that action) vs passion (forced to take action) & past vs present.
- Otherness - they are different, so perceive as a threat to others. Usually monsters.
- Obscurity - part of the experience of the sublime. It's being unsure/confused, and includes both physical and mental obscurity.
- The Revenant - something which describes 'what comes back'. E.g. ghosts, return of the unwanted, elements of the past.
- The Doppelganger - is identical or alter ego of another character who is evil.
- The Liminal - being on the edge or marginal or point of boundary (uncertainty). This could be geographical or physical.
- Abhuman - something (a character) which is vestigially human but becoming something which is a threat and monstrous. E.g. vampire/werewolf.
The Romance of the Forest - Ann Radcliffe (1791)
Extract:
She stepped forward, and having unclosed it, proceeded with faltering steps along a suite of apartments resembling the first in style and condition, and terminating in one exactly like that where her dream had represented the dying person; the remembrance struck so forcibly upon her that she was in danger of fainting; and looking round the room, almost expected to see the phantom of her dream. Unable to quit the place, she sat down on some old lumber to recover herself, while her spirits were nearly overcome by a superstitious dread, such as she had never felt before. She wondered to what part of the abbey these chambers belonged, and that they had so long escaped detection. The casements were all too high to afford any information from without. When she was sufficiently composed to consider the direction of the rooms, and the situation of the abbey, there appeared not a doubt that they formed an interior part of the original building.
As these reflections passed over her mind, a sudden gleam of moonlight fell upon some object without the casement. Being now sufficiently composed to wish to pursue the inquiry, and believing this object might afford her some means of learning the situation of these rooms, she combated her remaining terrors, and, in order to distinguish it more clearly, removed the light to an outer chamber; but before she could return, a heavy cloud was driven over the face of the moon, and all without was perfectly dark: she stood for some moments waiting a returning gleam, but the obscurity continued. As she went softly back for the light, her foot stumbled over something on the floor, and while she stooped to examine it, the moon again shone, so that she could distinguish, through the casement, the eastern towers of the abbey. This discovery confirmed her former conjectures concerning the interior situation of these apartments. The obscurity of the place prevented her discovering what it was that had impeded her steps, but having brought the light forward, she perceived on the floor an old dagger: with a trembling hand she took it up, and upon a closer view perceived that it was spotted and stained with rust.
Ann Radcliffe The Romance of the Forest 1791.
This novel was set in the 1760s when women were not as bright or as important as men.
In 'The Romance of the Forest',the lexical field include:
This extract fits in to what we are learning about Gothic, as this text is set in a Gothic place, and has the concepts of terror, horror, the sublime and obscurity. This extract is a good example which contains many Gothic features of the setting as well as the characteristics of the character.
The character's portrayal comes across as weak, vulnerable and inquisitive as she trespasses - 'so long escaped detection'.
The Gothic features of the setting include; chamber, concealment, 'abbey', 'superstitious dread', 'interior part', enclosed, secretive.
She stepped forward, and having unclosed it, proceeded with faltering steps along a suite of apartments resembling the first in style and condition, and terminating in one exactly like that where her dream had represented the dying person; the remembrance struck so forcibly upon her that she was in danger of fainting; and looking round the room, almost expected to see the phantom of her dream. Unable to quit the place, she sat down on some old lumber to recover herself, while her spirits were nearly overcome by a superstitious dread, such as she had never felt before. She wondered to what part of the abbey these chambers belonged, and that they had so long escaped detection. The casements were all too high to afford any information from without. When she was sufficiently composed to consider the direction of the rooms, and the situation of the abbey, there appeared not a doubt that they formed an interior part of the original building.
As these reflections passed over her mind, a sudden gleam of moonlight fell upon some object without the casement. Being now sufficiently composed to wish to pursue the inquiry, and believing this object might afford her some means of learning the situation of these rooms, she combated her remaining terrors, and, in order to distinguish it more clearly, removed the light to an outer chamber; but before she could return, a heavy cloud was driven over the face of the moon, and all without was perfectly dark: she stood for some moments waiting a returning gleam, but the obscurity continued. As she went softly back for the light, her foot stumbled over something on the floor, and while she stooped to examine it, the moon again shone, so that she could distinguish, through the casement, the eastern towers of the abbey. This discovery confirmed her former conjectures concerning the interior situation of these apartments. The obscurity of the place prevented her discovering what it was that had impeded her steps, but having brought the light forward, she perceived on the floor an old dagger: with a trembling hand she took it up, and upon a closer view perceived that it was spotted and stained with rust.
Ann Radcliffe The Romance of the Forest 1791.
This novel was set in the 1760s when women were not as bright or as important as men.
In 'The Romance of the Forest',the lexical field include:
- Imagination
- Phantom
- Remembrance
- Dream
- Danger
This extract fits in to what we are learning about Gothic, as this text is set in a Gothic place, and has the concepts of terror, horror, the sublime and obscurity. This extract is a good example which contains many Gothic features of the setting as well as the characteristics of the character.
The character's portrayal comes across as weak, vulnerable and inquisitive as she trespasses - 'so long escaped detection'.
The Gothic features of the setting include; chamber, concealment, 'abbey', 'superstitious dread', 'interior part', enclosed, secretive.
Romanticism
- Romanticism in terms of the arts and literature, originated in the late 18th century, which emphaisised inspiration, subjectivity and the primary of the
individual. It was a movement during the 18th and 19th century due to a revolt against the Neoclassicism. - The Neoclassicism was a literary movement in England in the late 17th and 18th century which wanted to restore the artistic ideals of the classical Greece and Rome. However, this movement was heavily based on order, logic, technical precision and imagination rather than emotion.
- Romantic means the literary/ historical meaning is more extensive and adaptable.
- Romantics were more concerned about individualism rather than society.
- The main concepts which they were concerned about was individualism, intuition and imagination.
- There was an emphasis on a love of nature, respect for primitivism and a valuing of the 'natural' man. Romantic would idealise the countrylife and believe that the 'ills' of their society was caused by a result of urbanisation.
- The Romantics were intrigued by the medieval past, the supernatural, the mystical, the exotic and the 'Gothic'.
- However, these Romantics were attracted to revolution and rebellion, specifically concerns to do with human rights, individualism and freedom from oppression.
- Also, there was a big emphasis on psychology, melancholy, introspection and sadness, as they often dealt with death, transience and feelings.
- Utopian thoughts were a big concept, as many Romantics would have an ideal setting.
- A quest for something greater due to desire and loss
- Love of nature was important as Romantics thought that the feeling of awe, apprehension and horror on approaching the sublimeness was important. There were shifts from peaceful, serene countrysides to chaotic cities. This made them think about finding their true identity.
- Emotion vs reality has an emphasis in music, especially with Beethoven, Weber and Schumann.
- As many Romantics placed their narratives in mysterious locations for their settings, exoticism became a prominent characteristic in art as well as sentimentality and spirituality.
- The Supernatural was a key concept for Romanticism, as Gothic fiction emerged as a branch of Romanticism after Horace Walpole's 1764 The Castle of Otranto. Romantics had a growing fascination for the mysterious and the unreal, which eventually led to the development and popularity of Gothic romance.
Examples of major writers of the Romanticism movement include; Walt Whitman, Edgar Allen Poe, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, John Keats and Washington Irving.
Song of Myself
1 I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. Creeds and schools in abeyance, Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten, I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard, Nature without check with original energy. Walt Whitman (first 4 stanzas) 1894 version |
The Tables Turned
Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books; Or surely you'll grow double: Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks; Why all this toil and trouble? The sun above the mountain's head, A freshening lustre mellow Through all the long green fields has spread, His first sweet evening yellow. Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife: Come, hear the woodland linnet, How sweet his music! on my life, There's more of wisdom in it. William Wordsworth (first 3 stanzas) |
The Mysteries of Udolpho - Ann Radcliffe (1794)
Emily gazed with melancholy awe upon the castle, which she understood to be Montoni's; for, though it was now lighted up by the setting sun, the gothic greatness of its features, and its mouldering walls of dark grey stone, rendered it a gloomy and sublime object. As she gazed, the light died away on its walls, leaving a melancholy purple tint, which spread deeper and deeper, as the thin vapour crept up the mountain, while the battlements above were still tipped with splendour. From those too, the rays soon faded, and the whole edifice was invested with the solemn duskiness of evening. Silent, lonely and sublime, it seemed to stand the sovereign of the scene, and to frown defiance on all who dared to invade its solitary reign. As the twilight deepened, its features became more awful in obscurity, and Emily continued to gaze, till its clustering towers were alone seen, rising over the tops of the woods, beneath whose thick shade the carriages soon after began to ascend.
The Gothic features (highlighted in red) portray the lexical field of the Gothic language and features. For instance, the 'mountain' which is described is considered to be Gothic, due to the fact the Romantics were attracted to nature because they though it related to the idea of sublimeness and the feeling of awe. Other features, such as the 'solemn duskiness' and the idea of being 'lonely', reinforce the concepts of isolation and darkness, which is what makes the extract to have the concepts of terror and the sublime.
The Gothic concepts (highlighted in blue) show the vastness of the whole scene and how it all links to the Gothic. Ann Radcliffe has repeated the adjective 'melancholy', because it brings back the idea of it all being in a medieval setting, and it being gloomy and lonely. I have noticed that Radcliffe has used the concept words numerous times, possibly to have a clear description of the setting of it being so vast and uncertain of what it all is.
My Gothic version of Jack and Jill
Fog and mist was all they could see as they explored the solitary mountain as dusk fell upon Jack and Jill. The melancholy silence ran through their ears while sunken footprints surrounded the mountain, and every last step taken left a deep imprint in the mouldy ground. Both children were awestruck at the height of the monstrous piece of land, and thus were inquisitive of what laid ahead upon the crisp, cold fog. They were overcome by a sudden chill of harsh wind. At that point, Jill realised that Jack was no where to be found.
Lying on the solemn ground were the remnants of Jack's limbs. Deep, red blood seeping through the dry ground as the profound cuts buried deeper into his throat. Through the eyes of Jack, all his vision could faintly catch a glimpse of was of a ghastly dark figure slowly disappearing into the thick fog.
Meanwhile, Jill peacefully made her way down the sublime mountain, her eyes fixated through the cold mist.
Lying on the solemn ground were the remnants of Jack's limbs. Deep, red blood seeping through the dry ground as the profound cuts buried deeper into his throat. Through the eyes of Jack, all his vision could faintly catch a glimpse of was of a ghastly dark figure slowly disappearing into the thick fog.
Meanwhile, Jill peacefully made her way down the sublime mountain, her eyes fixated through the cold mist.
This is a Gothic interpretation of the nursery rhyme 'Jack and Jill'. My main aim for this was to include and develop Gothic features and concepts into this text and try to make it sound as dark and sublime as possible. Before, we deconstructed and extract from Ann Radcliffe's novel, which aided us to understand how to put in Gothic literary words and concepts. Also, I tried to set the setting in an unfamiliar setting, and bring in the idea of darkness, isolation and the feeling of awe, as they are some main key concepts of the Gothic genre. I think that I needed help with literary context which had the Gothic feature in it, because it was the most important way of getting the Gothic feeling of the text across. Therefore, Radcliffe's work helped me with this as it is a very good example of a Gothic novel. To improve, I should have mentioned somewhere that it was set in the past, as this is one of the major features of the Gothic and possibly added more Gothic concepts to it.
The Mysteries of Udolpho
- 'Mysteries of Udolpho' by Ann Radcliffe (1794) was one of the most successful novels that Radcliffe had written.
- It is a Gothic Romance, consisting of 4 volumes
- It is set in the 16th century (in the past to when Catherine reads it)
- It's a Gothic romance, which had terror, romance, supernatural etc.
- The novel begins in an idyllic setting of Emily's (the protagonist) home with her parents. Her mother dies so she has to move with her father to Pyrenees where she meets and falls in love with Valancourt. Emily's father falls ill and on his deathbed he commands Emily to burn a bunch of letters and documents which she must not read. Emily's father dies, and she burns the letters and documents, but accidentally reads a passage from one of the letters. However, we do not know what she read, but it disturbed her a lot.
Emily has to move in with her aunt (Madame Cheron) in Toulouse, who is vain, selfish and unpleasant, but not as menacing or villainous as Cheron's husband - Montoni. Valancourt followed Emily to her aunt's house, and is given permission by Montoni to marry her, but then Montoni changes his mind and sends him away. Montoni, Cheron and Emily go to Udolpho, a castle in the Italian Apennines, where Montoni forces his associate Count Morano to marry Emily, but she refuses. After, Montoni forces Cheron to give Emily the property, but she refuses, so he locks her in a isolated room where she staved to death. Whilst Emily stays at Udolpho, many strange and supernatural events occur in the castle which scares Emily.
Emily manages to escape Udolpho, where she goes to the coast of France to find out what has been happening and the reasons for the strange occurrences at Udolpho. She also experiences frightening things in France - she sees a dead body. Valancourt comes back, but Emily rejects him because she things that he has been doing things that she doesn't approve of. Montoni had been found stealing Emily's possessions, then he ends up in jail. Emily learns that that the rumours that she heard of Valancourt were false, so they get married and live happily in France.
- It is a Gothic Romance, consisting of 4 volumes
- It is set in the 16th century (in the past to when Catherine reads it)
- It's a Gothic romance, which had terror, romance, supernatural etc.
- The novel begins in an idyllic setting of Emily's (the protagonist) home with her parents. Her mother dies so she has to move with her father to Pyrenees where she meets and falls in love with Valancourt. Emily's father falls ill and on his deathbed he commands Emily to burn a bunch of letters and documents which she must not read. Emily's father dies, and she burns the letters and documents, but accidentally reads a passage from one of the letters. However, we do not know what she read, but it disturbed her a lot.
Emily has to move in with her aunt (Madame Cheron) in Toulouse, who is vain, selfish and unpleasant, but not as menacing or villainous as Cheron's husband - Montoni. Valancourt followed Emily to her aunt's house, and is given permission by Montoni to marry her, but then Montoni changes his mind and sends him away. Montoni, Cheron and Emily go to Udolpho, a castle in the Italian Apennines, where Montoni forces his associate Count Morano to marry Emily, but she refuses. After, Montoni forces Cheron to give Emily the property, but she refuses, so he locks her in a isolated room where she staved to death. Whilst Emily stays at Udolpho, many strange and supernatural events occur in the castle which scares Emily.
Emily manages to escape Udolpho, where she goes to the coast of France to find out what has been happening and the reasons for the strange occurrences at Udolpho. She also experiences frightening things in France - she sees a dead body. Valancourt comes back, but Emily rejects him because she things that he has been doing things that she doesn't approve of. Montoni had been found stealing Emily's possessions, then he ends up in jail. Emily learns that that the rumours that she heard of Valancourt were false, so they get married and live happily in France.
Gothic Heroine
Gothic Heroine Tropes:
In my drawing of my Gothic heroine, I wanted to show her isolation by placing her in a small, enclosed castle room, which would be in a completely isolated place. The fact that the heroine remains suck in the castle for the many years that she must be there fore, shows her obedience and how lonely she is, because no-one is there to 'rescue' her. I have drawn her resting on a bench to portray her vulnerability, innocence and helplessness, as it shows that she is weak and cannot escape. Gothic heroines are conventionally very beautiful and intelligent therefore, I have attempted to draw her accordingly. I have also tried to shade most of room to show darkness, which brings the theme of Gothic.
- Young
- Beautiful
- Alone
- Vulnerable
- Independent
- Innocent
- Helpless
- Intelligent
- Chast
- Curious
- Obedient
In my drawing of my Gothic heroine, I wanted to show her isolation by placing her in a small, enclosed castle room, which would be in a completely isolated place. The fact that the heroine remains suck in the castle for the many years that she must be there fore, shows her obedience and how lonely she is, because no-one is there to 'rescue' her. I have drawn her resting on a bench to portray her vulnerability, innocence and helplessness, as it shows that she is weak and cannot escape. Gothic heroines are conventionally very beautiful and intelligent therefore, I have attempted to draw her accordingly. I have also tried to shade most of room to show darkness, which brings the theme of Gothic.
Gothic Villian
Gothic Villain tropes:
- Character flaw
- Neither pure good or evil
- Unable to control passions
- Complex character
- Egotistical
- Unable to control himself or master his desires
The Gothic and Tragedy
The Gothic explores:
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Tragedy contains:
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BBC4 - The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour- Liberty Diversity Depravity
- Gothic means sinister, horror, supernatural - so unnatural things.
- It was originally a Medieval style of architecture
- It was coined by Italian Renaissance to be used as insults. It meant barbaric, gloomy and wild.
- But from this, new forms of literature, arts, terror and science formed.
- Horace Walpole - 'The Castle of Otrento', was the first Gothic novel. Although it wasn't the best literature, it had all the Gothic features & concepts.
- At that time, Gothic fiction was shameful, so that the authors never wrote their real name.
- Gothic was a form cloaked in mystery.
- Walpole created a Gothic mansion in Strawberry Hill which created a sense of 'gloomth'.
- Although the mansion was Gothic, it was pleasant and magnificent.
- It was unconventional for him because he came from the English aristocracy, where they build theirs in the classical ancient Greek and Roman style, and Walpole's was outside with nature.
- It was perfect, symmetrical and had pride, and reflected their moral values.
- Lord Cobam revived the Gothic by remodeled his ancestral house to create a building based on his Anglo-Saxon roots, called the 'Stowe House'.
- Gothic architecture was used to decorated the English countrysides.
- Many artists went to the magnificent abbeys to paint the picturesque.
- Ruins are linked to nature (and Gothic), because ruins were overgrown and were overtaken by nature.
- This gave a new approach to landscape, as a wilder face to nature. They were interested in the violence in nature - cliffs, waterfalls, mountains etc.
- The 'Sublime' was coined by Edmund Burke, who said it meant something that "excites sensations of terror, the most powerful of our emotions".
- Artists painted the sublime landscape with a scene because as an audience, we were protected.
- Artists included James Ward (Gordale Scar), Phillip de Loutherbourg and Turner.
- An Italian artist Salvator Rosa painted sublime landscapes before the Gothic fashion - 'Witched at their Incantations' was a series of horrific visions.
- Shakespeare's plays were full of supernatural and strange occurrences - Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer's Night Dream, The Tempest.
- Shakespeare broke all the rules of literature and so inspired the 18th C. melancholics.
- Thomas Parnell (1721) wrote poems inspired by Shakespeare like 'A Night Piece on Death', which was a somber moral message about the inevitability of death.
- In 1781, another artists - Henry Fuseli painted 'The Nightmare' and 'Percival Delivering Belisane From The Enchantment of Urma' which could have been inspired by Macbeth.
- Ann Radcliffe was the bestselling Gothic author in the time.
- Jane Austen Gothic parody 'Northanger Abbey' was to show how real life was challenging enough and that there was no need for Gothic terrors.
Pandora's Box
- Greek methodolgy about Pandora - the first woman on Earth.
- Athena clothed her.
- Aphrodite gave her beauty.
- Apollo gave her musical abilities.
- Hermes gave her speech.
- Pandora's wedding gift was a box which she was forbidden to open.
- Pandora was very curious os opened the box.
- The box let out all the evil which spread everywhere, she tried to close it but it all got away.
- Apart from the Spirit of Hope.
- Zeus knew this would happen so he did not punish her.
> Like with 'Bluebeard', it portrays women to be very curious and inquisitive.
- Athena clothed her.
- Aphrodite gave her beauty.
- Apollo gave her musical abilities.
- Hermes gave her speech.
- Pandora's wedding gift was a box which she was forbidden to open.
- Pandora was very curious os opened the box.
- The box let out all the evil which spread everywhere, she tried to close it but it all got away.
- Apart from the Spirit of Hope.
- Zeus knew this would happen so he did not punish her.
> Like with 'Bluebeard', it portrays women to be very curious and inquisitive.