Gothic Literature Gothic literature incorporates many different elements, but in Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, Black Cat and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, I found that the most prevalent element was psychological issues or madness. In the novel, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, psychological issues are used throughout the book. Camille suffers from psychological issues throughout her life due to the loss of her sister Marian when she was young. Camille hides her issues with alcohol and goes through many stages of depression throughout the novel. Camille explains in her story that she believes "liquor is lubrication-a layer of protection from all the sharp thoughts in your mind" (Flynn 97). In this quote, she's stating
Gothic literature is when the setting of a novel or passage is described as being gloomy or has a dark setting. In gothic literature the author might often write about a bleak setting, tortured characters or have a strange or violent plot. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a good example of Gothic Literature because in the story he expresses it as being dark and mysterious, also it incorporates gloomy moods, and a bleak setting in the story. For example, in Poe’s
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a great example of Gothic Literature because of the way the story was
Gothic Literature is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and high
Gothic literature was a popular writing tradition of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and is still used today. Gothic literature explores the wicked, perverse and dark desires. Gothic conventions can include burial alive, ghosts, hysteria, ruined bodies, tales within tales, undead characters, underground spaces, and more. Gothic themes are guilt, sex, violence, death, and cosmic struggle. Gothic stories or poems should inspire terror or horror. Edgar Allen Poe was one of the many well-known Gothic writers. In his stories he uses a variety of themes to carry out the gothic theme.
Although Gothic Elements can be very sadistic and twisted the use of it is seen in all types of stories. Some of the more famous stories that Gothic Elements are used in are the following “ A Rose for Emily,” “ The Minister’s Black Veil,” and “ The Tell- Tale Heart”. In these stories, gothic elements are found all over the place do you know why? Well the reason is that all these stories are darker stories than most. Gothic Elements are needed to make a superb scary story.
Gothic literature usually brings to mind Edgar Allen Poe and dark foggy London streets but that's not all gothic literature is. Gothic literature usually has themes of mystery and eerie settings or characters. Themes such as physical and mental decay and isolation, abandonment, and entrapment are very prominent in Prey by Richard Matheson, The Feather Pillow by Horacio Quiroga and The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe.
Gothic literature has been criticized as being a dreary, dark, and death-involving subset of Romanticism (a literary movement accentuating human individuality, imagination, and subjectivity). In addition, gothic lit incorporates several themes- not all about deathly acts - but includes some emotional and surprising themes such as dreams, nightmares, or hallucinations, and grotesque or bizarre occurrences. Two short stories, both written by Edgar Allan Poe, entitled “The Raven,” and “The Black Cat,” as well as the novel The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, all encompass these gothic elements, found throughout each story.
Gothic literature uses wide ranging themes and gothic elements to convey its story. Gothic literature short stories can range from romance to horror to supernatural occurrences. Horacio Quiroga’s “The Feather Pillow,” Richard Matheson’s “Prey,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” all incorporate the following gothic elements: violence, revenge, hallucinations, nightmares, and psychological issues.
Gothic literature has a different way of captivating the reader. Page by Page, gothic themes are present that create mystery and evoke suspense. The Night Circus, a novel by Eric Morgenstern, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, by Washington Irving, and “The Oval Portrait”, by Edgar Allan Poe share two important themes: eerie setting and isolation. All the stories connect through a lesson that passion can become harmful.
There is a psychological theory which states that the whole is only as good as the sum of its parts. This is the basis for any novel or book, as it is important to acknowledge and utilize the various components of literature in order to write a cohesive novel. Gothic literature, which was especially prevalent during the early 1800’s, has many elements which make it a distinct genre. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley utilizes many Gothic literature components. These elements include characters who bridge the gap between the mortal and the supernatural; a constant sense of decay; and an isolated protagonist.
Throughout history, the world has seen the growing influence of Gothic literature as it has produced some of the most fascinating tales known to man. Gothic literature, which first appeared in the late eighteenth century, typically employs a vast atmosphere of darkness and mystery along with a melodramatic plot to help further entice the audience. In the Gothic novel Sharp Objects, the author, Gillian Flynn, uses various elements of Gothicism including mystery, a dark setting, and psychological events to spur greater interest amongst the reader.
Mystery, horror, the grotesque, violence, and the supernatural are all characteristics of Gothic literature. Edgar Allan Poe’s life was filled with personal tragedy and professional failure which was reflected in his writing. Poe has written many stories that involve death, horror, and violence which are all present in gothic literature. “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” both show Poe's gothic writing style.
Stephen King's The Boogeyman was my favorite piece of gothic literature that we read. I was trying to figure the story out all the way until the end and had to re-read some of it to fully understand. It was suspenseful, scary, but also had a good story to listen to. The Boogeyman was full of gloomy settings, monsters, characters in distress, and intense emotions. These 4 things are just a couple elements that make up gothic literature.
It can be inferred from the development of the plot that Adora’s strange mental case of Munchausen by Proxy(MBP), in which she harms her own children to gain sympathetic attention, can be correlated entirely to the reason Camille has been self-harming herself by cutting words onto her body since she was a teenager. The fact that “every time people said [Camille] was pretty, [she] thought of everything ugly swarming beneath [her] clothes” (Flynn 150) emphasizes the severity of Camille’s psychological issues; she refuses to see herself as beautiful after everything that has been done to harm her. Realizing that being back within the noxious atmosphere of Wind Gap was swinging her back into having continuously ugly thoughts as she did in her past, Camille began to not only investigate violence, but dream of it as well. For example, she once tells of a violent dream in which Adora “had cut [her] open and was unpacking [her] organs, stacking them in a row on [her] bed as [her] flesh flapped to either side. She was sewing her initials into eat of them, then tossing them back into [Camille], along with a passel of forgotten objects” (Flynn 150). The grotesque quality of this dream further enhances the gothic nature of the story, while promoting an even eerier setting to the already negative sensation from the town. In
Over time, certain elements have come to present themselves in almost every gothic literature story. Washington Irving, Richard Matheson, and Edgar Allen Poe are just a few authors who use these elements to establish a sense of dread and paranoia in their works.