Elements Of Violence In Gothic Literature

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.

Horror, what is it, according to literary historian J.A. Cuddon, it is “a piece of fiction in prose of variable length…which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing.” This sets the guidelines for how the generic horror piece is written, as long as it can scare the reader in one sense or the other, or cause them to loath a certain part or character, then it can be called horror. The horror today has roots stemming from old folklore and religious traditions which had elements that dealt with death, the afterlife, and the demonic, along with the things or thing that embody a person. Horror during the 18th century was called gothic horror and this particular type of horror was invented in the

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher is a good example of Gothic Literature because of the characters in psychological and physical torment. For example, in Poe’s story, “The writer spoke of acute bodily illness-of a mental disorder which oppressed him-and of an earnest desire to see me,” (Poe 2). Roderick, being the writer, wrote to the narrator to come visit him because he is

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.

Many people have different views on whether or not they are for or against violence in children’s literature. I am for children’s literature due to the fact that if one is not educated, how is one expected to know. In this essay we will look at the pros and cons of including violence in children’s literature.

Gothic stories contain supernatural occurrences to incite an imminent feeling of darkness, and mystery. Using supernatural themes helps the reader become entrapped in the story, causing the reader to crave more of the story. For example, in Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat in the short story Poe integrates the theme of supernatural by creating a dark and ominous

Gothic literature is a style of writing dating back to 1764, some of the most important elements of this writing style are of an eerie setting and mental decay, stories that made great use of these elements are: “The Raven”, “Black Cat”, “The House of Usher”, and “The Devil and Tom Walker”. The authors use the gothic element of eerie setting so that they can enhance the mood of the story and of mental decay to highlight what the conflict in the characters’ lives is causing.

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.

In these gothic literature short stories regarding romanticism the authors often use many elements that pertain to fear, however, the most prevalent themes in: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Prey” by Richard Matheson, “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, and “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga are grotesqueness and violence. The authors utilize grotesqueness and violence in order to furthermore portray a dismal mood, foreshadow events to come, and to further entice the reader.

The Gothic genre often reproduces a conservative paranoid structure when it comes to homophobia and other moral panics over sex (Hanson, Pg. 176). Eve Sedgwick depicts this in her work, ‘Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosexual Desire’ as she discusses how these ideas (paranoia) are represented within the Gothic, in what she describes as the ‘homosocial’ in reference to male bonds (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). She also discusses how bonds between men exist as the backbone of social form and forms (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). Thus, a consequence of said structure is the ability to define, control, and manipulate male bonds, which in turn becomes an inexplicably powerful instrument of social control (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). Thus, homosexuality is represented as the ‘unspeakable’ within the Gothic, as it has been defined, controlled, and manipulated to be such though social control. Therefore, this paper will discuss how ‘homosocial’ bonds between men, are used as a tool in social control and used as a way to produce paranoia and moral panic, thus in reference to the Gothic, these forms epitomize homosexuality as the ‘unspeakable,’ especially through homosexual representations within the contexts of ghosts and haunted houses.

Two types of violence—Character violence and Narrative violence—Character violence is injury the author causes the character to have but narrative violence is used to enhance the plot

A strong example of Gothic Literature is “The Fall of the House of Usher”, by Edgar Allen Poe. This is a strong example of Gothic Literature because, Roderick is a mentally ill man who asks his friend, the narrator, to come visit because he’s always nervous. Roderick, and with the assistance of the narrator, buried his sister, Madeline, alive. She eventually came back and haunted Roderick and killed him. Based on this, That plot contains several elements of Gothic Literature. As well as some of the things the narrator said. For example, at the beginning of the story, when the narrator shows up at the House of Usher, he describes the feeling he gets while looking at the house. The narrator says, “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart - an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of imagination could torture into aught of the sublime” (14). The narrator’s feelings of the house are a superb example of Gothic Literature because, his description being very dark and gloomy display some of the elements of Gothic Literature. Therefore, “The Fall of

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.