Genre Presented in Shallow Grave

Although many gothic novels are written in a complex manner, the novel “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” is very different. This gothic novel is written in a simplistic fashion which is understandable on the surface. However, if one digs deeper than the surface of this novel, “We Have Always lived in the Castle,” proves to be full of details and themes. There are many important themes in this story and some which are not as important. In the novel, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” there are many extremely important themes such as, domesticity, rich vs. poor, and sibling relationships. Also, in the novel, “We Have Always lived in the Castle,” there is one theme which is not essential to the novel, which is the supernatural and potential witch elements in this story. All of these themes help to portray the message of Shirley Jackson’s novel, “We have Always Lived in the Castle.”

To begin, “The term Gothic fiction refers to a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion. These emotions can include fear and suspense.”. (Greaver, 1). This specific style of writing began in the late seventeen hundreds. Gothic fiction was created in order to keep a narrower set of viewers or readers more intrigued and interested. “The term Gothic actually originated as a term belittling the architecture and art of the period, which was dark, decaying, and dismal. The settings were often old, dilapidated buildings or houses in gloomy, lifeless, fear inducing landscapes.” (Greaver, 1). Gothic literature is often explained as an illusion that is unexplainable. “Gothic fiction hovers between the uncanny and the marvelous, offering little

Gothic literature is a literary genre that began in england in the late 1700’s that “Gothic” refers to medieval buildings, such as castles that were seen typically as dark, dreary, gloomy and mysterious which inspired a mood for many books. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a good of example of gothic literature because it had a gloomy tone commonly found in most gothic literature. This can be found in the first paragraph when the narrator says “ a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit”. This shows“The Fall of the House of Usher” is gothic literature because it sets up a gothic tone in the first paragraph.

Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ both serve a highly horrific purpose which is both good examples for the gothic. The strongest example of gothic is ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ as it established the extreme horror intense and shows the gothic scene of the house.

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 includes a gloomy mood and a dramatic description throughout the story. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a good example of Gothic Literature because it has a gloomy mood which helps the story feel more eerie and also contains a dramatic description which makes the reader feel as if they are in the moment and living the event. For example, in Poe’s story,”...but the first glimpse of the building a sense of insufferable gloom prevademy spirit.”(13). He sets a gloomy and dark mood which is one of the requirements for Gothic Literature and describes it in a way that makes everything sound like a crucial event. He explains the building using words such as “spirit”

In Bowen’s article, he discusses the different gothic motifs that make up gothic literature such as power and restraint, clashing time periods, strange places, terror versus horror, and a world of doubt. “Edward Scissorhands” has always been considered a strange film while We Have Always Lived in a Castle has always been considered a gothic novel. According to Bowen’s list of gothic motifs, “Edward Scissorhands” would be considered more gothic than the novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle because it fits more of the gothic conventions.

The castle has pointed tips and windows. It also has flying buttresses. Another thing it has are tall spires and a gloomy look to it. Therefore, the castle would be classified as Gothic. Relating to the castle where Fiona is captures, the textbook tells us that gargoyles are carved figures that serve as waterspouts that drain water from the roof.

     The term Gothic refers to a genre that came about in the late eighteenth century. It can be a type of story, clothing, or music nowadays. In this paper it will refer to a style of literature. A very good example of this type of literature is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the whole novel, which is one of the basic necessities of the Gothic. This theme of the Gothic has different characteristics that all fit into the story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster and make this one of the first horror stories every told.

The ominous setting set in Rebecca is one example of how gothic theme is shown. Manderley is an example of an ominous setting because of the fact that it was shown to be all burned down at the beginning, so you knew something horrible was going to happen to Manderley before you even knew what Manderley was. Manderley was surrounded by many trees and it was usually misty/foggy causing an ominous feel. Inside of Manderley there were stained glass windows, exquisite designs on the walls, heavy drapes covering windows, and it looked about like a castle. There was also Rebecca’s room which was on the west wing and rarely anyone went in. That reminded me of “The Masque

It is very difficult to place one specific definition to the Gothic it is so ambiguous that there’re many scopes to it, so therefore it becomes open to interpretation. Gothic can be described in terms of art in the sense of defamiliarising paintings or objects to make them appear uncanny and also architecture tall medieval buildings such as churches that seem to symbolically look over society and also ascend towards heaven. Another approach to Gothic could be in its relation to the attitudes of the e nlightenment and its opposition/ subversion to realism. As well as that Gothic fiction can be defined by specific elements in the plot and also its complex narratives that harbour explicit themes to shock, scare and entice the readers. One theme that is manifested throughout Gothic literature and also reflected in society is madness.

Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher perfectly represents the Gothic style as it provides an

The term gothic fiction implies a British literary genre from the late eighteenth, and early nineteenth century. The modernized term seems to have been generalized into anything that is dark, gloomy, or depressing. Gothic novels often time posses an emphasis on portraying the terror, a prominent use of supernatural circumstances, the presence of highly stereotyped characters, and the attempt to display techniques of literary suspense. There are also other parallels among this vastly popular genre. Gothic novels often time describe the city of London in corresponding ways. Also a common theme amongst gothic literary works is the duality of human nature, or the quality or characteristic of being twofold. These mutual themes are apparent in

Gothic elements such as castles, or ancient prophecies are used all throughout his movies. If you asked many people would say this is the factor that tells them that a movie was directed by Tim Burton. Throughout all of his movies there are always one or two gothic elements included. For example, in “Edward Scissorhands”, you can find two gothic elements. Setting in a castle and inexplicable events. Edward Scissorhands is found in a dark, supposably haunted castle when peg finds him in a dark corner. If Edward was found in the middle of the desert it wouldn’t be intense. The explicable event is that Edward was converted to a normal human but he was a robot and he has scissors for hands. Tim Burton makes these gothic elements very obvious so it can change the tone of the movie from happy to creepy. Tim burton also uses gothic elements in “Alice in Wonderland”. Again, he uses a castle as the setting for most of the movie but also adds an ancient prophecy. The castle is used to show the scary queen and the ancient prophecy is used to depict what will happen throughout the rest of time. Tim Burton likes to use these to change the mood very quick, which is one reason why Tim burton loves using this

The central theme of all Gothic novels is the presence and symbolism of the Gothic castle. Depiction of ruinous abbeys, monasteries, subterranean passages, vaults, secret panels, and the trapdoors is a standard method of achieving the atmosphere. Howells sees the Gothic castle as being ‘a shadowy world of ruins and twilight scenery lit up from time to time by lurid flashes of passion and violence ’(6). Therefore, the gloominess of the exterior and interior environment is illuminated by intense emotional and passionate moments of the characters that inhabit the castle. As Sage claims, the castle is ‘the lair of the villain’(166), and it is an accurate reflection of his dark and frightening character. Gloomy, dark, and dangerous, the castle reflects the emotions and psychological experience of many of the novel’s characters.