The term ‘gothic’ is mostly connected to an angst adolescent with jet black hair, heavy onyx eyeliner, and charcoal clothings, among other characteristics. However, it goes more deep than that. According to Study.com, ‘gothic literature’ refers to a style of writing that relates to horror, death, and gloom and others. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner recounts a dysfunctional woman named Emily Grierson who was born into an aristocratic family, where the townspeople believed she was scornful and a chore they held. When her father passed away, Emily slowly and surely became mentally sick. In the end, it is revealed that she killed Homer Garner, her homosexual partner. Faulkner’s 1930 classic is a prime example of this genre due to the elements it includes such as the elements of decay, the isolation of the protagonist and damsel in distress, and the high emotions that are exerted by the main character. One of the elements of gothic literature is the element of decay, both in their building structure and family structure. In the second paragraph of Chapter 1, the setting is described (“It was a big, squarish frame that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood, only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay
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.
Gothic Literature is a writing style that has dark setting, it has an overall atmosphere of mystery, exoticism, death. A Gothic story will revolve around a large, ancient house or an obscure setting that conceals a terrible secret or that serves as the refuge of an especially frightening and threatening character
Brown does not rely on most of the conventions of the gothic literature. Brown does use conventions of a Gothic genre. Brown follows the topics shared in an American Gothic novel. Allan Lloyd-Smith talks about how many American Gothic writers would exchange key aspects that can be seen in a European gothic novel. For example, instead of a castle the setting of the novel will include a remote house in the country side away from most of the population. Brown does not include a great deal of the setting but uses atmosphere and suspense to inflict fear into his readers. Brown stays away from the European gothic conventions discussed in “The Gothic Novel”. Brown does not include castles, dungeon and does not place his gothic novel in the medieval
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 is characterized by elements such as fear, horror, death, and gloom. Most in which is portrayed in “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” How do we know gothic is ‘gothic’ though? Sometimes it is characterized by the setting other times by the supernatural manifestations. There are many ways to discover wether it gothic literature or not, taking “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” for example.
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.
Gothic Lit is a literary genre that began in England in the late 1700s. It refers to medieval buildings and gloomy settings. I believe that Edgar Allan Poe's “The Fall of the House of Usher” or “Where is Here” is a good example of gothic lit because it includes mysterious story lines and an overall spooky vibe. For example, in Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher” in the first paragraph, it describes the setting as “...a dull, dark, and soundless day…” (13). This describes a dark, scary setting by using select words such as “dark” and “soundless”. Therefore, the “Fall of the house of Usher” can be considered gothic lit because it gives the reader a certain feel while reading the story, and making the reader imagine certain scenery. (Michaela)
Freakishness, imprisonment, violence, supernatural, and much more are all different elements of southern gothic and gothic literature. Many stories can be found in this genre and are often very creepy and mysterious because they include the one or more elements listed above. In southern gothic literature, the most striking gothic element in the genre would be imprisonment, this is seen in the stories “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, “The Life you Save May be Your Own” by Flannery O’connor, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”By Edgar Allan Poe. These characters imprison themselves in their homes and minds leaving them isolated from reality and society, which causes them to be unable to interact with others giving them problems in the
Have you ever read a story filled with horror, death, and a little romance? In literature, stories with these characteristics are classified as gothic literature. For example "A Rose For Emily" by Emily Faulkner is Southern gothic literature as the setting is specific to the south while "The Cast of Amontillado" by Edgar Allen Poe is gothic literature. In "A Rose for Emily", Emily and the community are stuck in the old ways of the South as they attempt to avoid the inevitable changes happening around them. In the end, Emily dies and the community is shocked to find her lovers body laying in her room. On the other hand, "The Cast of Amontillado" focuses on the protagonist revenge plot and death of the antagonist. An analysis of Poe 's and
Throughout the course of history, literature has gone through considerable changes. Dating back to its humble beginnings in folklore, fables, and storytelling all the way up to the scientific books and dramatic novels of today. Literature is arguably the centerpiece of all mankind. It is useful for record keeping, education, and bringing cultures and societies together. It has allowed us to expand our minds by painting a picture of the beautiful places this world has to offer outside of our corners of the earth. One genre of literature I find especially intriguing is Southern Gothic Literature. It is a subclass of gothic fiction, specifically set
The gothic literary movement is a part of the larger Romantic Movement. Gothic literature shares many of the traits of romanticism, such as the emphasis on emotions and the imagination. Gothic literature goes beyond the melancholy evident in most romantic works, however, and enters into the areas of horror and decay, becoming preoccupied with death. “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe is a powerful example of gothic fiction, whereas James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans serves as the romantic predecessor, illustrating the differences and the similarities between romantic and gothic literature.
Gothic fiction is a genre of literature that is comprised of numerous particular elements. It is a subgenre of romanticism and can be conflated with dark romanticism. This flavor of writing was most popular from the late eighteenth through the early nineteenth centuries. The name gothic fiction relates to gothic European architecture built during the middle ages. Massive cathedrals and castles were erected with pointed, stained-glass windows,
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
“They told of dripping stone walls in uninhabited castles and of ivy-clad monastery ruins by moonlight, of locked inner rooms and secret dungeons, dank charnel houses and overgrown graveyards, of footsteps creaking upon staircases and fingers tapping at casements, of howlings and shriekings, groanings and scuttlings and the clanking of chains, of hooded monks and headless horseman, swirling mists and sudden winds, insubstantial specters and sheeted creatures, vampires and bloodhounds, bats and rats and spiders, of men found at dawn and women turned white-haired and raving lunatic, and of vanished corpses and curses upon heirs” (Susan Hill). In this quote Susan Hill is describing gothic architecture found in one of her stories. The dark dungeons and dank charnel houses directly points to the gothic genre.
‘Gothic Art’ is the name given to define artworks made in Europe between the 12th and 15th centuries. Contrasting the “Gothic” that is understood today as dark, black or ripped fishnets, the original Gothic actually refers to “Liquid light of Heaven” where light comes into people’s live. A letter to Pope Leo X during c. 1518 from Raphael first marked the use of Gothic to describe artworks made between 12th and 15th centuries, and is further popularize by an Italian artist and writer by the name of Giorgio Vasari. Art produced between Romanesque and Renaissance period are described as Gothic art. Medieval art refers to art produced between 5th and 15th centuries, Gothic Art existed during the late Medieval period appearing after Early