Gothic Fiction: The Representation of Evil in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto

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.”

After Horace Walpole redefined the term “Gothic” with his literary form that mixed history and fantasy in a way that was meant to create wonder and terror, the term developed to take a on many interconnected meanings. These meanings include “Goths/Visigoths” which Edward Gibbon describes as “a general appellation of rude and warlike barbarism”(Moreland, slide 29). It is also a Medieval style of architecture and an “unwritten” constitution which describes the “ traditional balance of power in British politics between the royalty and the people”(Moreland, slide 31). The final meaning is that of Gothic fiction whose characteristics include: strong emotion (mainly terror/horror), antiquity, haunting, isolation, obscurity/mystery and/or monstrousness/grotesquerie. Among the 18th and 19th century fiction that draw upon and foreground these meanings are Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and Stoker’s Dracula.

In this essay I will explore the idea that having a fundamental understanding of the concept of eighteenth-century “gothic” and the literary techniques involved in creating it is necessary in gaining a well-rounded appreciation for the works of authors such as Edgar Allen Poe. Through a close reading of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher I will illuminate the methods used by Poe to warrant it one of the most innovative pieces of gothic literature, and therefore establish how it paved the way for many gothic and dark romantic authors after its publishing.

The Castle of Otranto was written in 1764, by Horace Walpole. This novel is a Gothic novel, and I will be writing an essay about this novel to show, and explain how Gothic it is. I will be picking a specific character to explain and compare to another book to show how both are Gothic, but in their own way. This essay will seek and unfold the differences of Manfred in Otranto, and General Tilney in Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. When Northanger Abbey was written is

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, which is sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre that links horror and romance into one tale of ‘transgressing the boundaries’. Gothicism was unheard of until the late 1700’s, this movement into a new genre of literature. This was pioneered by the English author Horace Walpole, in his famous fictional book ‘The Castle of Otranto’, or as Walpole alternatively titled it ‘a Gothic story’. Horace Walpole himself had transgressed the boundaries slightly; by introducing this new style of writing he had added a whole new genre into literature. Walpole’s style of writing was unique and captivated the readers mind and

In most Gothic literature stories, imagination plays a big role in creating fear that for the reader to feel. Both of the stories that were read in class, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “House Taken Over” included elements of Gothic literature which made the reader use their mind and have a imagination. These short stories involve many examples of imagination conquering of reason.

The Castle of Ontario contains many elements of male gothic. The most blatant of these elements being the terrorization of a female victim as in the case of Manfred pursuing Isabella, explicit images such as the gruesome scene caused by the helmet falling on Conrad, prison settings such as the chapel holding Isabella or Theodore’s imprisonment, supernatural and tragic undertones everywhere such as in the case of Milfred’s undying love for an unappreciative prince, and the eventual death of Theodore’s beloved. A shallow reading of the book might leave the reader with the impression that this novel is an archetypal male gothic novel. A closer inspection actually offers striking commentary on Classic male gothic through the juxtaposition of Manfred

The gothic imagery that fills "Usher" reflects a style of literature that had emerged during the late eighteenth century and was flourishing in the early decades of the nineteenth. The large mysterious castle filled with dark corners and

In Gothic literature the setting is very important since it adds secrecy, darkness, and suspense. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole and “Sir Bertrand” by Anna Letitia Aikin and John Aikin are Gothic stories that go in depth explaining these examples. Both of these stories create that sense, since they both take place in a castle where abnormal events occur that cannot be explained. The architectural elements of the stories create a mood of terror due to darkness and mystery. This helps further the plot because it influences the actions of the characters.

Walpole's The Castle of Otranto was the first example of a Gothic novel. Gothic, by definition, is a genre of literature characterized by a brooding, gloomy setting, and mysterious, sinister, or violent events. Lady Croom's reference to The Castle of Otranto and to The Mysteries of Udolpho, which is another Gothic novel by a later author, Ann Radcliffe, is one technique used by Stoppard to describe Noakes' style. In 1809 Gothic novels were widely popular so it is safe to assume that all of Stoppard's seventeenth century characters would have heard of the

Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, is acknowledged by many as the first gothic novel. It was the first of it’s kind and many of the conventions used by Walpole, which put it in a literary genre of it’s own, were continued by authors such as Ann Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis. Many of these defining characteristics can be seen within the very first few pages of the text and for the purposes of this essay, to identify some of these conventions used and the relevance of this text to modernity I shall focus this analysis on the passage between pages twenty-four and twenty-six from the Oxford World’s Classics edition.

The gothic element of man-made structures are commonly featured in gothic literature, they usually display a gloomy decaying setting with secret passages, trap doors, long hallways and other mysterious features and are usually the centre for most novels. For this essay I will be comparing the representation of 'man-made structures' in three texts I have studied. The texts I will be comparing are The Castle Rackrent, The castle of Otranto and The Italian. In The Castle Rackrent the man made structure is a big house in comparison to the castle in The Castle of Otranto and the religious buildings such as the churches and the convents in The Italian. The anglo- Irish big house in The Castle Rackrent was only big in comparison to the small cottages around it, unlike the castle in The Castle of Otranto and the

Gothic horror started in 1764, by a man named Horace Walpole, he wrote the novel The castle of Otranto. Gothic fiction is a combination of death, horror and some romance.

Gothic novels generally are tense and effectively establish dark moods as a result of their supernatural and other mysterious elements. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is a great example of what can be achieved through such techniques. Brontë uses gothic techniques in order to create ominous atmospheres and to foreshadow tragic events, among other things. By no means were these techniques implemented merely as a part of the gothic movement. Supernatural elements occasionally appear throughout the novel in order to propel the plot forwards, express theme, and for characterization.