Of Gothicism In The Castle Of Otranto AndThe Romance Of The Forest?

Magical Realism and Gothic style writings may seem very alike, but at the same time, they are different. Gothic style invokes a very dark, scary, and irrational feeling, even though the explanation is completely natural. Magical Realism like the piece “House Taken Over”, makes things seems normal but has events that seem almost unexplainable. In Gothic style writings like “The Fall of The House of Usher”, things seem unreasonable, but in Magical Realism things feel ordinary.

Gothic horror, what does it symbolize, does it connect to our modern lives, what exactly is it? Gothic horror is the genre of literature that has elements of both romance and horror. Gothic horror is very dark, stormy full of eerie winds and is usually set in an old mansion or in castles on high cliffs. Usually gothic horror is a combination of fiction, horror, and romance. This genre was famous throughout England and had and still does have a big influence on British culture and how they live their lives today. “Some get the gothic horror mixed up with paranormal romance but the difference between the two is in the results The Gothic builds up the protagonist until he achieves what he’s after, and then details the terrible consequences of achieving it” (Dittmer 1). The theme in Dracula is that classic Gothic theme of the epic battle of good versus evil. “In this novel this is expressed in a very direct way, there is never any question as to who is right and who is wrong. According to Duran “it can be clearly seen the protagonists on the side of good have many endearing qualities while the antagonists on the side of evil have a pact with Lucifer and are of the purest evil” (mikeduran.com). Bram Stokers Dracula demonstrates how religion can influence the mind of others and how they react and encounter to different situations of their lives.

The castle in the picture sets the scene, as the image contains many of the gothic elements, including a light mist surrounding the castle, a dense forest and the center focus an old, damaged and creepy castle. The light mist is used to obscure objects by reducing visibility or to introduce the inclusion of a terrifying person or thing. A dense forest can create uncertainty to the reader as it associates it with danger and risk. Finally the damaged and old castle gives a creepy and mysterious element. All of the above builds an atmosphere of suspense, terror or horror.

The first trope that must be present in order to make a novel “Gothic” is, desolate and wild landscapes. In Dracula, Stoker writes, “ Soon we were hemmed in with trees, which in places arched right over the roadway till we passed as through a tunnel; and again great frowning rocks guarded us boldly on either side” (11). Stoker demonstrates the first trope by introducing a desolate setting in the woods. He does this by creating a landscape that involves trees, rocks, and tunnels, to create a dark spooky image for the readers. On the same page, Stoker also writes, “The baying of the wolves sounded nearer and nearer, as though they were closing round on us from every side. I grew dreadfully afraid, and the horses shared my fear… I could not see anything through the darkness” (11). On the wild aspect of the landscape, Stoker speaks about the presence of wolves and darkness that creates fear within the character in the novel who is experiencing it. Clearly, Dracula portrays the first trope in a

Gothic literature is a literary genre that began in England in the late 1700’s. It contains bleak and remote settings as well as weird plots and violent incidents. Strongly dramatic, descriptive language is used here, which sets the overall mood. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a good example of gothic literature because it portrays all of the elements of the gothic style; gloomy/eerie mood and symbolism. For example, in Poe’s story, the narrator stated, “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country.”[13] This sets the melancholy mood as well as the mysterious setting. The setting was written in a descriptive manner, which is another aspect of gothic literature. Therefore, “The Fall of the House of Usher” 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.

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.

An important feature of gothic is the horror and terror seen within the text. The two were differentiated by Anne Radcliffe who suggests that terror relies on subtle suggestion which results in the creation of tension and fear, whilst horror is direct and explicit and causes instant fear. A good example of terror is an example of the pathetic fallacy used at the start of chapter 5, during the creation of the monster. It is described as a ‘dreary night of November’ and that the ‘rain pattered dismally against the panes’. This slowly builds tension and helps portray a sense of foreboding. Examples of horror include the ‘yellow eye’ of the monster as it infers decay and the ‘grave worms crawling in the folds of the flannel’ in Victor’s dream about his mother. These features of gothic would have been especially effective on a Victorian audience, as they were not often confronted with this sort of imagery, whereas it can be argued overexposure has caused modern audiences to be less sensitive, or desensitized, to this kind of content.

The gothic writing is more of an imitation of medievalism, in which horror is the central theme. The pieces written during this time aimed to make their works pleasurably terrifying. Writers and poets in this era used tools to make their works relate to the mysterious, fantastic, supernatural, and ghostly. Mary Shelley did a great job of this in her terrifying novel, Frankenstein (The Romantic Period: Topics).

One of the spookiest experiences in Harley’s life was on a cold, dark Halloween night when Harley and her friends, Lauryn and Heidi, got chased by a clown for 3 blocks on a gloomy narrow road. This scenario relates to traits  of Gothic Literature and Magical Realism because, that experience was in a dark setting and contained weird incidents and a disturbing plot. Those two genres are similar because they both usually have unrealistic characters and scary plots. However, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher” is an example of Gothic Literature because, the story’s setting is in an isolated, creepy, and large house with odd characters and a frightening plot line, while Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of  Magical Realism because the realistic characters are accepting the unimpressed narrative tone in an ordinary way of life. Gothic Literature is a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom. Settings are usually in a isolated and haunted location in a big house or castle with trap doors, dark rooms, and secret passages. Characters are usually supernatural beings or monsters.

Have you ever thought about what makes you become scared when reading scary stories? Gothic writing developed in the late eighteenth century and it was mainly a style of writing where abnormal or ghostly experiences were portrayed. In the stories Castle of Otranto, “Sir Bertrand,” and Romance of the Forest, terror is illustrated by emphasizing the architectural environments that are encountered. The architectural environments in Gothic literature, engage readers and immerse them into the story so that supernatural events can be imaginable, by using common features such as darkness, intricate or secret passages, and abandoned or isolated buildings.

Space is inseparable part of every text of literature. In the Gothic fiction space is extremely important, as the Gothic fiction is mostly based on creating images connected with human perception. During the process of reading readers often use their imagination. Therefore, depiction of old castles, ruined abbeys, monasteries, subterranean passages, vaults, or secret panels, is a standard method of creating the atmosphere. As Izdebska claims, “[t]he subject of a story is event in some space, but also the space itself” (33). A typical example is the setting in Horace Walople’s Otranto, being almost a character in the novel. The castle with its ghosts, giant helmets, giant feet,

Romantic literature is very well-known for its extensive use of imagery to express different themes within a story. The Castle of Otranto is a Romantic Era story, by Horace Walpole, which expressed the expectations thrust upon women in the 1700’s in a different - and rather terrifying - light than was seen at that time. Romance of the Forest is also a Romantic Era story, created by Ann Radcliffe, which tells the story of a woman who discovers a terrifying secret that exists just on the other side of her bedroom walls. In both The Castle of Otranto and Romance of the Forest, the imagery used to describe the gothic environments of each story further adds ‘haunted’ and ‘scary’ feelings to the stories.

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.

Gothic literature originated and was very strong at the time of the Romantic Writers Movement. They were very popular and had authors such as Horace Walpole who wrote “The Castle of Oranto”, and novels such as “Frankenstein” and “Dracula“. Gothic novels all had a similarity between each other. They always had typical Gothic features which alleviated the novel in one way or another. For example, most Gothic novels involved settings which generally added fear and suspense. They were always quite dark, scary and isolated. Also the characters of the Gothic novels never seemed to fit in the community and the society. They usually were handicapped, disabled or deformed