Rebecca Literary Analysis

One of the spookiest experiences of Elizabeth’s life was when she had a very strange dream. She found herself in a room with bare white walls. It felt like a sterile hospital room with no furniture, just a mattress, a mirror, and a sink. There was no door either just a window. When she opened it, she realized she was in a tall skyscraper and she was so high up, she could barely see the ground below as far as she can remember. She had to spend her whole life in that room. This scenario relates to the traits of gothic lit and magical realism because it occurred in a mythical setting, while she lived in that strange room she would go through the same exact routine every day. Both stories are very descriptive in their settings. However, Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher” has a mysterious setting that relates to gothic elements. Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of magical realism because it has fantastic supernatural elements and the characters acted realistically

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”

The conventions that Rebecca reflects of the romantic genre are those of the characteristics of the hero and heroine (as mentioned above). The heroine is

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

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.

In addition, the library in Manderly is like a church-(p.76) "a room for peace, a room for meditation", with an ancient mossy smell, scrolled ceiling, dark panelling and heavy curtains, also giving a sense of sacredness. (p.100) "I must have lost my bearings" What's more, Manderly is similar to a castle or a maze, with many rooms and corridors, that the heroine couldn't make her way on the first day of her arrival to Manderly. There are different verbs describing the movement to places, for example, "went up", "went along", "turned left", etc.. This gave a sense of mystery. By this, the above images made Manderly an appropriate setting for a Gothic novel in spite of its surface beauty.

Gothic literature is a style characterized by multiple elements, such as fear, death, gloom, as well as romantic elements like nature, individuality, and high emotion. Magical realism, on the other hand, began as a painting style. It then evolved into the literary style associated with Latin America, which puts fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction. One of the most important elements of these genres is the setting of the stories. In The Fall of the House of Usher and House Taken Over, the setting creates atmosphere, reflects genre, and reflects characters.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe has a gothic horror story setting. Gothic means that the author emphasizes the mysterious, the horrible, the ghostly and the fear that can be aroused in the reader. Everyone knows that a gothic story or a ghost story will often have a setting that will be in an old, decaying mansion far out in a desolate countryside. The mansion will be filled with cobwebs, strange noises, bats, and an abundance of secret panels and corridors, in which people might be running and screaming in terror. The author uses every literary trick to give us an eerie sensation or to scare us if we hear an unexpected noise. The

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.

This body of work has been written subsequent to viewing both Rebecca and Far From Heaven. My aim is to analyze the films while using them as representatives for both gothic and melodrama genres. To the uncritical eye, the primary distinctions between the two films are established in the noticeable stylistic differences. I am of course, referring to the visual characteristics first for the reason that it is what is most noticeable when analyzing the genres. Far From Heaven is shot in colour and Rebecca, made in the nineteen forties does not, but opts for the creative use of negative space and sharp shadows that are common in gothic and film noir. Aside from the aesthetic features and the obvious fact that both films were made generations apart,

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.”

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.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a great example of Gothic Literature because of the way the story was

The novel suggests that the building is far from civilised places, on page twenty-four, chapter two; “..On that bleak hill top the earth was hard with a black frost, and the air made shiver through every limb..” This says that Wuthering Heights is isolated on a bleak hill top, it is dull and miserable and the earth is “..Hard..” and contains “..Black frost..”. The use of “..Black frost..” is Gothic as it describes even the frost as evil. Normal frost is white but “..Black frost..” symbolizes evil. This is very Gothic. Emily Brontë uses a lot of imagery to create tension for the reader. For example on pages thirty-one and thirty-two, chapter three when Lockwood is shown to his chamber in Wuthering Heights by Zillah, Emily Brontë uses a lot of images to create the feeling that the room and the surrounding is coffin like. This makes the building, Wuthering Heights feel supernatural and very Gothic. The house itself is very Gothic, containing tall dark arches and gargoyle statues. There are lots of shadows. Emily Brontë chooses realistic descriptions of the building/house, Wuthering Heights; “..One or two heavy black ones (chairs) lurking in the shade..“. “..Black..” reoccurs frequently in the novel as it suggests evil. The word “..Lurking..” is interesting because it suggests that something does not belong in a place , it is mysterious, as in his case the chairs have no place in Wuthering Heights. Almost as is the chairs are alive and they have thoughts and

Gothic literature includes elements of style that is usually portrayed in tales and deals with horror, despair, the grotesque, and mysteries. In the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, there are many elements of gothic literature that is found throughout the book. The term gothic is very broad in literature, and gothic can mean many different things from characteristics of people, feelings and reactions of a specific setting, mood, actions that happen being people, and so much more. All of this thrived in the 19th century. Gothic is categorized by an emphasis on the dark, gloomy, and mysterious. Ideas such as magic, hidden passages, wind, ghosts, and other supernatural elements, love, etc were all elements in the Gothic movement during the 19th century. Specifically, the descriptions of the settings, both outside and inside, in the novel, the actions of the main protagonists in the novel, and the love between Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights all add on to this idea of a gothic literature or tradition.