The Characteristics Of Gothicism In Wieland, By Charles Brockden Brown

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

In all of Gothic Literature, many strategies are used to give the reader chills during his or her downtime. Themes like Entrapment and supernatural forces are displayed throughout this genre of writing to further portray an overlaying message. Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving and Horacio Quiroga use Entrapment and Supernatural powers to provide an intense feeling in the reader involving scenarios beyond conventional limitations.

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.

Gothic literature has a different way of captivating the reader. Page by Page, gothic themes are present that create mystery and evoke suspense. The Night Circus, a novel by Eric Morgenstern, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, by Washington Irving, and “The Oval Portrait”, by Edgar Allan Poe share two important themes: eerie setting and isolation. All the stories connect through a lesson that passion can become harmful.

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 architecture a new style developing from an old style of architecture with similar characteristics and in a way different. Architects wanted to build bigger buildings with stronger walls something that could not be found elsewhere. The old buildings did not have windows they were dark places that in order to get light they needed many candles. Not even the candles could give the right amount of light the buildings needed. The middle ages architects wanted big windows on the buildings and this new style made their wish come true. Architecture during the Middle Ages became a new style with new problems to solve and a new kind of extraordinary buildings to build.

In the early 1800s, America was not recognized for their literary talents of short stories, at least, not until the arrival of great writers naming that of Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving. Each of these authors used the Dark Romantic genre, a literary format used to explore the inherent good and evil in humanity, which included common styles of Gothicism and symbolism to render a moral lesson. This was a period a time when the New World was becoming more transcendental in their thinking. America was at a pivotal point in history were newcomers were sharing ideas of complete independence from the ruling of Old World’s religiously corrosive beliefs and its oppressive political obligations whence they came. Poe, Hawthorne, and Irving opposed the Transcendentalism Movement by looking back

Edgar Allan Poe, renowned as the foremost master of the short-story form of writing, chiefly tales of the mysterious and macabre, has established his short stories as leading proponents of “Gothic” literature. Although the term “Gothic” originally referred only to literature set in the Gothic (or medieval) period, its meaning has since been extended to include a particular style of writing. In order for literature to be “Gothic,” it must fulfill some specific requirements. Firstly, it must set a tone that is dark, somber, and foreboding. Next, throughout the development of the story, the events that occur must be strange, melodramatic, or often sinister. Poe’s short stories are

When discussing gothic fiction many early authors come to mind, Mary Shelley, the Bronte Sisters, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde, to name a few, were all exceptional European writers of this style. As for American authors, there are two names that hold top places of honor, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Poe, with his talent for lyrical, poetic prose and conveying the macabre, is considered by many to be the master of gothic fiction. However, Hawthorne with his propensity toward humor and his ability to breathe humanness into his characters is an excellent contender for the title. They both exhibited gothic traditions in their writing, while at the same time adjusting elements of this previously European genre to fit into American surroundings, all the while delivering their own unique contributions to the gothic scene. I will explore and compare some of their works with hopes of identifying what I find to be some of their genius contributions to this dark romantic style.

The gothic novel emerged during the late eighteenth century and the ‘Age of Enlightenment’, which emphasised rationality

on the aid of Hell itself, and to find things familiar in the world of

Charles Brockden Brown’s novel Wieland is characteristic of the American gothic, as it includes many elements of horror and suspense complete with an omnipresent sense of existential doom. What sets Wieland apart from other gothic novels of it’s time, is the way in which it carries a kind of political depth, reflecting upon some of the anxieties surrounding the construction of the Early Republic. Wieland is widely interpreted as an inherently political novel, as it paints a telling portrait of the invasion of Jeffersonian agrarianism upon the hollowed grounds of high-class life in a new-found nation. Nevertheless, Brown’s portrait excludes his own political leanings while he opts to imbue the novel with a specific strand of Pennsylvanian religious pragmatism in order to create a personal gothic nightmare specific to Philadelphian life during the Early Republic.

As stated by Edgar Allen Poe, a prominent gothic author, “I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity” (Poe). Gothic authors were known for writing about insanity, but also becoming insane themselves. Poe was one of the authors that were known for becoming insane after writing about it for so long. Gothic period authors use terror and horror throughout novels, as well. Gothic literature was written in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. American Gothicism adapted the writing techniques and from European Gothicism. American authors adapted plots from others and made them into their own. The movement began by writing about “the terrifying Indians of the frontier” (Snodgrass 1). Gothic literature draws on a combination of terror and romanticism as its foundation. Movement authors incorporated more psychological aspects into the novels instead of peaceful aspects. Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne are influential authors of the movement. The authors incorporate the unique qualities of gothic literature in their works. In particular, Gothic period author Charles Brockden Brown incorporates the two characteristics of insanity and an atmosphere of mystery in his novels Wieland and Edgar Huntley.

Gothic literature’s desire to explore the unknown, the unexplainable, inexplicable and the terrifying can be seen as a reaction to the Enlightenment’s emphasis on the rational and knowable. The Enlightenment rejected the belief in superstition, and religion. Reason, deductive logic, and observation were the methods of examining the world. A clash of these two approaches is noticeable in Otranto. The novel violates 18th century

American gothic writers have had much impact on our American society in countless ways. Gothic writers wrote about many national problems ranging from politics to mental illnesses. Conventional wisdom claims that gothic writers popularized and influenced the study of psychology. Steven Hammelman acknowledges that Charles Brockden Brown’s short stories caused people to ask questions, to propose theories, and almost always offer some insight to professionals and those alike. (Hammelman, Steven. PSYART.com) Pre-modern day gothic writers wrote about psychological issues hundreds of years before professionals addressed mental illnesses, by extension shows that gothic writers helped popularize and influenced the study of psychology.