Why Do People Read Gothic Literature?

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”

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.

American literature has been divided and categorized since its creation. Dating back to the 18th century, writing pieces with defining characteristics began to blend together into distinct literary movements. Although these literary movements and their respective works can be somewhat distinguished from one another by their different time periods of popularity, many novels, stories, and poems exemplify traits from a number of literary movements instead of cleanly falling into the boundaries of just one. Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones does just this. Throughout the duration of the novel, influences from multiple literary movements including Romanticism, Gothic literature, and Realism become notably apparent.

Darkness is a theme that can be seen across all architectural environments of these stories. It enhances the environments by intensifying the story plot of the main characters. Gothic stories tend to always depict darkness in order to illustrate abnormal events realistically. Without darkness, most scenarios mentioned in these stories would not have been as frightening. Similarly, in many instances darkness is followed by light. In “Sir Bertrand,” the main character pursues a mysterious light throughout a mansion before it disappears and leaves him in complete darkness. “The flame proceeded along it, and he followed in silent horror…It led him to the foot of another staircase, and then vanished” (Aikin and Aikin 593). This technique of light disappearing, enhances the proceeding event or setting in the story. “At the same

Gothic literature is having a setting that is spooky and dark. Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where is Here” contains a great example of Gothic Literature due to the story being spooky and having strange things happen. One example that proves it is a Gothic Literature in Oates’s story is, “one November evening at dusk, the doorbell rang, and the father went to answer it, and there on his doorstep stood a man he had never seen before” (69). This sentence proves its Gothic Literature since it contains a strange or violent plot and a dramatic description. Therefore “Where is Here” is a Gothic Literature because it contains these things that create a spooky or chilling story. Gothic Literature is one of the crucial important genre in the Unit one “Allure of fear”. (Angelee Chea)

In conclusion, the two dynamic gothic elements of supernatural forces and entrapment are utilized in order to create imagination within the reader and reveal the

Suspense is widely known as the centerpiece of Gothic writing. Such a style of writing lives, breathes, and glorifies through skillful application of suspense in the reader. When masterfully applied, suspense will often manipulate the subjects’ stress, anxiety, and state of safety with the goal of applying fearful characteristics to otherwise innocent objects. For example, in a book wrote to examine the use of psychology in the horror genre, renowned Gothic author Stephen King wrote, “what’s behind the door...is never as frightening as the door...itself.” Picture

Feelings of fear, shock, and utter abhorrence are key elements in Gothic horror literature that have frightened readers since the eighteenth century. American writer, editor, critic, and poet, Edgar Allan Poe became a highly influential figure in the world of literature and is one of the first writers to develop this genre of fiction and horror. In Poe’s popular short stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Poe can be described as a Gothic writer by exploring themes of death and darkness, madness and helplessness, supernaturalism and setting and architecture, in order to reverse the norms of rationality as illogical and unexplainable events generate fear in the reader.

The famous, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote many pieces of Gothic literature, but “The Fall of the House of Usher” is one of his most popular pieces. With the story’s creepy and shocking plot it remains popular among those who enjoy a suspenseful read. The unsettling setting is only a small piece of what makes the piece Gothic literature. Many believe that Edgar Allan Poe’s tragic past greatly influenced his works and inspired him to make Gothic literature. Even though he is no longer living, Poe’s legacy of shocking the reader lives on. “The Fall of the House of Usher” carries his legacy by being a prime example of Gothic literature because of the plot, and motifs that were inspired by his tragic past.

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.

“There was an iciness, a sickening of the heart- an unredeemed deadness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime” (Poe 28). One’s own mind can play all sorts of games on you if not controlled correctly. The gothic elements that composed the creation of a gothic literature story were dispersed throughout the works of Morgenstern, Irving, Hawthrone, and Poe. Their fictional stories, Night Circus, “The devil and Tom Walker”, “Dr. Heidegger’s experiment”, and “Fall of the House of Usher” all include spirits, mystery, and entrapment among their works of gothic

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 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.

Novel in particular and literature in general is more than just a work of fiction but in fact the hidden reflection of a specific historical era. Although, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights and Dracula were written in different times and each leaves its readers with different emotion and contemplation stages, they all share an affinity: the presence of Gothic elements. Indeed, these novels are designed to lead their reader into thrilling journeys through spooky dark setting, suspense horrifying plot, and claustrophobic atmosphere. These elements, though appear in various forms throughout these three novels, still excellently accomplish their mission of enticing the readers to be caught up in the narrative.

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.