The Gothic Novel

1. THE GOTHIC NOVEL
By:Francisco Aresi

2. Origins of the Gothic Novel
Gothic fiction, which is largely known by the subgenre of Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature
and film that combines fiction and horror, death, and at times romance. Its origin is attributed to English
author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto "A Gothic Story". The effect of Gothic
fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively
new at the time of Walpole's novel. It originated in England in the second half of the 18th century where,
following Walpole, it was further developed by Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, William Thomas Beckford and
Matthew Lewis. The genre had much success in the 19th century, as witnessed in prose by Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein and the works of Edgar Allan Poe as well as Charles Dickens with his novella, A
Christmas Carol, and in poetry in the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Lord Byron. Another well
known novel in this genre, dating from the late Victorian era, is Bram Stoker's Dracula. The name Gothic,
which originally referred to the Goths, and then came to mean "German", refers to the medieval buildings,
emulating Gothic architecture, in which many of these stories take place. This extreme form of
romanticism was very popular in England and Germany. The English Gothic novel also led to new novel
types such as the German Schauerroman and the French Roman Noir.

3. Characteristics of Gothic Novels
● Gloomy, decaying setting (haunted houses or castles with secret passages, trapdoors, and other
mysterious architecture)
● Supernatural beings or monsters (ghosts, vampires, zombies, giants)
● Curses or prophecies
● Damsels in distress
● Heroes
● Romance
● Intense emotions

4. Some Examples of Gothic Novels are:
1) Jane Eyre
2) Drácula
3) Wuthering Heights
4) Frankenstein
5) Rebecca
6) The picture of Dorian Grey
7) The complete Stories and Poems
8) The phantom of the opera
9) We have always lived in the Castle
10) The Monk

5. Typical Characters of the Gothic Novel
The Gothic hero becomes a sort of archetype as we find that
there is a pattern to his characterization. There is always the
protagonist, usually isolated either voluntarily or involuntarily.
Then there is the villain, who is the epitome of evil, either by
his (usually a man) own fall from grace, or by some implicit
malevolence. TheWanderer, found in many Gothic tales, is
the epitome of isolation as he wanders the earth in perpetual
exile, usually a form of divine punishment.

6. Plots of Gothic Novels
Action in the Gothic novel tends to take place at night, or at least in a
claustrophobic, sunless environment.
ascent (up a mountain high staircase);
descent (into a dungeon, cave, underground chambers or labyrinth) or falling off a
precipice; secret passage; hidden doors;
the pursued maiden and the threat or rape or abduction;
physical decay, skulls, cemeteries, and other images of death; ghosts; revenge;
family curse; blood and gore; torture; the Doppelganger (evil twin or double);
demonic possession; masking/shape-changing; black magic; madness; incest and
other broken sexual taboos.

7. Settings of Gothic Novels
The setting is greatly influential in Gothic novels. It not only
evokes the atmosphere of horror and dread, but also portrays
the deterioration of its world. The decaying, ruined scenery
implies that at one time there was a thriving world. At one
time the abbey, castle, or landscape was something
treasured and appreciated. Now, all that lasts is the decaying
shell of a once thriving dwelling.

8. THE END HOPE YOU LIKE IT