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Spawning in the 18th century was a widely popular genre of literature. Known as gothic literature, it explored the supernatural and mysterious elements of our world. Containing spooky tropes like haunted houses, a spooky castle with trap doors, etc. Not only was this genre spooky it was romantic and maintained intense emotions between characters in the stories. Although we can identify these characteristics that this genre is popular for, what really makes a gothic novel a gothic novel? A true gothic novel must contain these seven characteristics: a gloomy/dark setting, supernatural beings or creatures, curses or prophecies, a damsel in distress, a hero, romance, and intense emotions.
The basics of gothic literature is easy to understand, but the origin on the other hand is a whole nother thing. Since gothic literature was created in the late 18th century where science and industry were becoming big new parts of the world, new ideas were also apart of it. Originally gothic literature came around as a sophisticated joke (meme). When the first ever gothic novel,
was published it set the stage for this new genre as well as a new audience. The time period itself was the big influence on why it came to be. With all the mysteries and curious minds driven by science making new discoveries each day caused supernatural creatures to come to exist. Interestingly the main reason gothic literature came to be was due to “The Castle of Otranto” being sold as a medieval transcript that had been discovered and translated. Crowds flocked to check out the book. Later Walpole, the author, admitted that he made it up and that is how the genre of gothic literature came to be. The novels themselves consisted of seven distinct characteristics as mentioned in the introduction and without these distinct characteristics the novel isn’t a true gothic novel. The biggest points being the supernatural elements of the story, the dark setting, and romance. A hero and damsel in distress can somewhat correlate to the romance and intense emotion part.
Now that we know how it came to be, let’s discuss what makes a gothic novel truly a gothic novel. The best way to do this is to look at the original novel mentioned in the first paragraph. Written by Horace Walpole in 1764, “The Castle of Otranto” set the foundation for every gothic novel and subgenre afterwards. The setting itself in the novel is in a castle as stated in the title. It generates mystery and suspense, along with prophecies and omens. All of these elements encompass exactly what a gothic novels should posses. Including all the recurring themes combining love with terror. In the story the castle has a mysterious past and secret underground passages that lead to a church. It helps set the tone for the novel and the secret passages allow a reason for the supernatural to exist within. Along with the atmosphere the imagery is important. Providing scary and suspenseful imagery can add a whole lot to the novel and bring it closer to the genre. Vocabulary is also a big part of this novel helping it to express what it needs to get through to accomplish its goal as a gothic novel.
Next is Dracula published by Bram Stoker in 1897, and a strange example of Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde are typical examples of Gothic Literature. Properly combining both horror and romance with the setting taking place in a huge and harsh castle and a mysterious hero and horrible images. This novel is part of the victorian gothic period and the gothic reconstruction process, which has been around since Walpole made the first gothic movement. Stoker also spent years studying vampires in folklore to make sure it was accurate. Dracula consists of one of the main points that needs to be in a gothic novel; The supernatural. One thing Dracula has a lot of is the supernatural with the folklore of vampires. Along with vampires comes the horror aspect as well gaining support from the supernatural and the setting of the dark and gloomy castle. Not to forget the romance behind it and how that plays a role in the creation of the genre itself. All in all it was one of the most popular books of that century. Dracula consists of a majority of the main points which makes it an iconic gothic novel along with all the others.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein has played many elements of Gothic to strengthen her horror stories. The two elements that make this type of text most active in text are character separation and the setting of shades where they are separated. Shelley also incorporates a scene containing sublime nature (Mont Blanc scene) to make monster even more strange, but the scene where he appears in the Gothic environment provides readers with more fear and increase the readers’ feelings about the vague presence and spirit of revenge.
Gothic novels focus on mysteries and supernatural. In Frankenstein, Sherry used a fairly magical environment to make Victor Frankenstein create this monster. For unnatural purposes. Shelly uses supernatural factors to promote death and terrible research on undeveloped science that most readers do not know. She also asked us to ask our views on the scientific experiments of Victor who used the dead. When I heard this story for the first time, Mary Sherry accomplished the desired result as Sir Byron said that he shouted from the room. So overall she delivers a gothic novel with the characteristics listed in the thesis.
In conclusion, the three main books listed are true gothic novels that show a great taste of every trait that makes the gothic genre popular as well as interesting to read. Entrancing the audience with its dark romance tone with a blend of two complete opposites. Showing us what truly makes a novel fit under the category of a gothic literature novel. All of these prominent authors have created a genre that will live on forever and inspire others for generations to come. Even to an extent they created the small sub genres that fall under gothic literature. Whether it be gloomy castle or a muddy swamp, a vampire or a ghost, a curse or prophecy, or a hero and a damsel in distress intertwined with romance and intense emotion; that is what will truly makes a gothic novel what it is meant to be.
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