The Gothic in Literature
The gothic in literature began with Horace Walpole’s novel, The castle of Otranto (1765). The book vas very popular and quickly imitated by other novelists and soon gothic became a recognizable genre. Gothic literature often takes place in times like the Middle Ages. The Gothic creates feelings of gloom, mystery, and suspense and tends to the dramatic and the sensational, like incest, diabolism, and nameless terrors.
Some typical Gothic features are:
These elements are often combined in gothic literature, and today the elements have made their way into mainstream writing, such as the work of Stephen King. The gothic novel was very popular between 1760 and 1820. I think the best description of Gothic literature is, poetry short, stories, or novels designed to thrill readers by providing mystery and blood-curdling accounts of villainy, murder, and the supernatural.
By: Casper Carlsén
Some typical Gothic features are:
- A castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not,
- Dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics,
- Labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs,
- Shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or an electric failure),
- Omens and ancestral curses,
- Magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural,
- A passion-driven, wilful villain-hero or villain,
- A hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel,
- Horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings.
These elements are often combined in gothic literature, and today the elements have made their way into mainstream writing, such as the work of Stephen King. The gothic novel was very popular between 1760 and 1820. I think the best description of Gothic literature is, poetry short, stories, or novels designed to thrill readers by providing mystery and blood-curdling accounts of villainy, murder, and the supernatural.
By: Casper Carlsén