The
of societal fears and subjects that are
Evolution of Gothic
Literature
What makes Gothic fiction so
enduring?
By Sophie Deavin
Gothic Literature has been stimulating
and scaring responders for over 250
years. But what makes this genre so
captivating?
Gothic fiction combines elements of both
horror and romance beginning as a
subset of romanticism. Gothic literature
expresses the deepest human fears and
satisfies the unexplainable curiosity that
humans obtain for mystery. This genre
allows for the exploration and discussion
considered as taboo, fueling our cultural
obsession with the gothic. The mystery
and terror of the genre is intriguing to
people and continues to be presented in
different ways as the genre endures
various contexts, with different cultural
values and discourses. Gothic texts
consist of various literary devices and
techniques to meet gothic
characteristics. These characteristics
were launched in Horace Walpoles
creepy tale of The Castle of Otranto in
1764, paving the way for the stimulating
genre. In his novel, Walpole sought to
blend together fantastical nature, with
grounded reality, by placing ordinary
people in extraordinary situations. This
blend is now a constant theme within
gothic texts, enduring multiple contexts.
1764
Much of what
characterises the
gothic genre is
setting. In The
Castle of Otranto The story takes place
in a foreign country, in a medieval castle,
with towers and secret passageways. The
castle is eerie and ominous, plagued by
creaking hinges, trap doors, the wailing
winds and the creepily life-like quality of
people in paintings. These Gothic setting
techniques were inspired by Walpoles
fascination with medieval history and
artefacts. The conventions used in The
Castle of Otranto began an enormously
powerful tradition that continues to the
present day in hundreds of books,
television programs and films, for
example Harry Potter and Twilight.
Otranto made some of us cry a little,
and all in general afraid to go to bed
onight - Thomas Grey (poet)
Gothic Fiction is fascinated by strange
places that are in widely remote
landscapes and places of imprisonment.
Dracula, produced in 1897 uses the ideal
of imprisonment through Paul Jonathan
Harker, being a normal person captured
by count Dracula, imprisoned in a
violently archaic world. Dracula moves
from a modern world, of typewriters,
sonography and modern trains,
suddenly to a world which reaches back
to most archaic and distant senses of
time. Author, Bram Stoker attempts to
see the relationship between the modern
world and the past, not as evolution
development. This is shown through
sudden juxtaposition and often, violent
conflict, in which the past erupts within
the present and deranges it. One of the
most powerful motifs of this is the ghost,
the thing that you think is dead, but
comes back vividly alive. When asked
about descriptive techniques used when
writing gothic stories, novelist Sarah
Perry states, I want the reader to feel
the terror, and the awe, and the
strangeness that the characters do.
Mary Shelley
1818 wrote
Frankenstein in
1818. Being apart
of the Victorian
era, the context
provided the text
with societal
values. Citizens in
the contextual
setting lived by
the expectations
that are put in
place by society.
The novel depicts that the primary
society values at the time were based
around ones appearance. The text
describes Frankensteins face as hideous,
causing fear and horror to many people.
Due to this, it can be concluded that
Frankensteins outwards appearance
didnt meet social standards, with his
appearance making him an outsider,
neglected by everyone, even his creator.
While the society at large always appears
bourgeois in its culture and morality, the
Gothic outsider is a counterforce driven
by strange longings and destructive
needs. Gothic fiction, is concerned with
the outsider, being one its main
conventions. Frankenstein straddles
these categories, seeking company for to
fulfil his loneliness. He is gloomy and
melancholy, full of self-pity and self-
hatred, being a perpetual outsider
marked by his appearance. On many
levels the convention of the outsider
can be relatable to responders globally,
as fitting in with social norms is not
always easy for everyone. This
convention contributed to the gothic
genres enduring value as responders
connect emotionally through the
reliability if the outsider.
1886
During the
Victorian era
many facts that
were believed to
be true, that had controlled peoples life
and opinions, had been proven wrong by
scientific discoveries. The themes of
good and evil that are shown in many
Gothic novels, questions whether it is
morally right to take the life away from
something living. Their ideas originate
from the bible and many novels
representing the idea that good will
always overcome or defeat evil.
However, during the Victorian era this
idea was challenged by Gothic fiction
which indicated that evil was in fact the
stronger and more dominant force, as
shown in the novel of Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde in 1886 by Robert Louis
Stevenson where the evil personality
dominates the good one. In this text,
good vs evil, is its main gothic
convention among many. Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde are viewed as an allegory about
the good and evil that exist in all
mankind, applying the struggle which
occurs with these two sides of human
personality. Ideals of good and evil face
responders with the moral question of
whether or not good can be separated
from evil, or whether the two are forever
intertwined with one not significantly
overbearing the other.
This gothic convention of good vs evil is
also present in The Castle of Otranto
among other gothic texts, showcasing
the balance between spiritual belief and
worldly desires. Walpole emphasises this
conflict through the character Manfred
as he attempts to preserve his rule by
committing sins. In this circumstance
Walpole sets up a binary between
spiritual and worldly desires, that in
some ways every characters worldly
desires are thwarted by forces attributed
to heaven. The stance of good vs evil,
invites responders to form their own
opinions on moral issues, deciding what
is right from wrong. This moral closure,
is prominent among all eras,
contributing to the fascination of the
gothic, making it an ongoing genre still
current in society today.
the myth into literature that the vampire
gained real popularity as a figure of
horror and intrigue. Bram Stoker, author
of Dracula composed in 1897
revolutionised many of the tropes we
now associate with vampires, including
their un-dead state and blood-sucking.
The stereotypical theory that vampires
only come out in the dark as they cant
be seen in the sun adds to the creatures
terror and dread. In the Victorian era,
this period being the time of many
notable compositions of gothic texts,
there was a strong belief in the witching
hour. This was usually considered at
midnight, and it was believed that this
was when creatures such as witches,
demons and ghosts are thought to
appear and be at their most powerful,
through the use of black magic. This
myth was widely accepted among the
era, being suspected to be true.
Therefore, these gothic composers based
some of their storyline on this matter
making the fear of supernatural beings
feel more realistic to responders,
enhancing emotions of terror.
An interview conducted by the National
University spoke on how Gothic fiction
influences modern horror textual trends.
The university interviewed Professor
Franz J. Potter, an individual who
oversees the M.A in English program,
which includes a specialisation in gothic
studies. Dr Potter states in the interview
The notion of haunted or ghoulish

1897
Recently,
vampires and all
things mystical
have become
increasingly popular among
contemporary audiences, thanks in large
to Stephanie Meyers Twilight series.
Although, the myth of the vampire has
been around for centuries, it was not
until a select group of writers brought
clowns has exploded lately in popular
culture and become a mainstay of social
media, he said, but it all has its roots in
gothic literature, adding that "we've
taken the genre a step further, adapting
the tried and true themes from gothic
literature and applying them to new
settings and situations. Ultimately they
remind us that monsters could be real,
and are still among us.

Due to the establishment of vampire
tropes, vampires and other mystical
beings made an increased appeared
among gothic texts. One text in
particular recognises by made in the 21st
century is Stephanie Meyers works of
Twilight. Twilight intertwines multiple
gothic conventions such as setting,
However, Meyers story is based around
a family of vampires trying to interact
and live a normal life among humans
those that they feast upon! This storyline
once again meeting gothic
characteristics established by The Castle
of Otranto s author Horace Walpoles instincts should warn her that Edward is
original intent to blend together
fantastical nature, with grounded reality.
Placing supernatural beings in a setting
among normal people, makes it easy for
responders to be intrigued by the
narration, being able to relate on some
kind of level and perhaps spark thought
about what that would actually be like
and if there is a possibility of that
occurring, in everyday life. "That's an
example of gothic literature creeping
down into young adult fiction," - Dr J.
Potter
1997
Although, the
supernatural isnt
just vampires, the
supernatural is
defined as events or things that cannot
be explain by nature or science, and that
are assumed to originate from
otherworldly forces. Harry Potter and
the Sorcerers stone produced in 1997 by
J.K Rowling is filled with all things
mystical, providing a doorway to the
magical world. In addition to variety of
witches and wizards, there are magic
trains, magic candles, and several area
dedicated to magical commerce. Harry
Potter meets established Gothic
conventions being set in a castle
populated by supernatural beings such
as ghosts, poltergeists, strange creatures
including centaurs, unicorns and creepy
crawlies. A boarding school, often
thought of as an ordinary thing, becomes
tinged through and through with the
extra-ordinary, with magic, supporting
Walpole's original intent to blend
together fantastical nature, with
grounded reality.
2005
Twilight is a story
of forbidden love.
Edward being a
vampire and Bella
being human places an ordinary person
in an extra-ordinary situation.
Forbidden love is a gothic convention
established from early gothic texts. In
twilight, Edward loves Bella although,
his primal instincts lead him to thirst for
her blood. Similarly, Bellas natural
dangerous, that she should stay away
from him, but instead she craves being
near him at all time. Due to their
forbidden love, Bella is put into a
situation in which they are confronted by
irrational kinds of desire or making their
life at risk. This threat, also meets the
gothic convention of a threatened or
distressed heroine. In Gothic literature,
women long for as well as resist male
approval. This focus on the centrality
and vulnerability introduces a new type
of character made popular by the Gothic
genre: the Damsel in Distress. The
Damsel in Distress is a chief character
in Gothic literature, where she is
typically incarcerated in a castle or
monastery and terrorised by a sadistic
nobleman, or members of the religious
order. In twilight, due to Bellas
circumstances she is put at risk in many
ways, forcing responders to feel scared
and tense due to the female being made
vulnerable in threatening circumstances.
The convention of forbidden love,
contributes to the enduring value of
gothic fiction. This convention is
relatable among all eras as people are
put in situations where they love
someone who they arent supposed to.
Gothic literature stimulates and
intrigues responders throughout
multiple contexts due to its various
conventions and enduring value. The
setting of the text, whether it be
thunderous, in a gloomy isolated castle
or set underneath a full moon and
engulfing darkness, the responder gets a
sense of mystery and dread, urging them
to keep watching as the spooky setting
implies that something, more than often
bad or scary is about to occur. The use of
the outsider with gothic fiction, makes
this element relatable for responders
that may too feel as though they are an
outcast in society. This convention also
forces responders to have empathy
towards the character. Conventions of
the good versus the evil, invites
responders to gather their own opinion
on moral issues and whether they
believe it would be right or wrong,
stimulating thought and sparking
conversation, further promoting this
mysterious genre. The use of the
supernatural adds the element of fear to
the storyline of gothic texts, providing
audiences with an adrenaline like rush,
capturing responders, sparking interest,
not letting their gaze leave the page. The
threatened female in these stories, scares
responders as they worry for the safety
of the vulnerable, innocent female,
forcing them to keep reading till they are
safe. Finally, the forbidden love present
is a relatable and an enduring
convention that would arise among
many contexts, appealing to those who
are in relationship or situations where
their love is forbidden. This relatability
is what makes responders enjoy the text,
connecting to the literature on a whole
new level.

From the gothic genres birth in 1764

with Horace Walpoles text The Castle of
Otranto, the genre has endured multiple
contexts, continuing to be prevalent in
our society. The stories and characters of
early gothic stories have been
appropriated and adapted in many
different ways, which continue to draw
responders in. This suggests that our
cultural obsession with the gothic is
unchanging, as societys hidden fears
and the exploration of these will
continue to intrigue and stimulate
readers for many years to come.