GOTHIC

NOVEL

 PRESENTED BY:
KAUSHALYA T.MADHAVAN
KR.CHANDAN SINHA
 Gothic literature- genre that combines elements of both horror and
romance, believed to have been invented by Horace Walpole in 1764 in his
novel, The Castle of Otranto.

 Pleasing sort of terror, with melancholy and parody, especially self-

parody.

 Brought in a new wave of rejection of the clarity and rationalism of the

Enlightened.

 Gothic literature included elements of the fanciful medieval romance

and the strictly real modern novel.

 Gothic novels became socially acceptable, when Ann Radcliffe brought

in the explained supernatural technique and the impeccable conduct of
heroines.

 Parallel to English Gothic, Romantic literary movements developed in

continental Europe:
the ‘roman noir’ (“black novel”) in France,
spearheaded by Gaston Leroux (Phantom of the Opera),
 Marquis de Sade, the author of The Misfortunes of Virtue
and Eugenie de Franval,defined Gothic literature as “the
inevitable product of the revolutionary shock with which the whole
of Europe resounded.”

 He considered The Monk, written by Matthew Gregory

Lewis, a sly, tongue-in-cheek spoof of the emerging genre, to be
better than Ann Radcliffe’s works.

 The incorporation of the “Byronic hero” by Lady Caroline

Lamb in her novel Glenarvon through the character Lord
Ruthven, was an important development.

 First thought of by Ann Radcliffe, later developed into an

archetype characterised by a mysterious, magnetic and
charismatic nature, coupled with a high sense of intelligence
and cunning.
 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and John William Polidori’s The
Vampyre, were important contributions to Gothic literature.
With the arrival of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, the Bronte
 ELEMENTS OF A
GOTHIC NOVEL
 Includes negative characters like tyrants, villains etc.,
anti-heroes like Byronic hero, vampires, werewolves etc.,
mysterious characters like persecuted maidens, femme
fatales, fallen angels etc., and special characters like the
Wandering Jew and sometimes, the Devil himself.

 Backdrop settings include very tall buildings of the Gothic

style, highlighting “medievalness” – castles, mansions
and monasteries, often remote, crumbling and ruined. The
mystery and suspense of something inexplicable required
the appropriate background, and the medieval
architecture was apt for the purpose.

 The Byronic hero requires a special mention, as it is the

most important part of a Gothic novel. It provides the basic
aura of mystery.

 And the overpowering charisma of the Byronic hero,

acts as the sweep-you-off-your-feet factor.
Ann Radcliffe
 English author, one of the pioneers of Gothic literature.
 The first to introduce the technique of explained
supernatural, in which every supernatural intrusion is
eventually traced back to natural causes.
 Also brought in the impeccable conduct of heroines,
that struck the chord with the readers, transforming Gothic
novels into socially acceptable.
 Her most famous works include The Castles of Athlin
and Dunbayne, A Sicilian Romance, The Mysteries
of Udolpho and The Italian.
 Her works generally involved innocent but heroic young
women finding themselves in gloomy, mysterious castles,
ruled by even more mysterious barons with dark
pasts, which proved to be the earliest of Byronic heroes.
Edgar Allan Poe
 Part of the American Romantic movement, best known
for his tales of mystery and macabre.

 Wrote Gothic just to appease the public taste of the

time, but still gave some of the masterpieces of the
genre, like The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit
and the Pendulum and The Oval Portrait.

 Many of his works are generally considered part of the

“dark romanticism” genre, which Poe strongly
disliked.

 The Fall of the House of Usher, in particular, is

considered the best example of Poe’s totality, where
every element and detail is related and relevant.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
 Like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works are
considered part of the Romantic movement, and dark
romanticism in particular.
 His works feature moral allegories with a Puritan
inspiration and themes often center on the inherent evil
and sin of humanity, and have moral messages and
deep psychological complexity.
 Young Goodman Brown is set in Puritan New England,
Hawthorne’s favourite, and brings out the problem of
public goodness and private wickedness.
 The Minister’s Black Veil, in which the protagonist
Reverand Hooper suddenly and inexplicably starts
wearing a black veil, is Hawthorne’s most contentious
work, and the last hundred years have produced a wide
body of scholarship aimed at making sense of it.
Abraham Stoker
 Bram Stoker is mainly famed worldwide for his epistolary
novel Dracula.
 Some of his novels like The Lady of the Shroud
(1909) can be seen as early science fiction. He believed
in the concept of scientific racism drawing on his belief in
Phrenology and these fears form elements in novels like
Dracula.
 It is also reflected in his interest in early theories of
criminology -he read both Cesare Lombroso and Max
Nordau and used them in Dracula.
 Stoker's novel, Dracula deals in general with the conflict
between the world of the past — full of folklore, legend,
and religious piety — and the emerging modern world of
technology, positivism, and secularism.
 Mary Shelley
 Shelley uses the historical novel to comment on
gender relations; for example, Valperga is a
feminist version of Scott's masculinist genre.
Introducing women into the story who are not part
of the historical record, Shelley uses their
narratives to question established theological and
political institutions.
 Her most famous novel are Frankenstein or The
Modern Prometheus.
 It is interesting to note that Frankenstein started
off as merely a short story. But the writer was so
drawn into the idea that she decided to make it
into a fully fledged novel.
Robert Louis Stevenson
 Robert Louis Stevenson is the author of many famous
and world-renowned novels such as The Strange
Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(1886),
Kidnapped(1886) and Treasure Island(1883).
 Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), a
novella about a dual personality much depicted in
plays and films, also influential in the growth of
understanding of the subconscious mind through its
treatment of a kind and intelligent doctor who turns
into a monster after imbibing a drug intended to
separate good from evil in a personality.
 His most successful book Treasure Island(1883) was
made into many feature/animated films as it was a
novel that could be read by an audience consisting of
almost all age groups.
 Suggested Reading
 The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole
 The Mysteries of Udolpho ; The Italian – Ann
Radcliffe
 The Monk – Matthew Gregory Lewis
 Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
 The Vampyre – John William Polidori
 Melmoth the Wanderer – Charles Maturin
 Young Goodman Brown; The Minister’s Black Veil –
Nathaniel Hawthorne
 Fall of the House of Usher; The Oval Portrait; The Pit
and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe
 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
 The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
 Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier