19TH CENTURY GOTHIC LITERATURE SERIES

Sold for £480 via Bloomsbury Auctions (October 2012). For example, Gothic writer Mary Shelley set her scenes amid creepy locations such as graveyards, gloomy castles, and even developed the persona of a grotesque monster to emphasize the eerie plot of her 1818 novel Frankenstein. Castles, romanticized in the Medieval period, played a large role in early Gothic writings. Authors often used settings like dark forests, unnerving mountain regions, ominous climatic conditions, and threatening storms.

Gothic novelists set the tone by carefully choosing the physical location of a scene, as the atmosphere and environment of a Gothic novel directly contributed to the feeling of fear and uneasiness.

The superstitious nature of the title is ominous in itself, and Poe furthers the foreshadowing by naming one of the cats “Pluto,” a reference to the god of the dead in Roman mythology. Edgar Allan Poe uses this element in his short story, “The Black Cat,” published in 1843. For example, an object might fall and break or a shadowy figure might be lurking in the dark. Often, tragedies are preceded by bad luck, intended to derail the lives of main characters. Omens and Cursesįoreshadowing, a literary device used to hint at events to come, occurs in the form of visions, omens, and curses throughout many narratives in Gothic literature. The work included strange, fearful events and a haunting atmosphere that came to define the genre in the years to come. Aubert, an orphaned girl who was subjected to cruelties by guardians and imprisoned in castles. We see this in Ann Radcliffe’s 1794 novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho. Many Gothic works contain scenes, events and objects such as burials, flickering candles, evil potions, and other frightful concepts.Īnn Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho. Anything that is beyond scientific understanding lends way to mystery, and Gothic atmospheres leverage this principle. One of the crucial components of a captivating Gothic story evokes feelings of suspense and fear. There are many aspects of Gothic literature that make it compelling to audiences both then and now, which include mystery and suspense, atmosphere and setting, and omens and curses. Readers’ fascination with terror paved the way for a thrilling new ideal that helped popularize the movement. Many of the defining elements of Gothic literature parallel those of the Middle Ages, incorporating similar themes and settings.

19TH CENTURY GOTHIC LITERATURE SERIES

This fictional genre encompasses many different elements, and has undergone a series of revivals since its inception. Dark Romanticism is characterized by expressions of terror, gruesome narratives, supernatural elements, and dark, picturesque scenery. Gothic literature is a genre that emerged as one of the eeriest forms of Dark Romanticism in the late 1700s, a literary genre that emerged as a part of the larger Romanticism movement. Sold for $50 via National Book Auctions (June 2012). Although the books from these prolific writers were published centuries ago, today they provide a strong connection to the past and an important resource for both contemporary fiction writers and avid literary collectors alike. His tale of love, death, and supernatural elements paved the way for a fictional genre that has been explored by prominent authors from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, the Brontë sisters, and many more. Walpole used the word “Gothic” in the sense of “barbarous” or “deriving from Middle Ages,” and many were even fooled into believing his story actually held truth. Walpole applied the word in the subtitle, “A Gothic Story.” The use was intended to be a sophisticated joke to suggest that the story was an antique relic even though it was mere fiction.

The first mention of Gothic literature appeared in English writer Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764. It wasn’t until the Romantic era in the late 18th century that the word was applied to literature. The term “Gothic” was first used in conjunction with a Medieval style of ornate and intricate architecture that originated in France around the 12th century.

19th century gothic literature