Gothic Literature in Britain and America
Gothic literature has been a fascination of mine since boyhood, so it was inevitable that I should jot down some thoughts upon the subject sooner or later. Since those thoughts are both nebulous and extensive, I doubt I can make a definitive statement of them at this time in my life, when I am distracted by many things. For that reason, I should like to reshape some simple pedagogical materials I have previously prepared for the classroom and hope that this may provide an outline of the subject matter that is not entirely redundant and that contains something of my feeling for the genre.
First of all, my relationship with the Gothic is that of both insider and outsider. When I discovered Gothicism I recognised some deep part of myself within it, but at the same time, recognised its remoteness and exoticism. I never really attempted to study the subject until relatively late in thirty two years of my existence so far. Instead, being the dreamer that I am, I merely allowed my imagination to play with the associations that the literature, and the word ‘Gothic’ itself provided me. For some reason the word ‘Gothic’ seems particularly resonant with association. To a degree, it is almost preferable for me simply to daydream on the word itself rather than to sample the often flawed productions of the genre; such is the dense power of association the word possesses. When we look at that word’s history we may find that some of it corresponds with those associations in a way that almost seems to argue for the reality of race memory. Some of it, however, is strange and counterintuitive. This phenomenon corresponds with my feeling of being at once an insider and an outsider to the genre. In any case, it is the history of the word and its associations that I wish to explore briefly here.
The word ‘Goth’ derives originally from certain Germanic tribes who made attacks on the Roman Empire between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD. Since Rome and Greece were the seat of civilisation, the people of Northern Europe were considered barbarians. Indeed, the words ‘Goth’ and ‘Gothic’ have become synonymous with barbarism.
You may also be familiar with the word ‘Gothic’ as an architectural term. Gothic architecture was prevalent in Western Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries. The style is best known for the pointed-arch that was a feature of Gothic churches.
Gothic literature, however, has little to do with Gothic architecture. In literature, the word ‘Gothic’ refers to a mode of fiction dealing with supernatural or horrifying events. At least, that is the dictionary definition. However, if we look more closely we will find that not all Gothic literature is concerned with the supernatural, and not all Gothic literature is horrifying. Rather, the term ‘Gothic’ as applied to literature refers to a kind of atmosphere or aesthetic that, while it is hard to define, may be understood at an instinctive level, in a way similar to that in which Japanese terms such as ‘wabi’ and ‘sabi’ are also hard to define, but are immediately evocative to someone with the right cultural background.
Gothic literature is generally believed to have begun in the year 1765 with the publication of The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole. It should be noted that this novel was published in the 18th century, after the philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment had attempted to bring reason to the world, and to banish superstition. The Castle of Otranto, therefore, was consciously written, in an almost post-modern manner, as a means of recapturing the atmosphere of a barbaric past; Horace Walpole made use of the superstitions of the past, without believing in them, as a means of freeing the imagination. Walpole himself, again using a literary device that to our eyes may appear post-modern, presented the novel as a manuscript he had merely discovered and translated, writing of it in his introduction as follows:
…[this] work can only be laid before the public at present as a matter of entertainment. Even as such, some apology for it is necessary. Miracles, visions, necromancy, dreams, and other preternatural events, are exploded now even from romances. That was not the case when our author wrote; much less when the story itself is supposed to have happened. Belief in every kind of prodigy was so established in those dark ages, that an author would not be faithful to the manners of the time who should omit mention of them. He is not bound to believe them himself, but he must represent his actors as believing them.
The title of the novel also gives us a clue to some of the essential elements of Gothic literature. The key word here is ‘castle’. For Gothic literature often focuses on huge and ancient buildings such as castles. Those ancient buildings may be viewed as symbolic of the unique atmosphere of Gothic literature; the writing style of Gothic novels is as heavy as castle masonry, and as gloomy as the maze-like corridors of such a mediaeval building.
Chris Baldick, in his introduction to The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales, has suggested that Edgar Allan Poe marks a turning point in the Gothic genre; before ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, he says, the keynote of Gothic fiction was cruelty, after, it was decay. In both cases the atmosphere is one of oppression and anxiety. Cruelty was part of the Gothic castle because of the dungeons where kidnapped damsels were imprisoned by evil monks or scheming Italian counts. In these dungeons all manner of unspeakable tortures were carried out. Decay was part of the castle because of its terrible age. I would add here that, although when I first read Baldick’s theory, it seemed to make intuitive sense to me – since I associated Gothicism with decay rather than the violence that one usually finds in what is simply called ‘horror’, and since I was surprised to discover the extent of the actual violence in early Gothic tales – I have come to wonder whether his theory is not based purely on personal impression. That is, both violence and decay seem to play a large part in Gothic literature before and after Poe. If this is true, then why does Baldick’s theory seem so intuitively correct? This is an interesting question that I feel is worth exploring further, but I lack the time and resources to do such at present. This, no doubt, is an area to be expanded upon if I live to write the extended version of this essay.
Although the original barbarian tribes known by the name ‘Goth’ were associated with Northern Europe, it is interesting to note that many Gothic writers set their tales in Southern Europe. In The Castle of Otranto, for instance, it is an Italian prince who schemes to avert the curse brought on his family when his grandfather usurped the principality of Otranto. For the writers of these early Gothic tales, Southern Europe is now the source of barbarism. One reason for this is probably the fact that most Gothic writers were Protestant. Catholicism was seen as a superstitious form of Christianity, and therefore closer to barbarism. In fact, in his introduction, Walpole fictitiously claims of the manuscript that:
[it] was found in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England… The principal incidents are such as were believed in the darkest ages of christianity…
This distrust of Catholicism can be seen in later Gothic works, such as The Monk, by Matthew Lewis, and Melmoth the Wanderer, by Charles Maturin, both of which feature evil Catholic monks who imprison innocent maidens in the darkest cells of their monasteries. Although some people (professor Edith Birkhead being one of them) believe Gothic fiction to have ended with Melmoth the Wanderer, the same anti-Catholic theme may even be seen in Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’, which depicts the tortures of the Spanish Inquisition. In fact, Poe, who came after Charles Maturin – the latter of whom professor Birkhead named "the greatest as well as the last of the Goths" – is quite possibly the writer whom most readers today would first associate with the term ‘Gothic’.
After Matthew Lewis and Charles Maturin, other famous writers in the Gothic tradition are Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, Emily Bronte, author of Wuthering Heights, H. P. Lovecraft and Mervyn Peake.
Looking at the list of writers above, we may begin to see how inadequate the dictionary definition of Gothic literature is. The supernatural plays no part in Shelley’s Frankenstein, for instance. In fact, Frankenstein may also be considered an early work of science fiction. In that sense it represents a development in the Gothic genre. H. P. Lovecraft brought about another such shift in the genre by abandoning all notions of a Christian god and the battle between good and evil; he represented the universe as being ruled by forces entirely alien to mankind. Often decayed Gothic buildings appear in his stories, but it is the atmosphere and use of language that are Gothic, rather than the technical details of the content. Lovecraft’s brand of fiction has also been called ‘cosmic horror’.
Mervyn Peake is another writer whose work is Gothic without adhering to the dictionary definition of that term. For there are no supernatural events in the Gormenghast trilogy that form Peake’s most famous work, and though some of the episodes in the three books are horrifying, horror is not an outstanding feature of the stories. Gormenghast, in true Gothic tradition, does have a vast decaying castle – the Gormenghast of the title – but this fact aside, it is only really the inherited aesthetic, the oppressive atmosphere and the writing style that makes Peake’s work Gothic.
Of course, whether or not such writers fall technically within the confines of the Gothic genre is a matter of debate, and since some declare the Gothic genre to have finished with Melmoth the Wanderer, presumably they would also deny that the works of Lovecraft or Peake are Gothic. Yet who today can read ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ or Titus Groan and not be tempted to attach the epithet ‘Gothic’ to these works? As I stated at the outset, the word ‘Gothic’ works by way of deep instinctive associations that are hard to define. Perhaps a study could be devised whereby new readers were asked to classify a variety of writers with single words. In such a case, my guess is that readers’ subjective responses could be found to be empirically consistent, for whatever reason, on the matter of the Gothic nature of certain works not recognised by many scholars as Gothic.
As to whether the Gothic tradition still exists today, I would say that it does. The most obvious heir to the throne in the crumbling castle of the Gothic is the American writer Thomas Ligotti. He follows H. P. Lovecraft in depicting a universe that is, from the point of view of humanity, entirely evil. He deals in the supernatural with a writing style that is heavy and oppressive, and he has a fascination with decay.
In one of his most recent tales, My Work is Not Yet Done, the hero, who spends much time in photographing derelict, decaying buildings, states that:
…I was seeking… the sabi of things utterly dejected and destitute, alone and forgotten – whatever was submitting to its essential impermanence, its transitory nature, whatever was teetering on the brink of non-existence…
Although I am not aware that Ligotti has described himself as Gothic, I do know that he has placed Edgar Allan Poe squarely within the Gothic tradition, and placed himself squarely within the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft.
It seems that The Castle of Otranto has cast a long shadow, which extends to the present day. The Gothic genre has shifted from an emphasis on superstition and cruelty, to an emphasis on decay, to an emphasis on cosmic horror. I await future developments with keen interest.
OldStudent writes:
Quentin: One other thing – that clip at the very top of the essay; is that another version of Fuseli’s “The Nightmare”? I know that he did at least three versions and that they later (1798 or so)wound up as a lithograph and got pretty widely disseminated.I’m not sure if it is apocryphal or not but the story is that none other than Freud himself had a copy of the original hanging in his office.Good choice for such a juicy subject.
OldStudent writes:
Sorry, but I am not sure how to contact you via Opera. Perhaps you could explain how that is done. I have attempted to join but the site keeps asking me to “verify a new password”.And, by the way, on another subject: I checked out the “Rite of Love and Death”. Astounding. I don’t think that I had seen that clip since I was in college the first time in the late 60s. Fascinating. And nice of you to post it. Pieces like that one should be kept alive forever.
OldStudent writes:
Thanks, Q; I’ve been away as well during semester break. Now in the midst of my winter break reading frenzy. Slogging my way through the selected works of Faulkner, Updike, Maugham, Poe and a bit of Bradbury and Stephen King, just for fun. And for the history majors, try Meachem’s American Lion. A good read on a president little studied, Andrew Jackson. The real precursor to today’s powerful and unilateral leaders. He certainly set the stage for the current American style of executive office holder.I’ll send the research paper to you via separate email. And, you’re right in deleting the posting with your address – there are way too many crazies out there with too much time and too few brain cells.Thanks again.
Anonymous writes:
I think you really help me with me assignment.. I am able to understand more.. and for those who said shite about your work, tell them to suck it!!! If they dont know anything about it.. why google it and why spending time reading it even! Thank you
Hello. Thank you. I’m glad to be of help. I think the trolls here don’t actually read the article. My guess is that they just see the word ‘Gothic’ and feel the need to expose their ignorance by making cowardly aggressive comments.
chiikyz writes:
:happy: thanks i need it this!!
Anonymous writes:
:happy: thanks i need it this!!
Happy to oblige.
Anonymous writes:
“I think you really help me with me assignment..” and “thanks I need it this!” Does anyone speak or write in English any longer? What morons are teaching these young people to speak and write?!?!? Has the world become a video game? Does anyone read any longer? God help me, but I’m out of here.Good luck in running your world, it is no longer mine.
Anonymous writes:
very nice. it helped me a lot thanks(ignore the other anonymous writer. they will soon get tired of writing the not-nice comments)
I have a question. Do you think that Gothicism can still be considered valid outside of its time frame in 18th and 19th century? Although I believe there are certainly some very VALID Gothic novels, the genre should only exist within that time frame and all other Gothic works are imitations. The genre came about because of specific social and historical forces which can never be replicated. I am interested in hearing your view on this subject.:)
Anonymous writes:youre all dipshits and screw u idiots learn to read
Anonymous….. writes:
Do the people who leave negative comments here realize that they are free to not read this?Your article was very insightful, I wish it was longer just so that I could get more information. This has helped out so much with my research paper on the gothic literature movement and how it affected author’s from the time period, as well as more modern offers. I love your diction, by the way. I was also wondering what you think of Anne Rice as a mordern Gothic author, if you have the time. =]
Hello. Thank you.I’m afraid I haven’t been answering very promptly of late, but I’ll try to answer these recent comments soon.
Ildefonso writes:
Your entry is just amazing. I’ve learned a lot from your blog. I had no idea where the word “goth” and “gothic” originated from. You see, I’m an 11th grader doing a five page research paper on Gothic Literature. You’ve helped me a lot on organizing my thoughts and understanding of Gothic work. I thank you many times.As for the whole “troll” infestation. I think you don’t delete the comments because they’re simply entertaining to cut down. Without them you’d be a little bored. Its amusing to read the ignorance of some people just because they stereotype the words they see. I doubt they have the slightest clue to what your whole entry was about or how much it contributes. Very great write though. I love your writing and how you pen your words.
Hello Ildefonso.I must confess to being very lazy about updating the comments section here, not answering questions that I really should, so I thank you very much for taking the time to comment. You know, being British (actually it’s been a while since I’ve been in school, so for all I know the British system may have changed to resemble the American), I don’t know how old an 11th grader is. I mention it because I don’t know what stage of education you are at. However, as you know, intelligence has nothing to do with age. The trolls here don’t have age as an excuse, although they could always blame their parents, I suppose.Thank you,Quentin.
Anonymous writes:Dhis Shit Is So Like Ugh…
quentinschip writes:I actually enjoyed reading the essay – a very handy overview. A nice writing style as well, I’m completely with you on dreaming about the word ‘gothic’ over actually coming to terms with its malleable definition and history.
Hello. Thank you. Interesting name you have.
Anonymous writes:Hawthorne:Thank you for the helpful information. Like many have posted before me, it was helpful to a paper I’ve been working on. Please consider adding sources somewhere on your page; I think it would be great for a reference or works cited page.Also, I wanted to ask your opinion of the genre when applied to American literature (like the shift from decaying architecture to the wilderness). I’d really like to hear your thoughts on it.
Anonymous writes:Hawthorne:Thank you for the helpful information. Like many have posted before me, it was helpful to a paper I’ve been working on. Please consider adding sources somewhere on your page; I think it would be great for a reference or works cited page.Also, I wanted to ask your opinion of the genre when applied to American literature (like the shift from decaying architecture to the wilderness). I’d really like to hear your thoughts on it.
Hello Hawthorne.Too often I intend to answer queries later after I’ve thought about it, or looked something up, and I never get round to it, so I thought I’d attempt a reply here even though I haven’t thought about it (and have just got out of bed).In 2005 I attended a very interesting seminar in Eton about the Gothic in literature, at which a number of lecturers spoke, including at least two from the Americas, who made some very interesting points about the American Gothic. One of them began his lecture by showing the following and asking, “What’s wrong with this picture?”http://home.comcast.net/~godlikepoet/images/Modren_Art/american-gothic-large4.jpgThe question was not so much about the picture itself, actually, but just the idea of ‘the American Gothic’ that it was portraying. He went on to talk about how the American relationship to the Gothic is quite different to the European relationship in the sense that, although the Gothic in both cases deals with a struggle against atavistic powers, for Americans, those atavistic powers were the Europe they had left behind. There coud also be an element in the European Gothic of gaining strength from one’s roots, but in the American Gothic this was far more problematical. This isn’t my area of expertise at all, so I can’t give a very good account of that lecture now. I’ll have to look up the programme for that seminar again some time, and see if I can track down the material. All the lectures were pretty fascinating.I think the decaying building is still very much in evidence in the American Gothic, as evidenced in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, but other elements creep in, too, and I think your mention of the wilderness is very astute. Perhaps one example of this would be Lovecraft’s ‘The Picture in the House’, which seems to anticipate the films Deliverance and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The idea has become that the Puritan settlers (such as those shown in the painting linked to) have inbred in isolation (often in the Southern States, though in Lovecraft’s case it’s generally ancient New England) and become the ultimate horror. The opening of ‘The Picture in the House’ could almost be seen as the manifesto for this kind of horror:http://www.classicreader.com/book/2718/1/In such houses have dwelt generations of strange people, whose like the world has never seen. Seized with a gloomy and fanatical belief which exiled them from their kind, their ancestors sought the wilderness for freedom. There the scions of a conquering race indeed flourished free from the restrictions of their fellows, but cowered in an appalling slavery to the dismal phantasms of their own minds. Divorced from the enlightenment of civilization, the strength of these Puritans turned into singular channels; and in their isolation, morbid self-repression, and struggle for life with relentless Nature, there came to them dark furtive traits from the prehistoric depths of their cold Northern heritage.Notice how the quest for freedom simply leads them back into another slavery.Of course, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter also deals with the tyranny of Puritanism. This is, of course, quite opposite to the British Gothic tendency, in which it was the babaric Catholic Church that was seen as the source of tyranny. I suppose the problem in the American Gothic is that it is precisely what was meant to bring freedom that turns into Gothic tyranny.I’m also aware of a whole sub-genre called ‘Southern Gothic’ in which I’m increasingly interested. I’m not sure I know enough about it to effectively say how it differs from traditional Gothic literature, but I’m guessing that many of the same circumstances that gave rise to delta blues also gave rise to the Southern Gothic. Also, the Catholic element returns in the Southern Gothic, I believe, but in probably a different way.
Anonymous writes:man this is some messed up shit
Thank you.
wolfen writes:interesting. i enjoyed it, then again i do have possession of a thing called a brain. i like the site and i hope he adds to it.i will be back….definitely…..yes
Thank you, Wolfen. Please feel free to come back any time.
Anonymous writes:thankyou soooooo much!!!! you have been sooooo helpful! we had lodes of english hw this weekend and we had to make a leaflet on gothic fiction. you have been so helpful! i dont know why these ‘trolls’ keep coming and writing horrible messages. who would do somthing like that just to upset people? it just isnt right! anyway, i was wondering if you knew the tiltles of any gothic books, other than the ones you have mensioned in your essay, we’ve got another hw about that coming up. thanks so much!
Anonymous writes:thankyou soooooo much!!!! you have been sooooo helpful! we had lodes of english hw this weekend and we had to make a leaflet on gothic fiction. you have been so helpful! i dont know why these ‘trolls’ keep coming and writing horrible messages. who would do somthing like that just to upset people? it just isnt right! anyway, i was wondering if you knew the tiltles of any gothic books, other than the ones you have mensioned in your essay, we’ve got another hw about that coming up. thanks so much!
TwilightVampGoth writes:I just wanted to say that this site has been a lifesaver. Thank you for writing this! I have do to a paper on Gothic Novels and why the story “Rebecca” is one and now I have a basis to start my reasearch from. Don’t worry I will not actually take your ideas, but now I understand Gothic literature so much better
Thank you Anonymous and TwilightVampGoth.i was wondering if you knew the tiltles of any gothic books, other than the ones you have mensioned in your essay, we’ve got another hw about that coming up. thanks so much!The ones mentioned are worth investigating, too, but in terms of contemporary fiction, Poppy Z. Brite and Patrick McGrath are worth investigating (for instance, Swamp Foetus by the former and Asylum by the latter). I don’t think I mentioned Ann Redcliffe in the essay. Her books are long and slow-burning, but they are a very significant part of the Gothic tradition – that part of the tradition that is particularly about fainting heroines being kidnapped and tied up in decaying dungeons by Italian counts. Of Radcliffe’s work I’d recommend The Romance of the Forest, as I managed to finish reading that one. There’s also The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore. In fact, there are many, many others. Even such novels as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are often considered to be Gothic. In terms of general reading, two volumes worth acquiring are The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales mentioned above, and Three Gothic Novels:http://www.amazon.com/Three-Gothic-Novels-Otranto-Vampyre/dp/0486212327I would say that one of my favourite Gothic writers is Mary Shelley. Frankenstein is well worth reading, as is her lesser known work The Last Man.I just wanted to say that this site has been a lifesaver. Thank you for writing this! I have do to a paper on Gothic Novels and why the story “Rebecca” is one and now I have a basis to start my reasearch from.Ah yes, Manderley is in many ways the classic Gothic mansion, haunted, as it is, by the tyrannical presence of Rebecca. Good luck with your paper!
crackers writes:Thanks very much for this site. The long term interest that you have here probably is proof that gothic resonates with many people. Can you answer me one question – what was the cause of Gothic? If the Englightenment wanted to rid the world of superstition, then why did they want to show that there were such superstitions as a ‘soul’ in Pictrue of Dorian Gray?
Hello Crackers.Thanks for commenting.Well, The Picture of Dorian Gray was by Oscar Wilde, so you’d have to look into his particular reasons for writing that. However, to answer in general terms, I’m fairly sure that most of the important figures in the European Enlightenment believed in the existence of a soul. However, many of the things that they gave the world – like the empirical method of scientific investigation – are things associated with today with atheism. Even Darwin was a Christian for much of his life.I personally don’t see the idea of a soul as something that is necessarily inconsistent with the findings of empirical investigation – rather, it lies outside of the understanding of science as it currently exists. If you want to find out more about the development of Western thought, I highly recommend The Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas. It’s a big book, but it contains so much information it’s like reading twenty books.There’s also something else that is of relevance here. The rational mood of the enlightenment is – I would say – precisely what gave rise to the Gothic movement in literature, since the latter was a reaction to the former. In some way, I would suggest, rationalism was seen as constricting the imagination, and Gothic writers, consciously or otherwise, were rebelling against such constriction. It’s not a simple issue, though, as in many ways they may have been on the side of rationalism.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment#Intellectual_interpretation
a nice Anonymous writes:thanks loads for this…i was stuck on a gothic essay i have to do and thats given me some ideas 😀
Not at all. Thank you.
M3GZ♪ writes:THANXX XD!!!
M3GZ♪ writes:I’m in grade 8 and this site helped me alot. Thanxx XD!!!P.S.ALL THE REST OF YOU IGNORANT FUCKS CAN GO TO HELL!!! IF U DON’T LIKE IT THEN DON’T GO ON THE FUCKING SITE DUMBASS’!!!HOW WOULD U LIKE IT IF U DID A REALLY AWESOME PROJECT OR ESSAY AND A BUNCH OF PEOPLE DISSED U OR SAID IT WAS SHITTY?!?!?!?! WOULD U BE HAPPY?!?!?!?
Hello M3GZ.Thank you for you comment. Please feel welcome to drop round any time.
Anonymous writes:..
Quincy writes:im writing an essay on the Gothic for a degree, must say, your intellect and nouse of the subject shone through your enlightening essay with infinitely more authority than mine. Admittedly im struggling, and, ashamedly would request your thoughts on my plight: an essay where I should discuss narrative codes used to produce Gothic effects. Any advice/ideas Quentin?
an essay where I should discuss narrative codes used to produce Gothic effects. Any advice/ideas Quentin?Well, the best thing to do is to work from examples, I’d say. This depends on how long your essay is and when you need to write it by. I’d recommend The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales as a good book to use for source material. If I remember correctly, that contains, amongst other tales, ‘The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe and ‘The Outsider’ by H.P. Lovecraft. http://www.online-literature.com/poe/31/http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/theoutsider.htmThe first of these stories starts like this:”DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country ; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.”This is all one sentence, very long and laden with adjectives (dull, dark, soundless). Where Gothicism differs from other forms of horror in precisely in this emphasis (I would say) on atmosphere, and specifically the atmosphere of oppression and decay. In the Gothic tale, things seldom start out normal and turn weird – the atmosphere needs to be established right from the start.The second of these tales starts like this:”Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness. Wretched is he who looks back upon lone hours in vast and dismal chambers with brown hangings and maddening rows of antique books, or upon awed watches in twilight groves of grotesque, gigantic, and vine-encumbered trees that silently wave twisted branches far aloft. Such a lot the gods gave to me – to me, the dazed, the disappointed; the barren, the broken.”We can see the archaic heaviness of the language in that poetic inversion, “Unhappy is he to whom” (rather than the more modern, “The persom to whom… is very unhappy”). We also find the same heaviness in the use of adjectives (grotesque, gigantic, dismal, etc.). If you read on, you find both stories involve decaying buildings and the oppression of atavistic influences – that is, curses that come from a long family line, attached to a particular site or building. Therefore the codes at work here are verbal, in the use of vocabularly – very descriptive, gloomy and archaic – and in setting, with decaying buildings and so on, and in plot, too, in terms of references to family curses, madness, unusual illness and so on.You can also use other stories as examples, of course. I hope this helps.
Quincy writes:That helps alot with the direction of my essay. I must apply this to the work of Mark Samuels – ‘Sentinels’ in particular – and the Sherlock Holmes story ‘The Speckled Band’, not sure if you’ve came across them in a Gothic earnest. Lately ive been researsching Roland Barthes’ hermeneutic code in relation to the Gothic and how they exist as enigmas, do you have any thoughts on this?
I suppose that I’d say that detective stories like ‘The Speckled Band’ exist to demonstrate the powers of rationality triumphing over the irrational encroachments of crime which are the enigma or mystery part of the hermeneutic code. In the weird mode of fiction in which Mark Samuels is writing, the mystery is never cleared up as explictly as in the detective story (which function almost like a crossword puzzle with clues and answers fitting neatly together). The method used in a story like ‘Sentinels’ (for instance, in the series of notes on research into the underground world) is to conjure up enough of an enigma for the imagination to set to work on and then to provide moments of confirmatory fright and horror by solving (and even this ambiguously) parts of the conjured enigma, still leaving the rest in shadow, so that we seem to have confirmation that our worst fears are true, but even so, only half-glimpse that confirmation. The effect here is give the horrors a phantom-like ‘supernatural’ frisson, so that they are not defused by concrete reality, but also to allow room for the suspicion that even our worst fears are guesses made out of ignorance and that, beyond what we have glimpsed, still cloaked by shadow, there are truths even more horrifying than those we have guessed.This is a technique made into a paradigm by the likes of Arthur Machen and H.P. Lovecraft. I suppose Poe set up the beginnings of this technique. However, Mark Samuels differs from Lovecraft in his use of this technique in that there are some elements of his stories that are not related to the solving or ‘possible solving’ of the mystery. In some of his stories Samuels uses devices that might correspond (I’m not sure) to what Barthes called “jammings”, that is, there are images or incidents that, rather than suggest a mystery that can be solved, seem rather to suggest something that can never be solved, even if it is dragged out of the shadows into daylight. I’m not sure if there are any good examples of that in ‘Sentinels’, though there might be. These elements are related to surrealism, I think. Similar elements can be found in the work of Robert Aickman, for instance.
Quincy writes:Previous was me
Anonymous writes:You translate infuriatingly ambiguous tasks and theories with a clarity I hope to one day have mastered, like you’ve removed that aptly placed prism. Thanks again. (tho I refuse to promise that I wont be badgering you again…)
Hello Quincy. Thanks. Glad to be of help. I hope the essay goes well.
Anonymous writes:Hello QuentinSeen this thread upon the Gothic and was hoping for some advice. Im about to start an essay upon Jekyll & Hyde for my degree of about 2,500 words. My main point of interest for the essay is the double and the supernatural and psycho analytical implications of said text (double consciousness etc) was wondering what ideas you had for this essay or a narrow point of interest i could elaborate on considerings its a short essay.Regards
Anonymous writes:…
Seen this thread upon the Gothic and was hoping for some advice. Im about to start an essay upon Jekyll & Hyde for my degree of about 2,500 words. My main point of interest for the essay is the double and the supernatural and psycho analytical implications of said text (double consciousness etc) was wondering what ideas you had for this essay or a narrow point of interest i could elaborate on considerings its a short essay.The double crops up in a lot of supernatural literature. Other examples include Poe’s ‘William Wilson’ and Meyrink’s The Golem.I suppose, from a psychoanalytical viewpoint, the double is the repressed part of the psyche, that part which the character wishes to deny, but ultimately cannot. By the same analysis, Satan, for instance, is really the repressed side of the religious fanatic. (You can also refer to Frankenstein here, since the monster, in some ways, seems like the spiritual ‘double’ of its creator. A similar theme is found in The Picture of Dorian Gray.)A text like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde could, on the surface, seem to be a straightfoward examination of good and evil, with Dr. Jekyll representing the former and Mr. Hyde the latter, but it could equally be seen as a study of Victorian repression, with Dr. Jekyll representing the hypocrisy and oppressive nature of the society of which he was a part.I hope this helps.
Anonymous writes:No dreamers say they’re dreamers.
No dreamers say they’re dreamers.What would you know about it?Just in case you haven’t worked it out, you can’t answer that question. After all, if you say that you know about it because you’re a dreamer, that means you’re not a dreamer.