What Was The Role Of Women In Gothic Literature

The term “gothic” was not only employed to characterize a kind of music, it was also used to categorize a writing that involved dark and gloomy elements. Known as Gothic Fiction or Gothic horror, this literary genre is really old. In fact, the Gothic fiction started in 1764, with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto. The genre reached its success’ pinnacle during the 19th century, with writers such as Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) or Edgar Allan Poe (The Raven). In the 20th century, the Gothic genre resurfaced under the name of the New Gothic Romances. Those took on the same themes as the old ones, young, virgin women chased by demonic creatures like vampires in dark castles, the opposition between sin and purity, life and death, dark and light, luscious and prude. But this time, the stories were written especially for women and mostly by women. Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart or Dorothy Eden were three famous “romantic mystery” novelists. They were all published under the Paper Back Library Gothic imprint (known now as Hachette Book Group). These women helped the Gothic literary genre to get more popular, which influenced movies and cinema. …show more content…
The lyrics are gloomy and hard to understand. The words “black”, “fire”, “lust”, “desire”, “tears” and “unpure” can all be related to the Gothic subculture because they describe it. They emphasize the gloomy side of the subculture, its desire for sexual passion, taboo in conventional society and which is here even allowed to “children”, and the celebration of everything that is against society, put into relief with “believers of the unpure”. The lyrics explain that they belong to the past, a past of lust and wealth. “His last parade” makes allusion to death emphasized with the words “fire” and “brimstone” because the two together mean a sermon promising hell and