Gothic fiction

introduction of Gothic literature, and its fearful conventions of the supernatural and the uncanny, has allowed Irish writers to align nationalist motifs within their texts through a more analogous narrative. As Laura Doyle writes, “The Gothic text has been shown to represent colonialism 's crimes through its literary tropes of imprisonment, terror, rape, and tyranny” (513). However, a number of Anglo-Irish writers engage with the genre, thus forcing the allegorical themes and content of Irish…

such as the use of dark sorcery and omens within Matilda when aiding Ambrosio to seduce the innocent Antonia, the gothic violence and excess expressed in Agnes’ torture by hypocritical nuns and the prevented repentance of Ambrosio by the Devil, conclude The Monk to be a gothic text. Doubt elicited by the use of sorcery and the presence of the devil is characteristic of gothic fiction. Doubt, irony and scepticism are also characteristics of the era of postmodern literature, particularly in…

turning young, beautiful women into vampires and allure them back to Transylvania in the now-existing Romania. The novel Dracula is written by Bram Stoker in 1897 during the Victorian era. The genre is Gothic fiction due to the combination of horror, lust and love. The novel presents several Gothic devices, which frame the literary work.…

When an individual mentions the term “gothic,” the first word that come to the minds of most people is evil, mysterious, or dark. However, the term “gothic” was created in 1610 from late Latin Gothicus to mean “Germanic.” The goths were the ancient Germanic people; hence, its use in the 1640s as a term for the art style that emerged in northern Europe in the Middle Ages has nothing to do with the historical Goths and it was originally applied in scorn by Italian architects of the Renaissance.…

Gothic fiction is one of the most intriguing and captivating, if not most popular, literary genres for a reason. Branded mainly by the elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom, this style of writing, whose name derives from the dark and decaying gothic architecture and art, is also rich in romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and sentiment. Originated in England in the second half of the 18th century, the gothic fiction has spread its popularity across continental Europe by the…

The story of the vampire in the gothic novel is one that began centuries ago. Nowadays, the meaning of the word ‘gothic’ is commonly misconstrued. The word originally pertained to a Germanic tribe called the Goths, centuries later it came to describe novels such as ‘Frankenstein’ (1818) , ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ (1886), ‘Carmilla’ (1872) and ‘Dracula’(1897). The gothic novel is recognised to have begun in England in the late 1700s with heavy focus on setting to show a…

The history of gothic in American culture The worth of gothic had a profound impact on American literature. The history of gothic started during the 18th century in Europe, it found its way to America. The work of gothic was especially different from previous European writing of the 1500's to 1600's. The history of American gothic challenge the ideas of their time. Both American and European gothic literature are similar to how they explain horror but different in the setting of how they explain…

ABSTRACT The gothic novel, albeit not considered high literature, counts among the most distinctive literary genres. The literary form was at its prime in late 18th century, although its days of glory have past elements of the Gothic can be found even in contemporary literature. Over the centuries, several sub-genres of the gothic novel have developed, including Southern Ontario Gothic. This branch of the Gothic is characterized by criticism of social attitudes towards race, politics, gender and…

By virtue of being the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto occupies a prime place in the Gothic literary pantheon. However, interest in Otranto has predominantly been informed by its primary position in the Gothic canon, and discussions of Walpole’s text are usually subsumed into a broader analysis of the Gothic genre. This is unsurprising given how expansive the genre has become, including famous works of literature, like Jane Eyre, Dracula and The Bloody Chamber and branching off into…

hundreds of years, philosophers have mused over the primitive, yet complicated question: is human nature inherently good or evil? Authors of the gothic fiction genre seem to believe that humanity at its core is wicked. Two hair-raising short stories, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," comparatively use gothic fiction as a vehicle to disclose the perverse nature of humankind using women in distress, mystery, and the ambiance of the story. By featuring women…