Poetry by William Blake

As early as the 1790s, then, Ann Radcliffe firmly set the Gothic in one of the ways it would go ever after: a novel in which the central figure is young woman who is simultaneously persecuted victim and courageous heroine. But what are we to make the next major turning of the Gothic tradition that a women brought about a generation later? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in 1818, made over the Gothic novel into what today we call science fiction. Frankenstein brought a new sophistication to literary…

When he began working on The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri likely had no idea that it would become widely regarded as one of the most graphic depictions of hell ever written. This epic, narrative, and satirical poem is written in the first person, and follows Dante as he loses his way in a forest and travels through the circles of Hell. Even in the present day it is still read in classrooms, as well as a video game and animated movie based on the epic poem. This epic poem has not only been…