Gothic Literature Notes

Elements of Gothic Literature:

• Grotesque characters, bizarre situations & violent events
• Began in Europe
• Came into the United States in the 19th century
• Famous writers include Edgar Allan Poe & Hawthorne
• Age of reason, fear of Gods

Romanticism:
.Writers saw basic elements of nature, limitation of reason
.Celebrated the individual spirit
.Emotions
.Imagination
.Splendors of nature rather than the fear of God
.Fascination of Supernatural
.Washington Irving: Prominent writer in the United States

Transcendentalists:
.Forms of truth beyond reason and experience
.Every individual is capable of discovering this higher truth on his or her own through intuition." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dark Side of Individualism:
.Gothic architecture
.Gothic cathedrals
.High stained glass windows, gargoyles (Gothic mascot)
.Imaginative distortion of reality
.Shadowy, demonic region
.Gothic tradition can be called the Dark Side of Individualism
.Romantics looked at the individual and saw hope
.Gothic saw potential evil

Poe

• Many of his stories took place in Gothic castles, decaying ancient estates which provided a eerie setting for terrifying events
• Male characters are crazy
  
• Female characters are beautiful but usually dying or already dead
• Plots are extreme murders, crazy situations
• Live burials, physical and mental torture, retribution from the grave
• Romantics show the good side, the evil side is brought out by the Gothic
  

Hawthorne

• Examined human fear under many conditions: fear, vanity, mistrust, betrayal