Example Of Gothic Literature Essay

He sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in his seat right after Banquo’s death was confirmed. Then everyone at his dinner party thought he has fallen ill, stating, “Gentlemen, rise; his Highness is not well” (Shakespeare, 3.4.62). Until Lady Macbeth butts in stating that, “my lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat. The fit is momentary; upon a thought he will be well” (Shakespeare, 3.4.63-65).

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many themes in his novel, The Great Gatsby. One of the themes he uses is the theme of isolation. Examples of his use of the theme isolation are when Gatsby isolates himself from his guests at his parties, when Myrtles husband locks her in her room. However these are just two of many examples of Fitzgerald’s use of the theme of isolation in his novel, The Great Gatsby.

The symbols from “The Fall of the House of Usher," written by Edgar Allan Poe, and “Young Goodman Brown,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, sought to use Dark Romanticism to illuminate the mixture of good and evil in human nature. Dark Romanticism is a form of writing that consists of human nature, sins, death, and an abundance of evil to create fearful images that toy with the emotions of its readers. Edgar Allan Poe, a professional at creating such stories, used symbols within his stories to further his Gothic Romantic theme. In the short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe wrote, “I know not how it was – but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was

This can be seen through settings like the morgue, many of the skin crawl provoking settings gain their eeriness through vivid imagery, such as when “It was a dreary night of November” (42). At this point Shelley’s use of rain and darkness create a suspenseful atmosphere. imagery throughout the book is extremely Gothic, such as the grotesque description of the monster’s features, the eerie environment of Victor’s laboratory in the middle of the night, and the undead quality. The monster’s features are a paradox, him being both beautiful yet repulsive. Frankenstein is a characteristic Romantic and Gothic novel because it utilizes nature, mystery, and setting to convey tone and mood.

There are many elements that make a Gothic novel what it is. There main antagonists are supernatural beings, the setting is a spooky or dreary estate with bad weather, the dialogue is odd, and the stories take place in the olden days. A perfect example of this is Edgar Allen Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher. The Fall of the House of Usher took place in the 1800s at the old Usher Estate in the dreariest part of the country. At the end of the story, Roderick Usher is killed by his sister, Madeline, by

Susan Hill wrote The Woman in Black, a gothic novel set in the Nineteenth Century. It is about the fear of the unknown. We all know we like a good ghost story here and there. Well, this novel is full of fear and the unknown that will silence you. It will make you cringe with its supernatural events throughout the novel.

In a lot of gothic literature, the idea of monsters and ‘otherly’ figures represent the author’s own personal fears or the stereotype of villain or beast from a fairytale etc. But in some cases, the gothic monstrosity in the texts are a representation of national identity and its’ problems through these creatures and beasts. Many authors wanted to show the problems that were happening in the world at the time, by making them into monsters it allows the reader to ask the questions that need to be asked about why the monsters are representing what they represent and it gives them a new and very different outlook on the monsters and the villains of the story. In this essay I will look at two texts, Claire Kilroy’s novel The Devil I Know and the

Gothic Elements in the “The Tell Tale Heart” The classic short story of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, written by one of the all time masters of horror, Edgar Allen Poe, has always been used as an excellent example of Gothic fiction. Edgar Allen Poe specialized in the art of gothic writing and wrote many stories that portrayed disturbing events and delved deeply into the minds of its characters. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe revolves the plot around a raving individual who, insisting that he is sane, murders an old man because of his` “vulture eye”. The three main gothic elements that are evident in this story are the unique setting, the theme of death and decay, and the presence of madness.

Poe was emphatically influenced by Gothic writing, and “The Cask of Amontillado” (1954) with its mind-set of crawling horror and imminent death in an Italian palazzo, most unquestionably demonstrates those impacts. This and numerous other Poe stories are rich in Gothic themes such as madness, cruelty, perversion, and obsession, and feature a various rationally unequal storytellers; Montresor positively qualifies on this number. Poe, in turn, influenced later Gothic writing, especially Southern Gothic. This strand highlights Poe-like dim diversion and gives careful consideration to mind boggling, agitated, even silly characters and the general public in which they live than to the powerful themes often supported in British Gothic fiction (Poe, Edgar Allan, 2001). "The Cask of Amontillado" refers to a nonexistent container of wine the speaker uses to attract a contender wine expert into a crypt so the narrator can kill him.

but she never does so all of that money goes to waste and it does not bring him his happiness. Gatsby finally gets Daisy to his house with some planning and he shows her and Nick around his hotel sized house. In Gatsby's room nick notices "Various indefinite objects in the half darkness. A large photograph of an elderly man in a yachting costume attracted me, hung on the wall over his desk... There was a small picture of Gatsby also in a yachting costume, on the bureau"(93).

In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe, the author uses the rhetorical device of symbolism. In this allegorical piece Edgar uses symbolism to explore his central idea more thoroughly. The central idea is that no matter what the characters did or where they went, they couldn't escape death as death is inevitable. Throughout the story the masqueraders were living life to the fullest, but then they were quickly reminded that morality cannot be avoided. Poe uses symbolism with the seventh chamber, the ebony clock, and the masked figure to expand on the theme of death.

The stories “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Man of the Crowd” by Edgar Allan Poe are similar in their setting, mood, main characters, and topics such as symbolism, conflict, and foreshadowing. Poe has a specific writing style that makes his works similar and easily identifiable. Poe tends to write about sickness and death. These topics reflect greatly on his life and show through in many of his works. When Poe was young he was adopted by a rich family, Mr. and Mrs. John Allen; he did not have a very good relationship with Mr. Allen.

“Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe is full of literary elements such as antagonist, climax, imagery, personification, and symbolism. Throughout the plenary story these elements are present. The antagonist, or ‘villain’, of “Masque of the Red Death” is the Red Death. It is the antagonist because it causes all of the tribulation in the story.