Gothic Literature Analysis

Monsters and Narrative : The construction of the fears from within the text in Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Gothic literature, more often than not, deals with monsters. The monster is a representation of the strongest fears and the more hidden desires of the society in which the book is written. In The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as in Frankenstein, this fear is also contrasted with the narration of each story. In other words, the fear represented through each monster is exalted with the way each story is narrated. In both stories the monster is a creation of scientific research but each one threatens the world in different ways.

It was originally emphasized in visual arts, music and literature. It then placed a new emphasis on such emotions, horror and terror, this was achieved in confronting the new elements of impacting the feelings of the reader in subtle messages and beauty of nature take from a different perspective. An example of how certain elements are set out to impact the viewer, is a poem titled, “the ghost” by famous author Charles Baudelaire. He is considered one of the greatest 19th century poets.

Gothic literature is often characterized by an atmosphere of mystery, horror, and dread. Desolate or sinister settings common in Gothic literature are also crucial to plot development through their influence on characters. Additionally, the characters bear burdens which they often withhold as a result of their physical or emotional isolation. Gothic writers present a dramatic and ominous approach to developing the greater meaning of their work. The writers explore the duality of human nature with these literary elements, exposing the audience to darkness and evil.

Poe’s special twist on the gothic element of fear and horror, adds a dark, metacognitive feel to “The Pit and the Pendulum” which makes you, the reader, consider what humanity is, as a whole, truly afraid of. Poe understands what the human race truly fears, and uses that as an advantage, everything his character feels, is so

Gothic literature is the succession of romantic literature and a genre that particularly covers the period of time from approximately 1764 to 1840 although it has been prominent until this day. It emerged in England but expeditiously spread to France and Germany to finally pervade almost the whole world. As Jerrold Hogle writes: …it exploded in the 1790s (the decade Walpole died) throughout the British Isles, on the continent of Europe, and briefly in the new United States, particularly for a female readership, so much so that it remained a popular, if controversial, literary mode throughout what we still call the Romantic period in European literature. (Hogle 2002: 1) To the most outstanding and representative writers from these times belong:

Fear and trauma are two significant emotions shown throughout gothic novels. In “The Asylum” by John Harwood, Georgina finds herself in Tregannon Asylum where she discovers the dark secrets of her family and the Asylum. Harwood uses terror to evoke the sublime by foreshadowing the coming of danger in the reader. Furthermore, Harwood uses terror to evoke the sublime by portraying fear of the powerful. In the novel “The Asylum” by John Harwood, the author captures the fear and trauma of his characters by evoking the sublime and creating a sense of terror for the reader.

After Victor knew the creature existed and encountered it, his life and state of mind were changing. He described himself as being “the author of unalterable evils, and I lived in daily fear,” (Shelley, 155). When this is put in metaphorical context, it strengthens the importance of why it was mentioned. It proves knowledge, through the establishment of a creation, is dangerous since Frankenstein ended up being in a fearful place.

In Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, Poe writes about how his characters are driven to commit murder and how their guilt eats them alive. The dark plots used is his writings exemplify the threshold of the unknown through the way that individuals are viewed as evil. All of his writings have some sort of violence that is driven by supernatural occurrences. The man in The Tell-Tale Heart has an eye that is scary and seen as potential evil that drives the narrator crazy and eventually causes murder.

The Superstitious, and the Supernatural What is Superstition? Superstition is defined as “ a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief. “ From beginning to end, superstition plays a big role in the characters of Huckleberry Finn, and is an ubiquitous theme throughout the novel. In this interpretation, Huck rebels against society, religion is a symbol for society, and huck uses his superstition as a mean to escape from it.

Edgar Allen Poe creates an atmosphere of suspense in “The Raven” and in “The Pit and Pendulum “making the reader wonder what is going to happen next by creating confusion. The typical gothic style of Poe’s writings is very dark and cold, affecting the narrator both mentally and physically. In both “The Pit and The Pendulum” and “The Raven”, both of the narrators are being tortured. In “The Raven” the narrator is being tortured mentally while in “The Pit and The Pendulum” the narrator is being tortured physically. Poe uses many gothic elements such as setting and supernatural elements making fear one of the most important unifying effects in the narratives.