In this paper we are going to explain the gothic theme “the double” and others topics of the Gothic Literature. We are going to work with two stories, the first one “William Wilson” by Edgar Allan Poe, and the other one “The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. The story by Edgar Allan Poe was first published in 1839 in the Burton 's Gentleman 's Magazine, and the one by R.L. Stenvenson was first published in 1886. We will analyse these works within the category of Gothic literature, highlighting the mains characteristics evidenced into the text.
"The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is a gothic novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson. The whole manuscript concentrates on the concept of human duality and tries to explain that there are both elements of good and evil in every person through the main character personality changes. The choice of using a non-linear plot was done to convey an increasing sense of curiosity and anxiety simultaneously and frequently not to spoil the mystery of the plot. The first chapter narrates "The Story of the Door" , which was told by Mr Enfield to Mr Utterson, and is the first time that the author doesn 't respect the chronological order. This passage portrays the meeting between Mr Enfield and Mr Hyde in a busy quarter of London, where in a small street the gentleman saw Mr Hyde running into a little girl and hurting her carelessly.
What causes the House of Usher to break in half and crumble into the tarn? No doubt Poe would have dispensed with such questions by pointing to the source of his story’s lasting success, its gothic and gloomy effect. Most of these questions are left to wonder about because Poe never lets the reader know the answers which credits his skill in writing gothic literature because it lets the reader form his own opinion. The Fall of House of Usher is one of the most acclaimed writing of Edgar Allen Poe because Poe uses Symbolism and analogies in both characters and setting to tell this Gothic tale of death and downfall. He often drew upon memory for the setting of his stories.
Byron with his Gothic verbiage, depicted a dark and pessimistic vision of world: in “Darkness” he prevised nation of their hanging fortune via a dream image about the end of the world. Percy Shelley, used Gothic in the same way that Lord Byron: he demanded the social order of his day, and offered an emotive advance of individual as he had belief in the elaboration and evolution of man. In “Ozymandias” with his melancholic mood, he underline the avoidable nature of human, terminating that that human and his work turn to fug in one time. Poetry of John Keats, also, reveals melancholy aware with the Gothic literature of his time. In his poem “Ode on Melancholy”, he research the points of nature, evanescence and mortality with direct references to death.
Across literature, authors capture the struggle of people finding their true purpose. In Mary W. Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the Creature, both come from different experiences but ultimately share the same desire in seeking revenge. This desire from the Creature and Victor stems from the failures that they find from their purpose and despite the differences they both face, the two characters parallel one another in this way. The time at which the novel was written, political change was taking its stand. Ideologies that were created by John Locke and Thomas Hobbes clashed with one another.
Finally, it will conclude by briefly discussing the significance of the extract within the novel’s wider themes. Austen consciously burlesqued other novels intertextuality, such as Ann Radcliffe’s influential Gothic novel, The mysteries of Udolpho (1794). Austen used techniques such as comedic and satirical irony, to break the mould of the expectations of the novel genre. Austen could simply have written in the same gothic sensationalist style, or perhaps a sentimental novel, but she chose not to. Instead, she parodies and undercuts them, with subtle causticness, and ridicule.
In Mary Shelley’s iconic gothic novel, Frankenstein, Romantic themes are strongly represented in order to propagandize Romanticism over the elements of knowledge and the Enlightenment. In her novel, Shelley uses gothic nature settings to foreshadow dark events that are about to happen in the novel. She also uses nature to intensify the effect that is brought during significant scenes, a strong example being, when Victor Frankenstein’s monster approaches him after a long period of time. Nature and its use to influence mood is one of the most paramount themes of both Frankenstein and Romanticism. The influencing power of nature is somewhat withdrawn at major points in the book, mainly due to its connection with the Byronic hero, Victor Frankenstein.
Bri Shehane Mrs.Schroeder English Honors 1 December 2016 Frankenstein Essay (Gothic Novel) From the darkness of the setting and location, to the horror and mystery of the supernatural miracles, and the paranormality in the atmosphere; “Frankenstein” truly represents a gothic novel. Mary Shelley did not only spark her audience’s attention through supernatural characters and events, but she also incorporated death and terror throughout the reading in various elements. Gothic characteristics exemplified in the novel consist of the mystery of human nature, supernatural themes, and the darkness of the setting. The gothic literature is shown through the feeling of pure terror characters start to feel or the reader feels when coming across strange happenings throughout each chapter. A grotesque, yet sapient creature is created in an unorthodox scientific experiment in this novel by Mary Shelley.
This affected his composition and actually, the English Gothic novel began with his 'Gothic story '; 'The Castle of Otranto '. Fundamentally, a Gothic novel is said to incorporate sorcery, riddle, heavenly, uncanny and tension. The interpretation of a Gothic novel contrasts from reader to reader. A Gothic work is to have a unquestionable mixing of remote setting, destroyed strongholds, dilapidated houses, mazes, cells, dull halls, cellar, moonlight, candles, winding stairs, fierce interests, inbreeding, odd fixation, and condemnations. This sort makes sentiments of agony, riddle, dread, tension since their point is to investigate humankind 's dull side and question humanity about what is great and underhandedness, address what part the powerful shows, and experience dread or fear.
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been”. –Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein, written by the English author Mary Shelley, was a gothic, horror fiction, soft science fiction novel, published in London on 1818. The pursuit of knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to surge beyond accepted human limits and access to the secret of life. Frankenstein has several characters, some of them are very important for the developing of the story.