What are the characteristics of a gothic text Definitions starting point Gothic fiction sometimes referred to as Gothic horror is a genre of literature that combines elements of both ID: 300143
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gothicSlide2
What
are the characteristics of a gothic text?Slide3
Definitions – starting point:
Gothic fiction
(sometimes referred to as
Gothic horror
) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both
horror
and
romance
. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author
Horace Walpole
, with his 1764 novel
The Castle of Otranto
.
The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of
terror
an extension of
Romantic
literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel.
Melodrama
and parody (including self-parody) were other long-standing features of the Gothic initiated by Walpole
.Slide4Slide5
Gothic Fiction:
Sub-genre of the romantic movement in the eighteenth century
A reaction against the rationalism of the enlightenment
Also influenced by the French
R
evolution
The
gothic
novel:
Matthew Lewis – the Monk, Hugh Walpole – The Castle of Otranto
Parodied by Jane Austen in Northanger
Abbey
Frankenstein, DraculaSlide6
Gothic literature is intimately associated with the Gothic Revival architecture of the same era. Rejection of Neo-Classicism
– rejection of the
Enlightenment
&
Rationalism
.
Extreme
emotion,
thrill were considered to be vital ways of establishing atmosphere.
Ruins
were considered inspiring
.Slide7Slide8
The ruins of gothic buildings gave rise to multiple linked emotions by representing the inevitable decay and collapse of human creation. English Gothic writers often associated medieval buildings with what they saw as a dark and terrifying period, characterized by harsh laws enforced by torture, and with mysterious, fantastic, and superstitious
rituals. Slide9Slide10
In literature such Anti-Catholicism had a European dimension featuring Roman Catholic
excesses such as the
Inquisition
(in southern European countries such as Italy and Spain).Slide11Slide12
Gothic Themes ... Fred Botting
Excess
Transgression
Diffusion
Romance & The Novel
Ruins, Graveyards &
The Poetry Of The PastSlide13Slide14
Typical “gothic” ingredients in literary texts
Terror
Mystery
The Supernatural
Gothic Architecture
Darkness
Death
Physical & Moral Decay
Doubles
Madness
Secrets
Ancestral
Curses / Fall of ManSlide15
Settings and Atmosphere
Historical
Dark
Ruined
Stormy
Isolated
Romantic
Impressive
Wild
Hostile
MagicalSlide16Slide17
Heroes and Monsters
Noble
Grotesque
Active
Supernatural
Ambitious
Violent
Tormented
Mysterious
Doomed
AbsurdSlide18
Victims and Femmes Fatales
Passive
Active
Obedient
Rebellious
Emotional
Sexual
Conventional
Radical
Angelic
Demonic
Slide19
Fantasy and Reality
Dreams
History
Visions
Society
Omens
Psychology
Legends
Culture
Magic
Science
Slide20
Terror and Horror
Foreboding
Violence
Uncertainty
Torture
Suspense
Death
Anxiety
Grotesqueness
Dread
DisgustSlide21
Retrospective ...
Macbeth
(1605) was written considerably before Walpole’s novel which is considered to be a
literary watershed
defining and reviving “Gothic Fiction.”
Consequently, we are applying the label “Gothic”
retrospectively
to Macbeth as the term didn’t exist when Shakespeare originally wrote his famous play.
Applying “Gothic Readings” to the text is a literary perspective
we as modern readers
are applying to the text. Slide22
Macbeth as a gothic text - focus on:
Emotions
Atmosphere
Time
Setting
Weather
Character
Ideas
StyleSlide23
Gothic features in Macbeth:
Emotions:
Cruel passions
Supernatural terrors
Atmosphere
:
Gloomy, obsessive, violent, spine-chillingSlide24
Time: night, moon, the past (medieval)
Weather
:
wind, storm, rain etc
Setting
:
(often medieval) castles, ruins, wild deserted places, churches, secret passages, the exotic and foreign outside conventional societySlide25
Character:
vulnerable female,
villains,
heroic male, often stereotypesSlide26
Ideas:
day/night
, ghosts,
fear
, rational/irrational, sun/moon,
vampyres
, dreams,
sleep
, supernatural, death Slide27
Style: hyperbole, symbolism, disjointed storylinesSlide28