Transcription
Gothic Literature Prepare to enter abizarre, new, yetperhaps oddlyfamiliar world.Have your pensready to record thehighlights of yourjourney
Gothic Context Thegothic wasfirst used as aMedieval,architectural termto describe a styleof building thatincluded gargoyles,scenes of Hell, andsouls in torment.
The Gothic ThematicElements/Plot Settings Characters
GOTHICTHEMATICELEMENTS/PLOT
Ancestral Curse The currentgeneration suffersfor evil deeds ofancestors.Poe’s “The Fall ofthe House ofUsher”
Body-Snatching Grave-Robbing.Stealing corpses fromgraves, tombs, ormorgues.Illicit trade in cadavers.Violation of religiousspace.Commercially motivatedby science.King’s Pet Semetary.
Dreaming/Nightmares Dredge up strongemotions, such asecstasy, terror, joy.Reveal urges, impulses,desires, even truthsabout oneself one triesto hide.Reveal the future;premonitions.i.e. Freddy Krueger
Entrapment/Imprisonment Being confined or trapped,as shackled to a floor orhidden away in a dark cell.Heightens the psychologyof feeling there’s “no wayout.”Saw series
Gothic Gadgets Physical elements allowingsupernatural powers to displayuncanny presence and abilities.“Supernatural props”: vocal andmobile portraits; animatedstatues and skeletons; doors,gates, portals, hatchways whichopen and close independently;secret passageways; secretmessages and manuscripts;forbidden chambers and sealedcompartments; casket lids seento rise, etc.
Gothic Counterfeit Playful fakery of authenticity.The text is presented as adiscovery or recovery by theeditor, sometimes of anancient or forgotten text.Cloaks the real writer’sauthorship.Complicates the point of view(making things more fun andintriguing).
The Grotesque Mutations, often deformities. A mix of two separate modes,such as comedy and tragedy,creating a disturbing fiction, inwhich comic circumstancesoften preclude horrific tragedyand vice-versa. i.e. The Hunchback of NotreDame
Mystery An event orsituation thatappears tooverwhelmunderstanding. i.e. SherlockHolmes
Necromancy The dark art ofcommunicating withthe dead. i.e. Ouija Boards“Bloody Mary” mythSéances
Revenge The act of repayingsomeone for a harmcaused.Revenge can be enactedupon a loved one, afamily member, a friend,an object or area.Poe’s “Cask ofAmontillado”.The Princess Bride(Inigo Montoya)
Somnambulism SleepwalkingHidden sources ofstress may berevealed or acts ofguilt replayed.
SuperstitionVariously considered asa belief in thesupernatural or themystical, and as valuingrituals and miracles. i.e. Garlic/wooden stakesfor vampiresspreading salt for witches
The Supernatural Events or phenomena that defy the rules ofnatural law.More often, and more intriguingly, uncanny eventsthat could be explained or dismissed (howeverambiguously) by the laws of everyday reality.
Transformation/Metamorphosis A striking change inappearance; a changein the form or functionof an organism by anatural or unnaturalprocess.Stevenson’s Mr. Hyde,King’s It.Count Dracula
GOTHICCHARACTERS
Devil A spirit of incarnate evil.Ranges from: tragic villain-heropunisher of sinnerstempter and deceiverpure evil.
Doppelganger German: doublegoer.Ghostly counterpart ofanother person.Body double, alter ego,identical other person.Stevenson’s Dr. Jekylland Mr. Hyde.
Ghosts, Werewolves, Vampires, Witches s, andbaddies.
The Pursued Protagonist A force that relentlessly,terminally and unavoidablypursues, persecutes orchastises another for somereal or imagined wrong.A crime and retributioncycle, but also A hero-villain can be boththe pursued and thepursueri.e. Anne Rice’s Vampireseries
Unreliable Narrator The narrator’s ability toaccurately relate eventsis suspect.The narrator makesincorrect assumptionsor conclusions, ormisunderstandssituations or othercharacters.Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart
Villain-Hero The villain poses as a heroat the beginning of thestory, or The villain possessesenough heroic qualities tobe seen as more than just abad guyi.e. Dexter
The Pursued Heroine A virtuous, idealistic,and usually poeticyoung woman ispursued by a wicked,older, potent aristocrat.The pursuit threatensthe young lady’s moralsand ideals (and oftenher virginity).She usually respondswith passive courage.Modified: Twilightseries
Revenant The return of thedead upon theliving.A ghostly being whoreturns to life.
GOTHIC SETTINGS
Cemetery A place for theburial of thedead.Caves, s culturesand ages.
Haunted House, Castle, or Estate A dwelling inhabited orregularly visited by aghost or supposedlysupernatural being.
Presence of Mist/Fog A grouping of waterparticles due to a changein atmospheric conditions.Literary convention usedto obscure objects,reduce visibility, orpreculde the insertion ofsomething terrifying.
Acknowledgement Most material gathered from “A Glossary of LiteraryGothic Terms” on the web atwww2.gasou.edu/facstaff/dougt/goth.Site maintained by Douglas H. Thomson of theDepartment of Literature and Philosophy at GeorgiaSouthern University.Presentation created by Paul Reiff of the EnglishDepartment at Vernon Hills High School, District128, Illinois.
The Princess Bride (Inigo Montoya) SomnambulismSomnambulism Sleepwalking Hidden sources of stress may be revealed or acts of guilt replayed. SuperstitionSuperstition Variously considered as a belief in the supernatu
