There are two different eras within Gothic literature, first the romantic works (around 1764 to 1832), then the scientific based works (about 1818 to 1890). They share their eerie nature and this is what binds them.

The Gothic Movement

• It is a time when reason does not explain everything. There is imagination and mysteries. These elements are used to establish the literary movements from this time.
• Until the Gothic theme in the 19^th century, literature had insisted on realism in its works, this movement opened up possibilities.
• In this era, the English were fascinated with everything that wasn’t from their time and country. For them this was anything that seemed exotic, and how they perceived it was very important.
• “The exotic” is relevant to the place of origin. For the English in the 18^th century it meant the South of Europe, the countries to the east, and Islamic culture. Spain, for example, was a symbol of the past, with strong medieval touches. Its geography and climate were vastly different. There were also different religions and cultures. In Spain there were dark evil characters, and abuses of power. There was an element of ambiguity in the English about Spain, on the one hand they rejected it, and on the other, they were attracted to it.
• The genre goes back to medieval ways, showing an interest in the past; writers and thinkers didn’t feel like they were in their time, so they went looking for something else; they journeyed with their minds as well as physically.
• In science there were many important advances and great interest was shown from all areas including artists.
• Some works that previously existed were reinterpreted, especially fairytales. They rewrote traditional folklore and fairy tales, perhaps the most popular ones being by the Brothers Grimm.
• The major works from this time tried to lend an air of seriousness to it, as the genre had been criticised as childish nonsense, only to entertain.
• The main difference between male and female writers from this period is that women were more rational with their conclusions, given that they needed to be more pleasing to get prestige and needed the work. Men were richer and could play more, so they had more irrational plots.
• Two of the main influences were the Industrial Revolution and the scientific spirit. They produced elements such as: scientists and doctors as protagonists; more unease than previous works; and a yearning for the past and nature.
• The Industrial Revolution changed social, cultural, and environmental aspects, all reflected in the literature produced.
• Titles tended to be very long from this period and many were abbreviated at a later time.

At this time

• A “novel” is for realism / the realistic.
• A “narrative” is supposed to mean fiction.
• “Fiction” is the term for fantastical stories.
• Prose = novel. Fiction / narrative = fiction.

Gothic Literature

• Gothic is based on classical ideas: harmony and perfection.
• There can be conflicts in the plot between the past and the present, and until the past is resolved, the present can’t be. An element used in past movements, especially the Elizabethan era.
• There are moral lessons in the Gothic genre, for example, Frankenstein who tried to play god.
• Beauty and the sublime are different: beauty is pleasant, peaceful, and does not make us feel uneasy. Sublime shows us / makes us aware of our insignificance. It is the difference between a beautiful garden, and the woods in full bloom with all its particular Gothic attributes.
• The visible and invisible – tangible and intangible are extremely important. It is not only the presence of a haunted building that creates tension, but the atmosphere it provokes.
• Gothic aesthetics create part of the atmosphere, for example, the description of evil characters: pale-faced, penetrating eyes, dark clothes; or the account of some beautiful scenery but how there is something eerie about it.
• There is a certain element of “doomed from the beginning” about the stories.
• Gothic literature offers new and disturbing gender roles of women, from their appearance and behaviour, to their placement in the stories, many times hidden but heard.
• Human emotions that dominate the senses are widely used, for example, love and jealousy, ambition, and vengeance.
• Gothic genre expanded to many areas: fashion, music, architecture, holidays and costumes. And today in a revival of the era: series, especially for Halloween.

Gothic Elements

• Human characters: orphans, lonely or terrorised children; the knight in shining armour / good vanquishing evil, for example, Saint George; anti-heroes; villainous aristocrat; disturbed women; heroines; outsiders; doppelgänger; tortured protagonist; mysterious stranger, foreign passers-by.
• Other protagonists include: monsters; decayed or haunted architecture; the concept of evil: in characters, actions, and authority.
• Settings / places: ruins; hidden places, secret paths and rooms (often subterraneal), alleyways; cemeteries, crypt; old large architecture: castles, monasteries and other religious buildings; old decaying houses in isolated countryside (middle class); laboratories; the wild and wilderness; cities; large mountainous regions; large open areas: moors, the coast.
• The weather: storms, heavy fog, mist, moonlit nights, chilling or freezing winds, cold weather, unpredictable weather changes.
• Intangible: fear, fright, scared; darkness, night; subtle (but its there); powerful presence; maniacal laughter, hysteria; vengeance; death; spiritual and physical decay; turbulence through violence and passions; crazy + hysteria = illness; contrasts: very pale skin with strong red or black lips; uneasy / ill at ease.
• Concepts: the exotic; good and evil clearly identified; happy ending; justice; suspense: hidden identities that are discovered at the end.
• Gothic aesthetics: rust, cobwebs, candle light, tapestries and draperies, gargoyles, ravens, mirrors and reflections, masks, ornate furniture, rich fabrics (velvet, silk, lace), elaborate carvings; shadows.
• Adjectives: beautiful, sublime, majestic, enchanting, whimsical, pictorial, ornate, serene, harmonious, captivating, melodious, gloomy, eerie, mysterious, melancholic, sinister, decrepit, haunted, obscure, ghastly, mortality, foreboding, supernatural, sullen, sunken, groaning, among very many others!

Symbolism: In Gothic Literature

One element can be used and symbolise so many different things, sometimes simultaneously.

• Heavy doors: symbolising transition from one realm to another, for example, passing into the supernatural or a world of secrets; they serve as barriers to hide secrets; they can serve to heighten suspense before going into the unknown; represents the forbidden; the creaking of an open door can add to the tension in the atmosphere.
• Candles: flickering light and shadows represent the ambiguity of the situation; they illuminate hidden and secret places, bringing light to their reveal (metaphorical and literal); the ease with which a flame can go extinct, mirrors the fragility and the character; a single burning candle can symbolise solitude in a vast surrounding; more often than not, it represents a character in the midsts of an adventure or quest for knowledge, as they navigate dark places; represents a glimmer of hope; the action of a candle being extinguished usually signifies the arrival of evil.
• Cobwebs: signify how the building is unkept and unused, although usually owned by a wealthy man, he is normally some form of outsider who could not employ house workers as would be the norm at the time; it shows that the character has other preoccupations and their interests lie outside social convention; the presence of an animal which strikes fear (spider); cobwebs show neglect and abandonment, perhaps mirroring the character; they are a visual element to show how much time has passed; their intricate form represents the intricate story to be told; they can represent entrapment of innocent characters.
• Rust: it can symbolise vulnerability, as it is now corroding a once sturdy material; it magnifies the neglect of history and their lessons to be learnt, or a detachment from who once owned the now rusting objects. At this time it would have symbolised the forgotten past before Industrialism; or as all old things, it is a metaphor for the decay of emotions.
• Tapestries and draperies: their intricate designs can symbolise hidden secrets, even containing messages and revelations to solve the plot; the images woven can depict dark scenes, or show the timelessness of heroes past; they are a symbol of wealth and grandeur, in contrast to the now decaying scenery; they often cover secret doors hidden behind; their images can serve as a comparison between the story we are reading and a past event, providing a narrative within a narrative, adding suspense.
• Ravens: they primarily represent a bad omen and death, their arrival tends to signify some impending doom from the beyond, and therefore are sometimes considered messengers between the earthly and spiritual worlds; sometimes their presence is to serve as a guide for a character to follow, as they possess knowledge unknown to them and the reader; they embody intelligence and wisdom; they also make characters feel observed and a sort of persistent nagging.
• Mirrors and reflections: they often portray the duality of a character or a split personality, adding a psychological complexity to the work; mirrors can serve as gateways to other realms; sometimes looking into their reflection, a character can be made to face their own flaws; mirrors serve to highlight the vanity of a character and their fall into self obsession, and sometimes the search for an idealised appearance; the distortion of a reflection can symbolise the blurring of reality and unreliable perception; they can be a combination of looking at yourself and seeing your soul reflected, showing internal struggles; the shattering of a mirror can represent the vulnerability of the human psyche, and an identity shattering to pieces, or becoming fragmented into more than one.
• Masks: they are often used to hide oneself or deceive others, they can hide anything from identity to emotions; they represent the duality of human nature and a freeing from societal pressure to conform, it is a way for characters to explore themselves and identities; they can be worn to create fear in others and unnerve their viewers; they can represent hypocrisy in society, highlighting the facade in behaviour between wearing or not wearing the mask.
• Rich fabrics: their soft and appealing touch may represent temptation, as characters are enticed into lavish life styles which lead to moral dilemmas; they can also represent the duality of a character that may appear to have a wonderful life, but in private suffers from personal issues masked by their attire; excess is also a common factor in Gothic literature, as will later be explained, and rich fabrics reinforce the over-the-top element of the upper-class.
• Darkness and shadows: many of the transformations that take place in characters happen under the cover of darkness, whether it be from one personality to another or a full metamorphosis, physical or psychological; they are also two elements associated with the sublime, as they masquerade as terrifying aspects of nature.

Themes

• Focus becoming an obsession.
• Psychologically challenged: madness, duality / split personality.
• Duality and tragedy.
• The supernatural.
• The sublime.
• The morbid.
• The nature and origins of evil.
• Romance and forbidden love.
• The femme fatale.
• Guilt and redemption.
• Loss: of loved ones, self identity, innocence, sanity, freedom, morality, hope, beauty and youth, days gone by, rationality, love, humanity.
• Persecution: of outsiders, the vulnerable, the supernatural, the innocent, heroes, cursed or damned, heretics, love interests, tyrannical figures.
• The persecution of dangerous or forbidden knowledge, sometimes at the near expense of life.
• Pushing or questioning boundaries.
• Trying to overcome death and illness through science.
• Power and powerlessness.
• Isolation and loneliness.
• The good win and justice is served.
• Religion: the individual as the object of continuous demonic attack; salvation and damnation; churches being a connection to the sacred.
• Death: it is important in all literature but it is everywhere in Gothic literature. It not only shows the end of life but the prolongation of it (vampires).
• Dehumanization.

Monsters: (nocturnal) predators

• Vampires: they are damned to inflict damnation on others; the rise of the vampire: suspension of disbelief; literature did not invent the vampire but gave it shape, its origin is in anthropology; the world over has vampires in their lore; vampires are the perfect element for literature as they are a threat, passionate, dark, and nocturnal.
• Werewolves are a human fantasy. Vampires actually exist in the form of bats.
• Werewolves and vampires have several elements in common: they are anthropomorphised creatures, embodying human attributes in some way; they both come out at night; and they both bite to transform others.
• Zombies: a creation to come out of the Black Plague. Due to an overwhelming number of deaths and the danger to keep their bodies about, some people ended up being buried alive (not quite dead but almost) and of course they moved, some even got up and out of the grave!
• Demons and the devil.
• Monstrous / deformed beings.
• Supernatural spirits and apparitions (ghosts).
• Psychological monsters that exist in a character’s mind, usually bringing psychological torment or paranoia.

Horror and Terror

• There is a difference between horror and terror: horror is visible, it blocks us, it is what actually happens and what we actually see. Terror, on the other hand, is not visual, it stimulates the mind, and we become scared of what could happen. Terror in the mind creates the possible horror.
• Examples of horror: monsters, haunted houses, curses.
• Examples of terror: darkness, being alone, the wind, strange noises.

Excess

• Villains: with villains excess is very important as they do not fit into normal destructive patterns, for them there is no limit, they will kill their wives and parents if needs be.
• Science can also be in excess, the obvious example of Frankenstein highlights this because for the creator there is no limit. Even though he is not an evil character, he worked through illness and isolation, pushing through until he sees the monster alive in front of him which was a true moment or horror for him.

Vulnerability

• Humans live in fear, they are afraid of anything that can take their life, any natural enemies.
• Night time has a psychological impact, evil can find its way more easily between shadows, and we can’t see as well in the dark, we are always more reasonable during the day.
• Being alone: we feel very vulnerable at night but even more so alone.
• Predators that come out at night are so scary because we are defenceless sleeping.
• There are the defenceless, and then for some situations, there are the heroes that confront danger to save them.
• In the 18^th century there were many heroines. The character became a protagonist because they were a symbol for the defenceless. Many were so because of their circumstances, but were strong willed and intellectual.
• Science also incorporates the defenceless, as it is experimented on humans (dead and alive), and also animals forced into the situation.
• The character of "the orphan" became popular as they were someone with no one to look out for them.
• Laughter is a defence mechanism against fear, it releases all the built-up tension. As humans are such fragile beings, we are easily dominated by an evil character, but through laughter we can become the dominant figure.
• However, laughter can be used to heighten the expression of fear, sometimes resulting in the term “hysteria”, being connected to a psychological disturbance and someone not in control of their behaviour.

Science

• Science fiction can prophetize what will be in the future.
• Science has two elements:
  1. Curing and healing = health
  2. Danger and weapons = suffering
• Science opened doors for the detective novel.
• Science and experimentation: as a unit, this had many benefits for the advancement of medicine, but the methods used were somewhat cruel and devastating for those who were experimented on.

Similarities and differences between the Romantic and scientific eras in Gothic Literature

• Gothic and science fiction go hand-in-hand, they are related because they both open doors to “what if…?”
• Romanticism is inspired by the past, sci-fi is inspired by a possible future.
• Literary elements: the night, mystery, suspense, evil, excess, horror and terror, transgression.
• The later works were more disturbing.

Literary devices used

• Suspense: we don’t know what is going to happen but we want to hang around and find out. It plays with time and curiosity to work and intrigue the reader. It keeps the reader waiting.
• Suspension of belief: the temporary suspension of logical thinking to enjoy something imaginative and fantastical.

Other movements with strong Gothic vibes

• Many works from other literary movements (both from this time and later eras) included Gothic elements, especially Romanticism. For example, in Jane Eyre the element of terror is present, when she hears crazy laughter, she imagines danger; the overall gloom in the atmosphere; and Mr. Rochester’s mansion etc.
• At previous literary times: as Gothic writers looked to the past, they took inspiration from previous movements, such as the Renaissance. We can use Hamlet as an example, there is a castle, death, dark clothing, skull, vengeance / usurpation, and human passions: jealousy, ambition, love, which are all elements later associated with the Gothic style.