The Gothic NovelJames Ward, Gordale Scar, 1814, London, Tate Gallery.

It came to popularity at the end of the 18th century

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The adjective “Gothic” three connotations

Medieval, linked to thearchitecture of the 12th-14th centuries

Irregular, barbarous, opposed to Classicism

Wild, supernatural,in the sense of

mysterious

1. The origin of the name

The Gothic novel

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The 18th-century society

Industrial exploitation

•Destruction of the single human being

•Man as a slave to forces he could not control

•Gothic symbols as denunciation of social problems

2. Influences

The Gothic novel

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2. Influences

The Gothic novel

• As a celebration of terror

• As a rejection of constraints and limits

• As exploration of forbidden areas

The “sublime”

• Great importance given to

terror, characterised by

obscurity and uncertainty,

and horror, caused by evil

and atrocity.

• Darkness necessary

ingredient for the mysterious,

gloomy atmosphere.

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The Gothic novel

3. The setting

Jonathan Barry, Udolpho Castle, 1993, private collection.

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The Gothic novel

3. The setting• Ancient settings isolated

castles and mysterious

abbeys with hidden passages,

underground cellars, secret

rooms.

• Catholic countries as the

setting for the most terrible

crimes, due to Protestant

prejudices against

Catholicism.A drawing depicting the Gothic staircase at

Strawberry Hill, near London.

Characters dominated by exaggerated reactions in front of mysterious situations or events.

Supernatural beings vampires, monsters and ghosts.

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The Gothic novel

4. The characters

Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli), The Nightmare, 1781, Goethe Museum, Frankfurt

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The Gothic novel

4. The characters

Sensitive heroes they save heroines.

Heroines stricken by unreal terrors and persecuted by the villains.

Satanic, terrifying male characters, victims of their negative impulses.

Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli), The Nightmare, 1781, Goethe Museum, Frankfurt

Semantic areas Words

Mystery enchantment, ghost, haunted, infernal, magic, secret, spectre, vision

Fear/ Terror/ Sorrow

agony, anguish, apprehensions, despair, dread, fearing, frightened, hopeless, horror, melancholy, miserable, panic, sadly, scared, shrieks, sorrow, tears, terror, unhappy, wretched

Haste anxious, breathless, frantic, hastily, impatient, running, suddenly

Anger anger, enraged, furious, rage, resentment, wrath

Largeness enormous, gigantic, large, tremendous, vast

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The Gothic novel

5. The language

• Horace Walpole The Castle of Otranto (1764)

• Ann Radcliffe The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

• Matthew Lewis The Monk (1796)

• Mary Shelley Frankenstein (1818)

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The Gothic novel

6. First Gothic authors

• Great interest during the 18th century common to all strata of society.

• The features of Gothic novels preserved in modern and contemporary descendents of this genre in the works of:

Charlotte Bronte

E. A. Poe

R. L. Stevenson

Bram Stoker

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The Gothic novel

7. Popularity