Key elements of the Gothic Novel and “The mysteries of Udolpho”

Описание: Gothic fiction is a genre of literature that rose to prominence in the late 18th century. The term Gothic historically refers to a style of architecture popularised in the Medieval period.

-Horace Walpole's (1764) “The Castle of Otranto” was the first work to call itself Gothic and this genre-defining tale features the hallmarks of a good Gothic novel:

The Castle/Great house-Gloomy, historically rich, decaying, crumbling, haunted castle, secret passages

Untamed, wild, dramatic Nature-(weather=emotions)

The supernatural-real or symbolic

Metonomy- a subtype of metaphor, in which something (like rain) is used to stand for something else (like sorrow). e.g. raining in funeral scenes.

The Sublime-an emotion mainly characterized by feelings of amazement and fear, emotional intensity-terror, the bewilderment. Awe, overwhelming, overblown, amplified emotions. Unease, anxiety, worry.

The Past—consequences on present

Powerful main character-Byronic* hero/anti-hero, morally ambiguous

*“a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection"

Confinement/Isolation-being physically or psychologically

Some other mainstays of Gothic fiction:

1. Twins/doubles
2. Damsel in distress
3. Foreboding, brooding, sinister Atmosphere
4. Dysfunctional family
5. Omens and curses
6. Romance
7. Villain
8. Emotional distress
9. Nightmares
10. Anti-hero
11. Inner fears and psychological instability
12. Good VS Evil
13. Religion/Spirituality

Which brings us to this book:

Ann Radcliffe, who paved the way for women in the Gothic genre with her groundbreaking and scandalous “The Mysteries of Udolpho”, is another genre-defining Gothic romance.
It tells the story of Emily St. Aubert, who is orphaned after the death of her mother and father, being taken in by a cruel aunt who marries an even crueller and colder Italian nobleman of dubious origins.
Often cited as the archetypal Gothic novel, “The Mysteries of Udolpho” features prominently in Jane Austen's 1817 gothic parody novel “Northanger Abbey”, where an impressionable young woman starts to see her life as a sinister gothic novel come to life.

(1796) The Monk Matthew Lewis
(1818) Frankenstein Mary Shelley
(1839) The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Alan Poe
1860–61) Great Expectations  Charles Dickens 
(1847)Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë Gothic Romanticism from a woman's point of view, which examines class, myth, and gender. 
(1846) Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë
(1848) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë, written in a realistic rather than romantic style, is mainly considered to be the first sustained feminist novel.
(1872) Carmilla Sheridan Le Fanu
(1890)The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde
(1897) Dracula by Bram Stoker
(1902) The hound of Baskerville Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
 (1886) Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson's 
(1938)Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
(1959) The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson
(1962)We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
(1974)Carrie by Stephen King
(1976) Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice
(2008) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

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