Gothic presentation

1. What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie
 Think about a scary movie you enjoy…
 What happens—plot?
 Where does it take place—the setting?
 Why do people like to be scared?

2. The Dark Romantics
Gothic Literature
1760-1820…and beyond

3. “Can we speak of ‘ghosts’
without transforming the
whole world and
ourselves, too, into
phantoms?”
Jean-Michale Rebaté

4. The Origins of the term
Gothic (“Gothick”)
Gothic
 Originally referred to the northern
Gothic tribes that invaded Europe
in the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries
 Later applied to Renaissance
architecture (critics thought the
style originated with the Gothic
tribe)
 Was considered ugly, barbaric, archaic

5. Gothic Architecture
First Gothic Cathedral
build in 1144
 Gargoyles (originally
for religious buildings)
 Vaulted ceilings
 Structural ribbing
(skeletal)
 Stained glass

6. Art Influences
“The Nightmare”
Johann Heinrick Fuseli

7. The Beginning
 1764- Horace Walpole publishes The Castle of
Otranto: A Gothic Story anonymously
 Contains essentially all the elements associated
with the genre
 Best-seller
 Had remodeled his home in “Gothick” style
 Said that the inspiration of his story was a dream
that was so haunting, he had to write it down

8. Elements of Gothic Literature
1. Setting
 Action takes place in or
around an old castle
 Seems abandoned, or
broken down
 Has secret passages, doors,
rooms
 Usually very large, but
seems claustrophobic

9. Elements of Gothic Literature
2. An atmosphere of mystery or suspense
 Feeling of being threatened or fearful
 Plot is built around a mystery (such as unknown
parentage, a disappearance, or some other
inexplicable event)
 This is achieved by the next three elements…

10. Elements of Gothic Literature
3. An ancient prophecy
 Usually connected with
the castle or its
inhabitants
 Obscure, partial, or
confusing
 The characters struggle
to understand

11. Elements of Gothic Literature
4. Omens, visions
 Character may have a disturbing dream/vision
 Some phenomenon may be seen as an omen of
coming events
 If the statue of the lord of the manor falls over, it
may predict his death

12. Elements of Gothic Literature
5. Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events
 Dramatic or amazing events occur
 Such as ghosts or giants, or inanimate objects (such as a
suit of armor or painting) coming to life
 In some works, the events are ultimately given a
natural explanation, while in others the events are
truly supernatural

13. Elements of Gothic Literature
6. High, overwrought emotion
 Narration may be highly sentimental
 Characters are often overcome by anger,
sorrow, surprise, and especially, terror.
 Suffer from raw nerves and a feelings of
impending doom
 Crying and emotional speeches are frequent
 Breathlessness and panic are common

14. Elements of Gothic Literature
7. Women in distress
 Female characters often face
events that leave them fainting,
terrified, screaming, and/or
sobbing
 Lonely, pensive, and oppressed
heroine, often the central figure
 Her sufferings are even more
pronounced and the focus of
attention than the other characters
in the story

15. Elements of Gothic Literature
8. Women threatened by a
powerful, tyrannical male
 A male character (king, lord of
the manor, father) has the
power to demand the female
character/s do something
intolerable
 May be commanded to marry
someone she does not love , or
commit a crime, keeps her
locked away

16. Elements of Gothic Literature
9. The metonymy of gloom and horror
 Metonymy is a subtype of metaphor, in which
something (like rain) is used to stand for something
else (like sorrow).
 Metaphors use words. Metonymy uses images and
sound

17. Elements of Gothic Literature
 Wind, especially howling
 Doors grating on rusty
hinges
 Footsteps approaching
 Gusts of wind blowing out
lights
 Characters trapped in a
room
 Baying of dogs (or wolves)
 Thunder and/or lightning
 Rain
 Sighs, moans, howls
 Clanking chains
 Lights in abandoned rooms
 Doors suddenly slamming
shut
 Crazed laughter
 Children

18. Elements of Gothic Literature
10. Unreliable Narrator
 Character telling the story
isn’t trustworthy
 Villain narrates
 Narrator is or goes insane as
the story goes on
 Narrator has limited
information

19. Is your movie Gothic?
 Setting
 Mystery
 Ancient prophecy
 Omen/Vision
 Supernatural
 High emotion
 Women in distress
 Women being threatened by man
 Metonymy
 Unreliable narrator

20. Examples
 The Ring Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6HaoRF
gSUw
 GEICO ad:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWv-
dIUP9oc

21. Criticism
Gothic tradition has not been very highly regarded
 Attracted many “big” writers: Keats, Melville,
Faulkner
 but it is usually not these works that are highlighted
 Women also wrote in this genre
 Jane Austin (Northanger Abbey), Mary Wollstonecraft
Shelley (Frankenstein)

22. Revivals
 1818: Frankenstein
 1897: Dracula
 1960’s: Gothic was the best-selling mass market fiction
 1970-present: Stephen King
 2005: biggest money making movie genre,
averaging $75 million per movie in box office
sales

23. The Master: Poe
 Edgar Allan Poe is the master
of gothic literature
 He is famous for this use of
personal tragedies, especially
with women, in his work
 Poe is most popular because
of his mastery of fear,
suspense, and death

25. Poe’s biography
 As most authors do, Poe used his personal life
as motivation to write

27. Poe
 With the exception of “The Raven,” not famous in
his own time
 His literary criticism made him more enemies
 He didn’t make much money on his writing
 Died of unknown causes, destitute and alone
 Shortly after his death, rival author/frenemy
Rufus Griswold set out to ruin Poe's reputation
with a lurid biography that painted him as a drug
user and madman. The scheme backfired when
Poe's sales skyrocketed and a legend was born.

28. Works Used
 Bayer-Berenbaum, Linda. “Elements of a Gothic.” Horror. Ed. Michael Stuprich. San Diego:
Greenhaven Press, 2001. 72-83.
 “Door: Metal: Squeaky Metal Restroom Door in Building: Close: Slow Creak.” Sound Ideas. 2007.
Unitedstreaming. 17 April 2007. http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>.
 The Gothic Imagination. Ruthford: Associated University Press, Ltd., 1982.
 “Gothic Architecture.” Wikipedia Online. 2005. 6 March 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture.
 Harris, Robert. “Elements of the Gothic Novel.” VirtualSalt. 2005. 6 March 2005.
http://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm.
 Williams, Anne. “The Gothic Novel.” Horror. Ed. Michael Stuprich. San Diego:
Greenhaven Press, 2001. 62-71.
 Wolfreys, Julian. Victoria Haunting: Spectrality, Gothic, the Uncanny and Literature.
Houndsmills: Palgrave, 2001.