Gothic Vocab/notes

Macabre

disturbing or horrifying because of involvement with or depiction of death and injury

Catacombs

Underground man made passages used for burials

Omens

Event or phenomenon believed to foreshadow an event; can be interpreted as good or bad fortune

Catatonia

Neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by abnormal movements, behaviors and withdrawals

Sublime

Of high moral or intellectual value

Interdeterminacy

The state of being uncertain, undefined, or not clearly known

Alas

Expression of grief pity or concern

Dejection

A sad and depressed state

Labyrinth

A place full of passageways and blind alleys arranged so it is difficult for one to find its way around

Byronic hero

Hero who contains certain dark, personal flaws that one would not normally expect to see in a hero. Ultimately good at heart though

Heroine

female protagonist

Gothic

Belong to characteristics of the Middle Ages. Deals with the brutal aspects of life, the unknown and chaos

Gothic literature

Literature used to terrify people. Aspects of supernatural and dark architecture. Border reality and unreality

Middle Ages

12th through 16th century

Melancholia

Gloom, depression, mournfulness, dejection. In history it was seen as mental madness. Now known as depression

Sinister

Indication fill fortune or trouble, with people it can mean evil or wicked

Supernatural

Describes things that are outside the laws of nature/ ex: demons, miracles, spells,etc

Villain

Antagonist of story, shown as evil, malicious and lustful. Stems from old French “works in the villa” comes from farmhand because those workers were seen as beneath knights

Ignoble

Not honorable in character or purpose

Frankenstein

Published in 1818 by Mary Shelley

Mores

Society customs/behaviors or norms

imperialism

Powerful nation extends control over a weaker one

Jekyll and Hyde

In 1886, written by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dracula

In 1897 by bram stoker

Edgar Allen Poe

Poet

Abject

Experience to max degree

Oscar Wilde

Victorian author, important of being earnest: brilliant comedy

Charnel house

Building in which corpses or bones are stored when they cannot be immediately buried

Genevese

One who lives in Geneva, a city in southwest Switzerland on lake Geneva

Hovel

A small shed or shelter

Vex

Make annoyed