Gothic Literature Notes Practice

Ideas Dark Romantics shared with Transcendentalists

Valued intuition and imagination over rationalism; wanted to explore the mysteries of human existence

Differences between Dark Romantics and Transcendentalists

put emphasis on the darker side of human nature, the presence of suffering in the world, and the ongoing conflict between good and evil

What are the 9 Gothic Thematic Elements/Plots

Ancestral curse, dreaming/nightmares, entrapment/imprisonement, the grotesque, mystery, necromancy, revenge, the supernatural, and doppelganger

Ancestral curse

The current generation suffers for the evil deeds of ancestors

Dreaming/Nightmares

Reveal urges, impulses, desires, even truths about oneself one tries to hide; often reveals the future

Entrapment/Imprisonement

Being confined or trapped, as shackled to a floor or hidden away in a dark cell; heightens the psychology of feeling there’s “no way out”

The Groresque

Mutations, often deformities

Mystery

An event or situation that appears overwhelm understanding

Necromany

The dark art of communicating with the dead

Revenge

The act of repaying someone for a harm caused

The Supernatural

Events or phenomena that defy the rules of natural law

Doppelganger

Other self/evil twin that is often protrayed as the harbinger of bad luck

Example of Gothic Characters

The Devil, ghosts, vampires, witches, werewolves

What is the pursued protagonist?

The main character that is often being tortured by something/someone and is the one in danger

What is the unreliable narrator?

When you can’t trust narrator of the story’s (often the pursued protagonist) words, because he might be imagining things or it could have all just been a dream

What is the Villain-Hero?

When the villain poses as a hero at the beginning of the story or the villain possesses enough heroic qualities to be considered the good one

What are the elements of a gothic setting?

Eerie, rural, isolated, night time, dark and dreary