OCR A-Level English Literature Paper 2 - The Gothic

Manifesting a good Gothic extract x

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Pre-Gothic (1720s — 1760s)

Whilst it is arguable that the Gothic begins with Shakespeare or Chaucer, the critical period leading towards the first Gothic novel begins with the influence of the Graveyard poets. Texts from this time often include the sublime, medievalism, expansion of empire and national identity, and ghosts.

Pre-Gothic Texts

Thomas Parnell — A Night-Piece on Death (1721) : Funeral imagery, futility of life, and transcendence into Heaven.

Thomas Leland — Longsword (1762) : Damsels in distress, dungeon settings, and evil monks.

First Wave Gothic (1760s — 1780s)

Gothic literature from this wave often focused on foreign medieval settings, external monsters, and the supernatural. Characters often fell into simple stereotypes, creating tropes such as the damsel in distress.

First Wave Gothic Texts

Horace Walpole — The Castle of Otranto (1764) : A haunted Italian Castle, Conrad being killed by a gigantic helmet, and Isabella as a damsel in distress.

Ann Radcliffe — The Mysteries of Udulpho (1794) : A haunted Italian Castle, the ghost of suicided Lady of Udulpho, and Emily as a damsel in distress.

Matthew Gregory Lewis — The Monk (1795) : Religious hypocrisy, incestuous rape, murder of family members, and a failed Faustian tale.

Parodic Gothic (1800s — 1820s)

Despite its huge popularity in the late 18th Century, the Gothic became increasingly subject to parody and pastiche. This might have been due to the repetitive nature of the Gothic, as many texts used the exact same tropes (such as the ever-present medieval Italian castle).

Parodic Gothic Texts

Thomas Love Peacock — Nightmare Abbey : Protagonist Scythrop is literally called ‘melancholy’ in Greek and there is a traditional medieval setting

Jane Austen — Northanger Abbey : Protagonist Catherine misinterprets her world as a result of all the Gothic novels she reads.

Second Wave Gothic (1820s — 1870s)

Gothic texts in this wave often shifted towards the internalisation of monsters, focusing on the psychology behind fear. Characters became more realistic, and were set in more relatable worlds, such as contemporaneous London rather than a medieval foreign land.

Second Wave Gothic Texts

Mary Shelley — Frankenstein (1818) : Science versus religion, the ‘outsider’, and appearance versus reality.

Charles Dickens — Oliver Twist (1838) : Pathetic fallacy, isolation, emotional distress, and a contemporaneous London setting.

Fin de siècle Gothic (1870s — 1900s)

Gothic texts from this wave often explored hypnotism and mesmerism as the Gothic shifted towards internal monsters over externals. However, ghost stories were also increasingly popular at this time. Similarly, occultism and spiritualism also became popular, with ideas of ‘spirits’ breaking into the natural world.

Fin de siècle Gothic Texts

Robert Louis Stevenson — The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) : Science versus religion, appearance versus reality, and indulgence.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman — The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) : Hysteria, crippling expectations, and insanity.

American Gothic (1700s — 2000s)

This wave of Gothic literature tends to shift away from the outward appearance of haunted buildings or the supernatural, instead focusing on the inward terrors of the mind. These writers deploy elements of the Gothic to illustrate socio-political concerns about the world around them, and as such, these novels often exist in the daily lives of the readers.

American Gothic Texts

Nathaniel Hawthorne — Young Goodman Brown (1835) : Loss of faith, loss of trust, immorality.

Edgar Allan Poe — The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) : Medieval haunted house, insane male characters, beautiful and dying female characters, unnamed narrator.

Modern Gothic (1900s — 2020s)

Gothic texts from this wave often use contemporaneous events to emphasise gothic tropes, such as Watergate, 9/11, and Covid. As a result, there is often a sense of the ending of innocence and an overwhelming self-consciousness.

Modern Gothic Texts

Daphne du Maurier — Rebecca (1938) : Young and innocent Mrs de Winter, older and imposing Maxim, and madness.

Stephen King — Carrie (1974) : Telekinesis, domineering religion, and bullying.

Toni Morrison — Beloved (1987) : Trauma and grief, haunted house, ghost of a murdered daughter.

Anagnorisis

A critical discovery made by a character that allows them to fully understand their situation or antagonist.

Catharsis

The release of emotions that can help with insight and change. This can be experienced by a character or the reader.

Dislocation

The use of an unreliable narrator in order to create unease or confusion. Used in The Tell-Tale Heart, where the narrator insists he is not mad.

Recidivism

A relapse into criminal or immoral behaviour even after experiencing negative consequences. Used in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, where Dr Jekyll continues to transform into Mr Hyde despite the troubles it causes.

Revenant

A visible ghost or reanimated corpse. Seen in Frankenstein, where the monster is constructed of corpses and is reanimated.

Archetypal Protagonist

A character who serves to defeat the antagonist, and displays characteristics such as courage, perseverance, and sacrifice. They may also embark on a quest or a journey to achieve this. Seen in The Castle of Otranto, where Theodore challenges the tyrant Manfred.

Byronic Hero

A character who is characterised as a moody and brooding rebel, often haunted by a past secret. They have a lot of emotional depth and complexity, but also exhibit traits such as pride, cynicism, and defiance, meaning they can often be mistaken for the antagonist. The first Byronic hero appeared in Lord Byron’s semi-autobiographical poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812.

Damsel in Distress

A female character who is characteristically frail, passive, and wide-eyed. They are often the victim of a predatory male. Seen in The Monk, Antonia is the victim of predatory Ambrosio.

Femme Fatale

A subversion of female expectations, they are usually characterised as seductive and sexual, and is likely to take on an unsettlingly predatory role. Used in The Lady of the House of Love, where the lady is the tyrant of the village, seducing and murdering people who come close.

The Outsider

This character is likely to also be the antagonist — foreign, not Christian, and perhaps not even human. When they aren’t the antagonist, they are able to provide more sensible suggestions in the face of uncertainty. Used in Dracula and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Catholicism and Catholic Settings

A motif throughout Gothic literature that signifies foreign and uncivilised areas, as well as hinting at corruption. Used to contrast Protestant England, this setting often includes locals who are superstitious and somewhat threatening. Used in The Monk and Dracula.

Wasteland Settings

Used to represent a lack of social laws, exposure and a lack of action, as well as presenting death winning over life. Used in The Fall of The House of Usher to emphasise the isolation of the characters.

London and Urban Settings

This setting is used as a symbol of moral degradation, corruption, and hypocrisy — and is often used to emphasise the trope of appearance versus reality. Used in The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to highlight the protagonist’s descent into immorality.

Sublime Landscape Settings

Often used to symbolise higher powers and powerlessness, as well as human insignificance and terror. Used in The Mysteries of Udolpho, as Emily is taken to the castle.

Old Structure Settings

Settings like castles and abbeys provide the threat of unknown pasts, death, and deterioration. The architecture suggests the opportunity for secrets, imprisonment, and corruption. Used in Dracula, The Castle of Otranto, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Dorian Gray, Preface : “It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors”

This could suggest that the corruption of the painting is not of the life that affects Dorian, but Dorian that affects life — he is active in his own corruption, not passive. This is further reflected by Basil’s reaction, who, despite the obvious cruelty, still sees the good in the portrait.

Dorian Gray, Preface : “The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless”

Wilde’s opening statement suggests that the point of art is for admiration. However, the events of the book contradict this, with intense admiration having negative consequences. But this contradiction makes the book itself (an artform of types) useless in its own right, with Wilde’s conflict of intent removing a moral ending from the book.

Dorian Gray, Chapter I : “Plucked a pink-petalled daisy from the grass […] pulling the daisy to bits.”

Henry is presented as destructive from Chapter I, with the daisy he destroys being symbolic of his part in corrupting Dorian from their first interaction. However, the corruption of both the daisy and Dorian are typically seen as admirative and thus innocent — despite Henry knowing of the detrimental consequences of his actions.

Dorian Gray, Chapter I : “Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and seems to take a real delight in giving me pain.”

This exchange takes place before Henry or the reader has met Dorian. Despite all of the positive descriptions of Dorian, there is foreshadowing of the cruelty that Dorian will later display. Basil also suggests that Dorian enjoys being cruel, ruling out the possibility that his cruelty comes from naivety, as may be expected after his actions to Sibyl — he is active in his cruelty.

Dorian Gray, Chapter II : “I am jealous everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of portrait you have painted of me. Why should it keep what I must lose?”

Dorian’s hamartia is introduced here — his desire for the impossible. This is different from becoming ugly, as even being mediocrely beautiful would not be enough to satisfy him. This seems to be the first time that Dorian has contemplated losing his beauty.

Dorian Gray, Chapter IV : “No woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly.”

Henry does not see women as intelligent, reflecting the views of many men contemporaneously. He sees them only as sexual objects. This view of women is easily rubbed off onto Dorian, and could be seen as a partial reason for Dorian’s shunning of Sibyl — once she is emotional and no longer decorative, Dorian casts her away, as she is ‘no longer’ female or human.

Dorian Gray, Chapter IV : “If I ever did a crime, I would come and confess it to you. You would understand me.”

Subtle foreshadowing for Dorian’s murder of Basil. Ironically, Dorian does confess to this — but Henry does not believe him. This misunderstanding could be considered one of the things that pushes Dorian to destroying the portrait, as he realises he has become someone unrecognisable to an outsider.

Dorian Gray, Chapter IV : “‘When is she Sibyl Vane?’ ‘Never.’”

Sibyl is objectified and glorified — but never truly herself. It is her lack of humanity that is so appealing to Dorian; her acquisition of humanity is what ends their relationship. Inversely, it is the lack of humanity that inevitably kills Dorian.

Dorian Gray, Chapter VIII : “She had no right to kill herself. It was selfish of her.”

Dorian’s view of Sybil suggests that he believed that she existed only to please him — stripping her of her autonomy and humanity. It also ironically emphasises Dorian’s selfishness — he cannot see Sybil’s distraught through any lens but his own.

Dorian Gray, Chapter VIII : “Some one has killed herself for the love of you. I wish that I had ever had such an experience. It would have made me in love with love for the rest of my life.”

Henry’s romanticism of Sybil’s suicide could reflect society’s view on suicide, seeing it as a selfish and damnable act that will cast dishonour on the family, instead of an emotional last resort. This could also reflect the patriarchal need for the devotion of women.

Dorian Gray, Chapter VIII : “But don’t waste your tears over Sibyl Vane. She was less real than they are.”

Henry reduces Sibyl to what she performs to be, not what she is. This reaffirms how Dorian was not attracted to her, rather her depictions — or it could be seen how Dorian is attracted to what he cannot have, once he can have a loving, Shakespearean woman, he loses attraction. His hamartia could be his forbidden fruit effect.

Dorian Gray, Chapter IX : “You are made to be worshipped.”

Basil commits the sin of idolatry due to Dorian’s appearance, which means he is not as sinless as he is maybe expected to be. He could be seen as being punished for this idolatry by dying at the hands of his ‘God’ — perhaps a like to the Ten Commandments and the story of Elijah, where the fake God fails their worshippers.

Dorian Gray, Chapter X : “It was a poisonous book.”

The book gifted to Dorian from Henry greatly influences Dorian’s corruption. The significance of ‘yellow’ could reflect Wilde’s earlier poem ‘Symphony in Yellow’, which depicts the encompassing nature of beauty, or the more Gothic motif of perversion, decay, and illness.

Dorian Gray, Chapter XII : “Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face. It cannot be concealed.”

The dramatic irony of Basil’s declaration to Dorian reflects the Gothic trope of appearance versus reality — you cannot be sure of the morality of a person by their appearance. This could be seen as a warning to the reader to not make assumptions off of appearance. (Link to the Snow Child, Jekyll and Hyde, etc.)

Dorian Gray, Chapter XII : “Each of us has Heaven and Hell in him, Basil!”

The duality of good and evil is used continuously throughout the Gothic. Dorian is aware that he has goodness in him, but he still leans into the ‘Hell in him’ — perhaps suggesting his growing immorality and enjoyment of sin.

Dorian Gray, Chapter XX : “He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognised who it was.”

Dorian’s sin has corrupted him so thoroughly that he is unrecognisable — except from his rings, symbolic of his greed. In death, he is only remembered by his greed, perhaps a suggestion that Dorian went to Hell. Furthermore, Dorian’s final appearance is tainted by all the things he did not wish to become — old, ugly, and unloved.

The Bloody Chamber, The Bloody Chamber : “He was older than I. He was much older than I.”

The repetition and added emphasis of ‘older’ emphasises the age gap between the Marquise and Marquis. Whilst this was contextually normal (this short story is set in the Parisian fin de siècle), the Marquise is still a victim. (Link to second wave feminism, which bought attention to domestic violence and marital rape).

The Bloody Chamber, The Bloody Chamber : “In my innocence, he sensed a rare talent for corruption.”

The Marquis wishes for the Marquise to lose her innocence and naivety to become corrupt and knowledgeable in death. By corrupting her before death, the Marquis may be attempting to prevent the Marquise into going to Heaven — and furthermore, he may be attempting to enter Heaven himself, as killing the corrupt is not necessarily a sin.

The Bloody Chamber, The Bloody Chamber : “She raised my father's gun, took aim and put a single, irreproachable bullet through my husband's head.”

Here, the Marquise’s mother subverts gothic expectation in saving herself and her daughter, rather than falling into the traditionally feminine role of ‘damsel in distress’. However, she does not have the agency of a truly ‘free’ woman — she is still defined by her husband’s gun, perhaps suggesting that the hand of the patriarchy is not easy to escape.

The Bloody Chamber, The Bloody Chamber : “I am glad he cannot see it […] because it spares my shame.”

Jean Yves cannot see the red mark on the Marquise’s forehead, symbolising his acceptance of her past and unconditional love. This could relate to the idea of ‘fallen women’ — how unmarried women who are not virgins are often shunned for their immorality. Jean Yves could be representative of fourth wave feminists fighting for less social stigma around sexuality.

The Bloody Chamber, The Courtship of Mr Lyon : “Since you left me, I have been sick.”

Gothic corruption is usually a result of the unknown or the immoral. However, Mr Lyon is corrupted by the familiar society, subverting expectations entirely. The could be a warning to readers that the most familiar aspects of life might be just a dangerous. It may also be a message on conformity.

The Bloody Chamber, The Tiger’s Bride : “A tear! A tear, I hoped, of shame.”

The tiger is able to feel human emotion, perhaps linking to the stereotype of ‘boys don’t cry’. This subverts gothic convention, as men are typically either heroic or monstrous — but the tiger is neither, he is the damsel in (emotional) distress. It also showcases the ability for traditional ‘monsters’ to reform their ways, which is not explored frequently in the Gothic.

The Bloody Chamber, The Tiger’s Bride : “And each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin, all the skins of a life”

The sexual act of licking off skin could be seen as the similar sexual act that leads to birth. Sex is reclaimed as a collaborative act of creation rather than the traditional objectified and disgusting views. The metamorphosis brought upon by sex could link to fourth wave feminism ideas of sexual liberation.

The Bloody Chamber, The Erl-King : “He is the tender butcher who showed me how the price of flesh is love”

The Erl-King showcases traits of both masculinity and femineity, perhaps representing the gothic trope of the ‘other’ — something slightly uncanny and foreign to the reader. The oxymoron suggests he is both loving and ruthless, and that loving is a duty, rather than a pleasure. (Link to second wave feminism against domestic violence).

The Bloody Chamber, The Snow Child : “So the girl picks a rose; pricks her finger on the thorn; bleeds; screams; falls”

The Snow Child dies due to the male idealisation of women — the requests were impossible to maintain. However, the Snow Child is innocent, with the ‘snow’ representing her purity, perhaps suggesting her death was less of a devastation and more of a relief — with how rapidly the Count turns to rape her corpse, it could be implied that he might have raped her even if she hadn’t died. Death is her only escape from the male gaze and brutality, and even that is not total.

The Bloody Chamber, The Snow Child : “When she touched it, she dropped it. ‘It bites!’ she said.”

The rose is natural, and kills the supernatural Snow Child, as traditional Gothic tales see the natural defeat the supernatural. This could be a metaphor to the girl growing up — her nature changing and her childish body disappearing as she transforms. The bite of the rose is the Snow Child’s revenge — attacking the Countess for her passiveness in her husband’s brutality, which is damaging and contrasts Carter’s representations of strong, active women.

The Bloody Chamber, The Lady of the House Of Love : “The perennial sadness of a girl who is both death and the maiden”

As both a murderer and a muse, she is a victim of her own nature, which demands her to murder for the bloods of her survival, and a victim of the male gaze, which demands her to use her body to satisfy her hunger. She is unhappy with her condition, in a similar way to the male Beasts of Carter’s tales are.

The Bloody Chamber, The Lady of the House of Love : “Her beauty is a symptom of her disorder, of her soullessness.”

Despite being the ‘perfect woman’ in the male gaze, this is a deformity for her, leading her to feel hollow and inadequate due to her dependency on her seductiveness. Carter could be suggesting that perfection is unnatural (emphasised by the lady’s supernatural vampirism) and impossible to replicate without dire consequence. (Link to third wave feminism questioning female beauty standards).

The Bloody Chamber, The Lady of the House of Love : “He has the most special quality of virginity, most and least ambiguous of states: ignorance”

This characterisation is similar to the Marquise in The Bloody Chamber — they can be seen as literary foils of each other. Similarly, The Lady of The House of Love can be seen as an inverse of The Bloody Chamber, as it exposes the opposing view of virginity and gender. Where the Marquise is a victim, the soldier is a saviour, and where the Marquis enjoys sexuality, the lady is repulsed.

The Bloody Chamber, The Lady of the House of Love : “Far older, less beautiful and so, for the first time, fully human.”

The metamorphosis from her beautified look to her truthful state could relate to how femineity is a construct, often requiring women to shed their biological beauty for Botox and makeup. The liberation gained from not conforming or performing may look ‘ugly’, but is much more natural and freeing. (Link to Deborah Cameron ‘gender is performative’)

The Bloody Chamber, The Werewolf : “Here, take your father’s hunting knife, you know how to use it.”

By using her father’s hunting knife, the child becomes more masculine, taking on the strength of her father and proving that she is as strong as her father. Now armed, she subverts gothic and fairy-tale expectations of being a ‘damsel in distress’, instead becoming the predating monster. However, this could also be seen as her reliance on the patriarchy, fulfilling the damsel in distress stereotype.

The Bloody Chamber, The Werewolf : “The wolf let out a gulp, almost a sob, when it saw what had happened to it; wolves are less brave than they seem”

Subversion of gothic monsters being scary and fierce — perhaps a link to second wave feminism and gender theorists; the ‘monsters’ are only monstrous due to societal expectations and prejudice.

The Bloody Chamber, The Werewolf : “The child wiped the blade of her knife clean on her apron”

The child uses her apron, which is representative of her social position and domestic expectations, to wipe the blood from the knife. This could be seen as actively rejecting the societal expectations placed upon her by using her token of femineity in an inherently masculine way. Furthermore, the knife, which was once her father’s, is now hers — she has proven her place in the masculine sphere.

The Bloody Chamber, The Werewolf : “Now the child lived in her grandmother’s house; she prospered.”

The child gains agency by owning the house and ‘prospering’. She could either be gaining money or gaining freedom — both of which subvert the expectations of women and place her among the ranks of men. She not only gained her own agency, but she has cemented herself into the public sphere usually dominated by men, and only uses the domestic sphere out of choice.

The Bloody Chamber, The Company of Wolves : “You can hurl your Bible at him and your apron after […] but it won’t do you any good”

The werewolves are traditionally Gothic, reflecting the intolerance to religion also demonstrated by other Gothic monsters, such as Dracula and Dorian. (Link to Dracula being repulsed by the crucifix, Dorian killing Basil while praying). It is almost mocking of the grandmother, which subverts the traditional depiction of grandmothers in the fairy-tale genre.

The Bloody Chamber, The Company of Wolves : “The girl burst out laughing; she knew she was nobody’s meat.”

Even when threatened with a classic fairy-tale villain, the girl remains confident and unapologetic, going as far as to mock her predator. Unlike her grandmother, she is strong, independent, and has agency — she can take care of herself and does not need a male saviour.

The Bloody Chamber, Wolf Alice : “She howls because she is lonely”

Wolf Alice experiences loneliness due to her middling state as not-quite human, not-quite wolf. However, she is particularly lonely as she has been taken away from her foster family and placed with a family she does not relate to. (Link to postcolonial interpretations of the slave trade and identity).

The Bloody Chamber, Wolf Alice : “At night, those huge, inconsolable, rapacious eyes of his are eaten up by swollen, gleaming pupil.”

The Duke metamorphosises at night as the hunger overcomes him. This could suggest that he is more alive at night, as eyes are the window to the soul. However, as he metamorphosises before becoming human, he is similar to Wolf Alice — not quite human, not quite anything else.

Gothic Themes : Setting

Both texts use setting to physically isolate their characters from society. In Dorian Gray, Dorian is isolated in the old schoolroom “right at the top of the house”, physically isolated from those closest to him. Similarly, the castle in The Bloody Chamber is distanced from the mainland by a “causeway [that] rose up out of the sea”. By physically isolating both characters, the authors depict them as unsalvageable and corrupted.

Both texts use pathetic fallacy to reflect the degradation of their characters. In Dorian Gray, the weather reflects Dorian’s moral degradation as “the moon hung low in the sky like a yellow skull”, with the moon symbolising perversion and metamorphosis — reflecting Dorian’s change from a respected position in society to lower-class opium use. Similarly, the Lady of the House of Love’s bedroom is covered in “depredations of rot and fungus everywhere”, reflecting the Lady’s neglect from society and her depressive state brought on by the murders she must commit to survive.

Both texts use forested landscapes to signify growth and change. In Dorian Gray, “the grass of the forest had been spotted with blood”, signifying the turning point from which Dorian is no longer able to redeem himself after James Vane’s death. Similarly, in The Werewolf, the girl’s “five miles’ trudge through the forest” is what paves the way for her to prove her agency and “prosper”.

Gothic Themes : Religion

Both texts use religion as a source of salvation. In Dorian Gray, Dorian “was about to join the Roman Catholic communion” after playing his part in Sybil’s suicide — but this is only a ‘rumour’, Dorian is incapable of salvation from his cruelty. Similarly in The Werewolf, “the child crossed herself” to protect herself from her grandma “shrieking like a thing possessed” — it is this which protects her.

Gothic Themes : Archetypical Characters

Both texts use the character of a damsel in distress to emphasise the villain’s immorality. In Dorian Gray, the character of Sybil Vane is described as “crouched on the floor like a wounded thing”, nothing without the Byronic ‘hero’ there to save her. Similarly, the Snow Child is distressed by the Count and Countess’ demands as she “picks a rose; pricks her finger on the thorn; bleeds; screams; falls” — yet she is never saved, only violated by the man supposed to be her hero.

Both texts manipulate the archetype of the Byronic hero to subvert expectation. In Dorian Gray, it is expected that Dorian is a Byronic hero, who will overcome his hamartia (the antagonist of sorts). However, he does not, and becomes the antagonist, symbolised by his metamorphosis — “He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage”. Similarly, the Erl-King appears to be a Byronic hero in that he is wild and complex, but it is soon revealed that he traps women and is the antagonist — “he is the tender butcher who showed me how the price of flesh is love”.

Both texts use villains and monsters to represent contemporaneous issues that the authors were concerned with. In Dorian Gray, Lord Henry “plucked a pink-petalled daisy from the grass […] pulling the daisy to bits”. He is corruptive of Dorian’s innocence, which is a trope of Modern Gothic texts, and also reflects contemporaneous concerns about corruption. Similarly, the Marquis is symbolic of the second wave feminist backlash about domestic abuse and pornography — “A dozen husbands impaled a dozen brides”.

Gothic Themes : Isolation

Both texts use setting to physically isolate their characters from society. In Dorian Gray, Dorian is isolated in the old schoolroom “right at the top of the house”, physically isolated from those closest to him. Similarly, the castle in The Bloody Chamber is distanced from the mainland by a “causeway [that] rose up out of the sea”. By physically isolating both characters, the authors depict them as unsalvageable and corrupted.

Gothic Interpretations, Ann Radcliffe : “Terror and Horror are so far opposite […] the first expands the soul […] the other contracts”

Terror and Horror are binary opposite techniques used to create tension and surprise in the reader. Whilst terror is extreme fear and anticipation, horror is an intense feeling of shock and disgust.