Content & Style
The haunting history of Gothic in English Literature is a fascinating journey through shadows and mysteries that traces its roots through the 18th century to its ever-evolving forms today.
The Gothic style and content are multifaceted. They create a rich and captivating history, attracting audiences with their blend of suspense, horror, and the supernatural, exploring the dark world of the human mind in diverse ways.
One may discover such divergence of Gothic style & content in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, or The Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia in 2020.
Gothic contents are philosophical, and deeply psychological which reveals social truths; while its style is evocative, symbolic, dramatic, and imaginative. The prevalence of Intense forbidden romance, emotions, and passions which run high is one of the gothic tropes.
Its complex dimension creates a world of the shadowy labyrinth of both tangible and intangible elements which weave a unique and potent atmosphere as created in Tagore’s short story, “Hungry Stones, Monimala; or in the poems of Edgar Allen Poe like The Haunted Palace, Annabel Lee or The Raven.
Some other atmospheric tropes are
- Gloom & Decay: The location is isolated, comprising old mansions, crumbling castles, stormy landscapes, deep sea or rocky hills. They set the stage for the uncanny uncertainty in the natural surroundings.
- Suspense and dread: Constant threats lurk around the ambiance. There are unknown dangers hidden in the shadows and terrors behind the paintings in the gallery, basement, or vault in the decaying mansion.
“The Hungry Stones” by Tagore builds up an aura that is metaphysical, yet factual; romantic, yet probable.
- The Supernatural and Macabre: The prominence of the theme of murder, death, spirits, ghosts, vampires, and werewolves, cruel canines add a layer of the creepy, otherworldly presence that challenges the boundaries of reality.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Conan Doyle serves as an example.
Themes & Psychological Exploration
- Duality and the Unconscious: This element is vividly present in Shakespeare’s characters in his plays though he wrote 200 years earlier than the first Gothic fiction by Horace Walpole who wrote “The Castle of Otranto” and acknowledged his inspiration from the Bard.
The Gothic often explores the tension between reason and madness, and the hidden darkness within ourselves as one finds in “Wuthering Heights.”
- Transgression & Taboo: Forbidden desires, illicit relationships, and violation of societal norms add to the elements of thrill, suspense, and moral ambiguity. This moral ambiguity is showcased in Satyajit Ray’s “Monihara” when the young sensual beauty Moni runs away with her former male friend in the absence of her husband, Phonibhushan.
- Impermanence & Mortiphobia: The fear of death, dealing with loss, and grappling with the unknown beyond life are some of the crises that the protagonists suffer from in the novels.
Emotional Crisis in Gothic Literature
- The Gothic blends the impact of fear and fascination. Its bizarre aspects, at once, create a sense of awe, and an adrenalin rush as well as impose a hypnotic spell. There is that element of “willing suspension of disbelief in “Dracula” which inspired the later Vampire stories.
- Catharsis & Release: It enables us to confront our innermost fears and societal anxieties through the sense of the imaginative world, and offers us a sense of release and catharsis.
- Sublime world: Gothic literature provides us with a sublime experience by the combination of fear and fascination. From Jane Eyre to Rebecca, all Gothic stories provide us with an exotic aesthetic experience that leaves a lasting impression in our minds.
Gothic writings are explorations of the darkness within and without. Gothic novels like Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde were futuristic by nature. They served as inspirations to the modern science fiction writers.
Lastly, despite creating fear and suspense in our mind, the deep emotional appeal of human relationships in modern Gothic Horror stories set them apart from other horror fiction like Psycho, Bird Box, Annihilation, Crash, Gone Girl, and Parasite whose purpose is just to create fear and terror in the human mind.
The classic example of Modern Gothic Horror is The Haunting of Hill House.
