Sunday 30 September 2012

Other Gothic Texts

Turn of the screw

  • Elements of the sublime = fascination with terror, awe, wonder. -all emotional/feelings/states  of physical being
  • Mystery, power of obscurity
  • Language shifts, ambiguous dialogue
  • Unreliability of narrator
  • religion, governess' father was a county parson-she could be beacon of faith
  • children angelic, light, corruption of innocence
  • describes vision a lot- governess unreliable- over-active imagination?
  • Light, terror happens most at night
  • dialogue can be restricted, commas give breathless feel to create tense character
  • imprisonment
The monk
  • Banned from publication
  • attack on brutality and hypocrisy of the Catholic church
  • poison, rape, incarceration= original Goths barbaric
  • Elements of the sublime
  • reflects anger at churches history
  • focused more in horror than romance
  • terror Gothic- interior mental process
  • broke typical stereotypes of location
  • first novel to feature priest as villain
  • woman represents servant of Satan
  • demonic temptress, the wandering Jew, bleeding nun
  • diabolous dx machina
  • use of morality tale- lack of divine intervention
Interview with a vampire
  • Main character is a vampire
  • death and revenge, secrets
  • romance between two characters
The Castle of Toronto
  • First Gothic novel
  • translation of Italian story
  • then was dismissed as romantic
  • supernatural and magic - made it more relate-able by making the characters more human
  • castles   
Wuthering Heights
  • The nature of Heathcliff and Catherine is reflected in the wild elements of the local moors
  • Death and disease afflict virtually all characters
  • destructive love
  • When Heathcliff disappears, a tree is struck by lightening, there is a storm the night Catherine is buried- storms signal danger and conflict
  • Death is a reoccuring theme- set in an age when mortality rate was high and death was a part of everyday life
  • Wuthering heights house described as a fortress; small windows look inwards and give no welcome
  • chained gate and gaunt thorns and narrow windows of the house create a chilling and unwelcoming atmosphere
  • Heathcliff opens Cathy's coffin
  • Boundaries are surpassed, specifically love crossing the boundaries between life and death
  • Heathcliff's transgressing social class
  • Gothic trappings of imprisonment and escape
  • terrifying dreams, appearances of Cathy as a ghost

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