Scribd
Upload
41 views1 page

Gothic Fiction - Wikipedia

Gothic fiction, originating with Horace Walpole's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, is a genre characterized by themes of fear, haunting, and the supernatural, often set in decaying environments like castles and monasteries. It evolved through the works of notable authors such as Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker, continuing to influence 20th-century writers like Stephen King and Toni Morrison. Common elements include psychological conflict, convoluted narratives, and motifs of imprisonment and murder.

Uploaded by

somethingworks56
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
41 views1 page

Gothic Fiction - Wikipedia

Gothic fiction, originating with Horace Walpole's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, is a genre characterized by themes of fear, haunting, and the supernatural, often set in decaying environments like castles and monasteries. It evolved through the works of notable authors such as Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker, continuing to influence 20th-century writers like Stephen King and Toni Morrison. Common elements include psychological conflict, convoluted narratives, and motifs of imprisonment and murder.

Uploaded by

somethingworks56
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Gothic fiction

Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror


(primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear
and haunting. The name of the genre refers to the Gothic
architecture of the European Middle Ages, which characterised
the settings of early Gothic novels.

The first work to be labelled as Gothic was Horace Walpole's


1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, later subtitled A Gothic
Story. Subsequent 18th-century contributors included Clara
Reeve, Ann Radcliffe, William Thomas Beckford, and Matthew
Lewis. The Gothic influence continued into the early 19th
century, with Romantic works by poets, like Samuel Taylor
Coleridge and Lord Byron. Novelists such as Mary Shelley,
Charles Maturin, Walter Scott and E. T. A. Hoffmann
frequently drew upon gothic motifs in their works as well. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The
Modern Prometheus (1818) has
Gothic aesthetics continued to be used throughout the early come to define Gothic fiction in the
Victorian period in novels by Charles Dickens, Brontë sisters, Romantic period. Frontispiece to
as well as works by the American writers, Edgar Allan Poe and 1831 edition shown.
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Later, Gothic fiction evolved through
well-known works like Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Beetle by
Richard Marsh, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the
20th-century, Gothic fiction remained influential with contributors including Daphne du Maurier,
Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Anne Rice, and Toni Morrison.

Characteristics
Gothic fiction is characterised by an environment of fear, the
threat of supernatural events, and the intrusion of the past
upon the present.[1][2] The setting typically includes physical
reminders of the past, especially through ruined buildings that
stand as proof of a previously thriving world that is now
decaying.[3] Characteristic gothic settings in the 18th and 19th
centuries include castles, and religious buildings such as
monasteries, convents, and crypts. The atmosphere is typically The ruins of Wolf's Crag castle in
Walter Scott's The Bride of
claustrophobic, and common plot elements include vengeful
Lammermoor (1819)
persecution, imprisonment, and murder.[1] The depiction of
horrifying events in Gothic fiction often serves as a
metaphorical expression of psychological or social conflicts.[2] The form of a Gothic story is usually
discontinuous and convoluted, often incorporating tales within tales, changing narrators, and
framing devices such as discovered manuscripts or interpolated histories.[4] Other characteristics,
regardless of relevance to the main plot, can include sleeplike and deathlike states, live burials,

You might also like