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The impact of the Victorian era literature
Themes in gothic fiction
Importance of gothic themes in literature
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The purpose of this essay is to discuss how three Victorian writers use the features of Gothic horror to create an atmosphere of foreboding in their short stories. The three stories I will be exploring are The Yellow Wallpaper, The Red Room and The Monkey’s Paw. The red room uses the most traditional gothic horror features. It is exactly like gothic horror because it is set in “Lorraine castle” which has been “abandoned for 18 months”. This is scary because there is old furniture, statues, lots of corridors and corners people could hide behind in a castle. This makes us scared because humans fear of having someone jumping out at them something not alive which moves. In the red room the narrator experiences supernatural events when the candles are blown out instantly. “The flame vanished, as if the wicks had been suddenly nipped between a finger and thumb”. This is scary because when there is no light there could be things out there that the eye can not see in the dark. The male narrator then starts to panic demonstrating high emotion which is typical gothic horror. He describes himself panicking in a “cry of terror” and “I darted to and fro” this shows you completely deranged he is becoming. As readers we join the man in his terror and feel like we want to hide ourselves from it. Of the tree short stories the red room has the most features of gothic horror with the exception of the ending, where the narrator is really factual about the cause of the “haunting”. This is typical of the Victorian era which was very scientific and factual based, if they couldn’t see it or touch it wasn’t real. Another short story that captures some of the development of the Victorian era is “the monkey’s paw”. The story is set in a cosy cotta... ... middle of paper ... ... scary because it is un-natural and in-human behaviour. It is disturbing for the reader to have the picture of an ordinary woman gnawing at her bed. The first person narrator is clearly in distress when she appears to be being kept prisoner by her husband, john. However as the story progresses, she obviously becomes mentally ill, and we realize that her husband may not be the tyrannical male we first thought. The Victorians were afraid of admitting that themselves or other people that they are mad because they were very self conscious of their appearance and how other people thought of them and madness was considered shameful. In conclusion I have shown that “the red room” has the most gothic terror features and “the Yellow Wallpaper” has the least. However all three Victorian stories scare the reader even though they only have a few features of gothic horror.
In comparison The Red Room was written only thirty years later in 1894 by HG Wells although it feels more timeless. At that time technology had improved intensely, nevertheless Wells still imitated the old fashion gothic literature style writing, which is ironic, due to the time. Both stories have managed to engage its audience by creating suspense and tension. Besides that both stories have been written in first person, this in sequence makes it sinister, in a way because we get to know the narrator’s impressions and feelings. The authors of both stories have selected discomforting places in which to set their story, they are made more eerie because that in the 19th century time many people believed in ghosts and the supernatural.
Key Elements of Gothic Literature Jasmine Giles People enjoy reading gothic literature due to its heart rate exciting nature. Without having to engage with any real danger, it is common for the reader to feel anxiety and impaitence when reading gothic fiction. In order for the reader to feel these emotions, the author uses certain elements, such as a gloomy setting and old-fashioned dialoge. In the stories “The Black Cat” and “The Tell Tale Heart”, by elgar allen poe, and “The Landlady”, by Roland Dahl, there are many similarites that remanticize the idea of horror and mystery. Some elements, however, bring out the disbolical horror of gothic literature: the setting, characterization, and the motif of suspense.
Written in 1818, the latter stages of the Gothic literature movement, at face value this novel embodies all the key characteristics of the Gothic genre. It features the supernatural, ghosts and an atmosphere of horror and mystery. However a closer reading of the novel presents a multifaceted tale that explores
Word by word, gothic literature is bound to be an immaculate read. Examining this genre for what it is could be essential to understanding it. “Gothic” is relating to the extinct East Germanic language, people of which known as the Goths. “Literature” is defined as a written work, usually with lasting “artistic merit.” Together, gothic literature combines the use of horror, death, and sometimes romance. Edgar Allan Poe, often honored with being called the king of horror and gothic poetry, published “The Fall of House Usher” in September of 1839. This story, along with many other works produced by Poe, is a classic in gothic literature. In paragraph nine in this story, one of our main characters by the name of Roderick Usher,
First, The narrator is sceptical and doubtful about the red room and its alleged supernatural powers; "I can assure you that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me." His arrogant behaviour creates uneasiness in the reader's mind as it is typical in a Gothic story. the smug non-believer to be the first victim of the story. However, as a result, it is. the story continues, we see that there is very little dialogue in the later parts of the story.
The old mans bedroom is the only room that is mentioned in the story. The setting and tone is made scarier because the looks of the room are not described. This allows our imagination to run wild. The room is where the narrator watches the old man sleep and ends up taking his life.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, sets a tone that is dark, gloomy, and threatening. His inclusion of highly descriptive words and various forms of figurative language enhance the story’s evil nature, giving the house and its inhabitants eerie and “supernatural” qualities. Poe’s effective use of personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, and doubling create a morbid tale leading to, and ultimately causing, the fall of (the house of) Usher.
In conclusion to this essay, having examined these 19th century gothic texts, it is fair to say that normative gender behaviour and sexuality pervades them. This element gives the reader a deep insight into the culture context of the time in which these stories are situated. It enables the reader to delve into the darker sides of humanity at that time, that they would not have been able to do otherwise.
The Victorian Gothic era holds great interest to me, due to the horrific imagery conveyed in texts such as Poe’s ‘The Raven’ or Stevenson’s ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ as it’s interesting to compare this to the atmosphere projected in contemporary novels like Banks ‘The Wasp Factory’. This may explain my enthusiasm for thriller pieces as I find them to be the most rewarding if you can evoke a genuine feeling of suspense in the reader. I do find it hard to limit myself to one genre as I enjoy a wide selection of literature ranging from playwrights such as Tennessee Williams and Shakespeare, to the poetry of Larkin and Rossetti. These varied mediums have intrigued me into widening my understanding of English, as I’m enthusiastic to share ideas with other
Now we have examined three stories written by two well distinguished authors known for their Southern Gothic Literature and found many similarities in each story. Each story has its form of the grotesque we have Miss Emily, the Misfit, the Grandmother, and Marley Pointer and let’s not leave out Helga. The characters of each story has some form of cringe inducing quality, meaning some kind of attitude about themselves that gets under ones skin. Then as we can see from the stories they all are Southern based each story is in a Southern setting. And the final thing we look for in Southern Gothic literature is tragedy which all three stories possessed.
In the novel JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte, I felt that in chapter two that the red room was a very dark place where bad things happen. The red kind of symbolizes blood, hell, and torture. The door locks from the outside, that itself is just odd. “O aunt! Have pity! Forgive me! I cannot endure it—let me be punished some other way! I shall be killed if—” This quote shows what Jane thought about the red room and how much torture it was. She even said she would rather get punished any other way. The red room sounds like a very dark and scary place that nobody should have to witness.
Tension and Suspense in The Red Room by H.G. Wells In H.G Wells’ The Red Room tension and suspense are created through the characters, the plot and the setting. The setting is typical of Gothic and Victorian ghost stories. In these times there was no electricity so use of candles for light created an eerie atmosphere. They had no modern technology like televisions for entertainment so they used books and story telling.
Frightening details begin to unfold about the room, including: barred windows, a bolted down bed, and of course, the wallpaper itself (227). Gilman uses the imagery to create an air of suspense and insinuates the narrator’s coming fall into insanity. The setting of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” in large, leads to the narrator’s collapse. Almost instantly, the narrator’s already unstable mind perceives a ghostliness that begins to set her even more on edge. Her tense mind is then further pushed towards insanity by her husband,
How does the writer create tension and suspense in The Red Room? The writer is able to create tension and suspense through various ways in the short story ‘The Red Room’. The opening sentence in the story immediately mentions the supernatural, which immediately tells us that this is a gothic story. The first sentence is dialogue, but we do not know who is speaking.
The story unfolds in a rickety colonial mansion described by the narrator plainly as “a haunted house” (Gilman 1) with barred windows and rings bolted to the walls (Gilman 2). These features along with the “horrid” (Gilman 6) yellow wallpaper entrap the narrator and swaddle her in her own madness. As the “woman” (Gilman 6) in the wallpaper takes hold of the narrator’s psyche she grows sinisterly corporal, depicted through the unintelligible sporadic entries. The purpose of the narrator’s journal warps from entries assuring herself of the pettiness of her sickness to entries that confirm and act as horrendous safe haven’s for her unhinged mental condition. Entries like “I see her in that long shaded lane, creeping up and down. I see her in hose dark grape 'arbors, creeping all around the garden” (Gilman 8) juxtapose nonchalant writing style with dark subject matter in a way that creates a disturbing tone that must be uncomfortably ingested by