One of the main themes in Gothic Literature is a form of human sacrifice, the sacrifice of the innocent woman. Innocent and idealized women were sacrificed for many reasons, but mostly for the benefit of a male patriarchal power that has control over their lives. These sacrificial women do vary, but there are commonalities between them: they are usually young women, of higher class, non-married, their innocence borders sainthood, and virginal innocence. The sacrificial women in both short stories The Old Nurses Story and Good Lady Ducayne meet these criteria but also depart from it as there are some discrepancies regarding their class and age, and they survive their attempted sacrifices. The characters Rosamond in The Old Nurses Story and Bella …show more content…
By the end of the story all three except Rosamond died for the benefit of Lord Furnivall in the classic patriarchal fashion but they are not innocent, so the story is not satisfied. Maude had a child out of wedlock and brought the child to their home, which removed her of her virginal innocence. The old lady Furnivall witnessed her father killing the child and casting out his daughter and did nothing to stop it and the child committed the crime of simply being born. Rosamond on the other hand is also a sacrifice, but here Maude uses her to oppose the patriarchal power structure. Rosamond is drawn outside by the ghost of the dead child who leads Rosamond to the holly trees where her and her mother died. The spirit of Lord Furnivall tries to thwart this attempted usurping of power by loudly playing the organ whenever Maude and her child try and entice Rosamond to her death. This resistance against the patriarchal power structure is odd for this theme as it is resisting the structure itself rather than simply trying to usurp it. At the end of the story, the dead father, sister, and child are together, seemingly under the father’s control once again, which is where the old lady Furnivall dies, and her ghost joins her family, and the structure remains
While examining nineteenth-century female monster, Susanne Beacker reveals that she remains a mere idea, a “voiceless textual object” in women’s gothic texts whose happy endings close to the retribution and exorcism of the monstrous woman and the entrapment of the heroine in the patriarchal system (72). In this context, DeLamotte contends that: Like the Good Other Woman, the Evil Other Woman often spends much of her life hidden away in the castle, secret room, or whatever, a fact suggesting that even a virtuous woman’s lot is the same she would have merited had she been the worst of criminals. The heroine’s discovery of such Other Women is in the one case an encounter with women’s oppression-their confinement as wives, mothers, and daughters-and in the other with a related repression: the confinement of a Hidden Woman inside those genteel writers and readers who, in the idealization of the heroine’s virtues, displace their own rebellious
‘Rebecca’ and ‘The Bloody Chamber’ convey the gothic theme of isolation by employing the embodiment of dominant male characters. The femme fatal persona in ‘Rebecca’ creates a stigma about how Mrs de Winter should act. The Fairy-tale form causes development of female power and causes a sense of resilience throughout the collection of short stories. The use of controversial issues of feminine empowerment exercises the idea that women should have more power within heterosexual relationships. There are several Gothic conventions within both texts, for example setting is vital because the authors use immense, reclusive places like Manderly and the Castles causing physical entrapment for the feminine roles. Violent characteristics from Maxim and
In today’s literature there are many types of genres that people find fascinating, all the way from fantasy to non-fiction. A very interesting genre is Gothic Fiction, where many elements are used to such as violence, ghosts, monsters and many other dark and mystical elements that make up Gothic Fiction. There are many great authors who are well known for their dark gothic style such as Edgar Poe, who has written the short story “Fall of the House of Usher” and the “Black Cat,” or Horacio Quiroga who has written “Feather Pillow” and a more recent author, Ransom Riggs who has written Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. These three author’s stories all have gothic elements, such as psychological issues, death and fear that parallel one other which shows a common trend between gothic literatures.
The New Woman is a term which describes the rise of feminist power and status within the Victorian Era. The new woman opposes all acts of the traditional woman and is a female who fights for equality and status, and her own happiness. The traditional woman is someone who is controlled by her husband and children and keeps the living style well kept within the home, but has no other power or responsibilities outside of the home. In the novel “Dracula”, by Bram Stoker, Stoker’s view and support of the new women is not clearly presented because of the mix of traits he has within his main female characters. Stoker presented his character Mina with traits that represent the new woman, but on the other hand he also included a character Lucy which is all for and represents the traditional woman.
One of the corner stones in gothic literature is the characterization of female characters as weak and submissive. This notion can be tracked all the way back to 1764, when Horace Walpole wrote what many assume to be the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. When the sickly Conrad dies, his sister Matilda expresses her apprehension to her attendant Bianca over the increased scorn of Manfred. “No, Bianca; his heart was ever the stranger to me – but he is my father, and I must not complain,” (Pg. 37). Matilda understands what her role in the household is and accepts it, despite of Manfred’s increased scorn. Matilda, as well as the other female characters, exhibits no negative or evil traits or thoughts yet are treated with nothing but contempt. They are submissive for no real reason beside from that was how men expected women to be in the time of the novel. The purpose of this essay is to show that if the reader does not understand the feature of the
Gothic literature was developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth century of the Gothic era when war and controversy was too common. It received its name after the Gothic architecture that was becoming a popular trend in the construction of buildings. As the buildings of daunting castles and labyrinths began, so did the beginning foundation of Gothic literature. The construction of these buildings will later become an obsession with Gothic authors. For about 300 years before the Renaissance period, the construction of these castles and labyrinths continued, not only in England, but also in Gothic stories (Landau 2014). Many wars and controversies, such as the Industrial Revolution and Revolutionary War, were happening at this time, causing the Gothic literature to thrive (“Gothic Literature” 2011). People were looking for an escape from the real world and the thrill that Gothic literature offered was exactly what they needed. Gothic literature focuses on the horrors and the dark sides to the human brain, such as in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein. Gothic literature today, as well as in the past, has been able to separate itself apart from other types of literature with its unique literary devices used to create fear and terror within the reader.
Literary representations of female monstrosity often refer to arrangements of reality that organize individuals into certain social divisions in an attempt to classify and judge their actions in comprehensible terms. Following Victorian guidelines, the women in Stoker’s text are divided into “good women” — Mina and Lucy before their vampirization — and “bad women” — the unholy trio of female vampires from the Count’s castle, and Lucy after contamination. The “good woman” would be traditionally virtuous and pure, whereas the “bad woman” — henceforth referred to in relation to the New Woman — would be the personification of modern controversies that arose in relation to issues of feminism and purity. Indubitably, the women in this text possess
From the beginning of time in history, women have always been portrayed as and seen as the submissive sex. Women especially during the time period of the 1800s were characterized as passive, disposable, and serving an utilitarian function. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example displaying the depiction of women. The women in Frankenstein represent the treatment of women in the early 1800’s. Shelley’s incorporation of suffering and death of her female characters portrays that in the 1800’s it was acceptable. The women in the novel are treated as property and have minimal rights in comparison to the male characters. The feminist critic would find that in Frankenstein the women characters are treated like second class citizens. The three brutal murders of the innocent women are gothic elements which illustrates that women are inferior in the novel. Mary Shelley, through her novel Frankenstein, was able to give the reader a good sense of women’s role as the submissive sex, through the characters experiences of horrific events including but not limited to brutal murder and degradation, which is illuminated by her personal life experiences and time period of romanticism.
Stephen King is known as one of the greatest horror and gothic writers of our time. The reason for this is his ability to fuse the gothic elements created by stories such as Dracula or Frankenstein and todays horror. King has written hundreds of short stories but two in-particular “The Night Flier” and “Popsy” show his unique ability to combined gothic elements from the old literature with realistic settings and people of our era. One of his greater talents is being able to use gothic element like vampires and make us see them in a different light. Kings unique way of writing with his old gothic ideals, new horror ideas, and use of realistic settings help to put a new spin on what we conceive as gothic story.
Gothic encompasses many genres of expression. Gothic artists speak out through the forms of literature, architecture, film, sculptures, paintings, and music. Many times, one genre of Gothic inspires another, creating fusing parallels between the two. In this way, each genre of Gothic rises to a more universal level, coalescing into the much broader understanding of Gothic. Gothic writers, such as Mary Shelley, influence Gothic music, as one sees in stylistic devices including diction, setting, and tone.
Gothic storytelling is a form of writing that usually includes horror, death, and romance. People write gothic style for the thrill of having a little bit of scariness in their story. Gothic style can be shown through the imagery and themes. The Fall of the House of Usher and Crimson Peak are two stories that show gothic writing though the imagery of the houses and supernatural.
Women in the 18th and 19th century were expected to follow the orders of the males in their lives. They were forced into arranged marriages to connect families in a pursuit for social power and they were expected to abide by anything the males in their lives asked of them. Free will was nonexistent. Much gothic literature effectively highlights the women’s expected role of the time. However, another aspect that seems to surface in gothic literature is whenever there is a woman who is not following the social norms, they seem to be the driving conflict behind the plotline and ultimately lead to any present happy ending.
There is one known very influential writing style called Gothic Literature. It is not only considered to involve the horror or gothic element but is combined with romance, superstition, women in distress, omens, portents, vision and supernatural events to name a few (Beesly). The history and beginning of this era is not well known. From a few writers came this writing style that has impacted the world. A famous artists known for this type of writing is a man named Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote many short stories and poems that include horror, gothic, and romance just mentioned.
Gothic art evolved from Romanesque art and lasted from the mid-12th century AD to the end of the 16th century. It was a particular style of Medieval art and was led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture, established by the Basilica of St Denis. Through the influence of historical design methods, such as Islamic/Romanesque architecture and the impact the spread of Christianity had on Europe, Abbot Suger was able to develop a new style of architecture through his reconstruction of St Denis. This led to the development of taller buildings with thinner walls and bigger rooms on the inside.
Part B 1. Gothic Literature I n the beginning I was very skeptical about what gothic literature really meant. I was not sure what was about or did know so much related to the topic. The only concepts I knew about gothic was that it started during the eighteenth century and that was related to ghost, witches and vampires; although not the way I thought. When we started the class I imagined that we were going to read ghost stories and scary novels.