What Is The Role Of Fear In Gothic Literature

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Webster’s dictionary defines horror as something that causes feelings of dread, fear, and shock. It defines terror as something that is terrifying and causes very strong feelings of fear. Terror and horror have been used interchangeably throughout our society to describe anything to do with scary and fearful circumstances. Gothic literature began in the Eighteenth century and began to feed off of the reader’s imagination through horror and terror. Through gothic literature one can see the terror and horror through works such as; “The Raven”, “AnnaBell Lee”, “Lenore”, and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” First, Edgar Allen Poe gives us a taste of his title as father of gothic horror in his poem “The Raven”. In this poem the narrator mourns over the loss of his lover Lenore. Edgar Allen Poe states, "A curious volume of forgotten lore" (Line 2). The narrator's mind has become obsessed with past thoughts that are haunting him and causing horror within him. Poe goes on to describe this raven as a shadow that overcomes the speakers own thoughts, almost like a ghostly figure of fear. Fear that the narrator cannot live without his love. …show more content…

In this poem the protagonist suffers the death of his beloved Annabel. Poe goes on to describe the setting of the story “In a kingdom by the sea” (Line 2). This brings in the gothic elements of Poe’s writing by setting the poem in a mysterious place by the sea which gives the story this eerie feeling. If the poem could not get anymore creepy, Poe ends the poem “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side, Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride” (Line 38-39). Poe paints this terrifying scene where the narrator lays down and sleeps beside his dead lovers

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