Joel’s Gothic Blog

Over the summer, as part of my wider reading within the Gothic genre, I read Dracula – written in 1897. The novel, by Bram Stoker, is one of the most well-known and best loved examples of Gothic fiction.

The novel focuses on the Gothic elements of the supernatural – vampires – and the uncanny/unexplainable, as well insanity (seen in the character of  Renfield) and thematic elements of horror and death.

Dracula is written in a series of diary entries, letters and telegraphs between the main characters and newspaper cuttings in different journals. Dracula is as much a Gothic text in the way it deals in psychology, as well as in the typical iconography of the Genre. Through each character’s respective diary entries, the reader sees a glimpse of the characters mindsets as they are drawn deeper into the world of the antagonist Count Dracula – from Mina’s isolation from her husband and the outside world, to the trauma an early encounter with Dracula leaves Jonathon with.  Themes of isolation and fear, as well as others which highlight depression, loss of mental stability and the descent into madness are all Gothic elements, as Gothic novels often feature the darkest parts of normal life. An example of this is ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, which tells the story of a young woman who is confined to an oppressive room, alone with her thoughts. Gothic novels tend to dwell on the fears of mankind and their emotions; often manifested in the supernatural, monsters, magic and fear, but also in explainable reality.

Perhaps the most defining characteristic of the Gothic, exemplified in Dracula, is a rebellion from the Enlightenment of the 18th century, and a focus on emotions. Dracula, obviously, focuses on something that is inexplicable and offers no scientific explanation for its events.

The origins of the term Gothic stretch back to the fall of the Roman Empire, when the ‘Goths’ were a Germanic tribe. Knowledge of their history is sketchy at best, though before proper research had gone into understanding their civilisation, the Goths were generally known for being a barbaric tribe who invaded Rome, and established their own sites in France and Italy.

The gothic of the Third century and The Gothic of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries are, in actuality, completely different. During the time of the Gothic revival, much art and literature was produced, but the third century goths left no art or literature of their own to speak of. Much about their existence is and always has been shrouded in mystery, particularly during the Renaissance when little was known about the dark ages before. The term ‘Gothic’ came to apply to all things medieval, and this style is still seen in typical Gothic architecture.

Gothic architecture provides the backdrop for the majoirty of Gothic literature, with cathedrals, churches, mansions and castles. Below is an example of a picture I found on flickr of a town hall in the gothic style:
 

Typical elements in Gothic literature include:

• Hyperbolic language
• A Preoccupation with the subconscious and mental oppression
• The Supernatural – i.e monsters, vampires, werewolves
• Insanity and Madness
• Death and Despair as key themes

So, as part of my wider reading of gothic literature, I’ve been reading (actually, more struggling through) The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole. Published in 1764, it is largely attributed to starting the Gothic movement, and being the first of its genre. I’ve been having a bit of a hard time reading through it for a number of reasons.

Largely this is because it is really dense stuff. The grammar is hugely different from novels we are familiar with today. There is no use of speech marks, with all dialogue looking something like this:

This! My lord, said Hippolita: this is Theodore, the youth who has been so unfortunate–Theodore! said Manfred mournfully, and striking his forehead–Theodore, or a phantom, he has unhinged the soul of Manfred. –But how comes he here? and how comes he in armour? I believe he went in search of Isabella, said Hippolita, Of Isabella? said manfred…

etc.

Furthermore, paragraphing seems to be very rare here, with about one paragraph for about every 2 pages. All the action and events of the story are contained within large paragraphs, devoid of grammar which could make comprehension, or moreover, continued interest in the story easier. This makes it easy to miss things, so I’m find myself having to scan back up the page and reread.

To me, I find it hard to imagine that this book could really be responsible for spearheading the resurgence in interest in gothic style and essentially starting the Gothic literature movement. Though I am a reader in the 21st century who is now familiar with all the symbols, features and conventions of Gothic literature, and therefore having a different perspective to an 18th century audience, it seems to me that there is little revolutionary or out of the ordinary here. All the typical gothic features are here – Gothic setting (mansion), themes (Death, oppression of a vulnerable ‘damsel in distress’, the supernatural, mystery) and imagery (religion and nobility play a large part in the novel) are on show.

Right now I’m 4 chapters in, out of 5, and the last 2 have sort of become a bit dreary and boring. The Gothic seems to thrive when it offers the readers excitement, terror and pleasure, and most commonly in scaring them or invoking a sense of wild adventure. ‘Otranto’ is dull at the moment, and does sometimes, but not all the time successfully give the audiences these gratifications.

However, I’ll wait until I’ve finished it before passing final judgement.

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