Gothic Elements
Gothic elements in fiction evolved from Victorian conventions in fiction during the 1800s,
especially in England, originating with Horace Walpole’s novel, Castle of Otranto. It
soon caught on in America, too, with E.A Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne writing the most
famous Gothic horror stories of the times. The movement developed further in
Germany, and in the 20th century, it evolved into the Surrealistic movement, which
claimed the Gothic novel as one of its forerunners.
The Gothic genre involves characteristics of horror, violence, supernatural effects, and a
taste for the medieval, usually set against a background of Gothic architecture,
especially a gloomy, isolated castle or mansion, in a decaying society.
“Gothic” writing is characterized by a delightful melancholy, evoked by moss-covered
ruins, decaying old churches and mansions, and crumbling gravestones. 18th century
Romantic - movement poets wrote about death and dying, adding prose narratives of
horror, writing about cemeteries. Gothic, then, suggested anything gloomy, mysterious
and morbidly attractive, including eerie medieval castles with secret passageways and
ghosts, and a virgin harried or hassled by a villain who himself is tortured by mysterious
guilt and a hidden secret. Not much is changed today.
Psychological novels, like those of D.H. Lawrence, and William Faulkner, who wrote “A
Rose for Emily” and who continued similar themes in some of his Gothic settings, were
also influenced by the genre. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein , and Charles
Dickens’ Great Expectations, are both considered Gothic.
Gothic Elements—behavior of heroine/hero and setting, as well as other elements
1) characteristics in general
a) suffering b) fainting, weak female, perhaps sick or bedridden c) foreshadowing,
using weather and nature d) gloomy tone and mood e) death abounds f) depression
g) self-doubt and fear by the characters h) psychological discovery i) phantom, ghost
dogs, horsemen, and highwaymen on the moors j) fantasizing, dreaming, reveries
k) melancholy/ melodramatic action l) gloomy conditions—cold, damp, fog, storms
m) parting of lovers n) unsatisfied yearning, cloaked, secret passion, verbal
coquettishness or flirting o) slightly overbearing males p) mystery and suspense q)
gypsy fortuneteller or seer, with future foretold r) unrequited love s) coincidence in
events—almost supernatural in nature t) religious fervor u) bossy men v) spying
w) the chase (female weakness) x) secrecy and clandestine meetings y) heroes who
are romantic, wild and fraught with jealousy z) fairy tale characteristics with the cruel
stepmother/stepsister motif—a character made to work or suffer, or brought down in the
world, somehow, wasting away, suffering near death in a mansion setting in which it’s
wild outside, weather-wise, and cold, damp, and lonely inside with the character
steeped in bridled passion, waiting for some relief from the constant suffering and
depression.