Gothic Literature
Hey! Will somebody tell that man to quit holding his breath? He’s turning Blue!
And those teeth! What? Hey! He’s biting me! He’s Biting me!
Definition

Gothic literature plunges it’s
characters into mystery,
torment, and fear in order to
pose disturbing questions to
our familiar and comfortable
ideas of humanity, society, and
the cosmos

Man! That fella on that table sure does
have some big old feet! I bet he would
be good at ski jumping!
Beginnings:
From gothic
architecture of the
middle ages
 Gothic cathedrals:
 Irregularly placed
towers
 High stained-glass
windows
 Inspire awe and fear
in worshippers

 That sure is long walk up that
hill! And that kind of looks like
the place where those flying
monkeys come from. Hey! Wait
a minute! Monkey’s can’t fly!
Gargoyles
 Carvings
of small
deformed creatures at the
corners of gothic
cathedrals
 Suppose to ward off evil
spirits
 Demonic look
 Mascot of gothic literature

Pssst…Why do you suppose that creature over
there ain’t got no eyes? Kind of creeps me out. Oh,
Wait a minute! Here he comes! Hey! What are you
doing? Quit! Oh! Stop it! Hey! My eyes! Oh my
eyes! Man! These gnats are awful!
Characteristics:
 Helpless
victim
 No control
over the
victimizer
○ i.e. –
damsel in
distress
 Could be
either a man
or a woman
 Now look. I know you
guys are not dumb or
Characteristics:

Evil Victimizer
 Immense or
supernatural
powers
 Always associated
with some sort of
evil
 Ladies…if you ever come a fellow
with eyes the color of blood and
teeth like spikes, hang on to him!
He is sure to keep all the
creepers away! Don’t you think?
Characteristics:

Setting – sense of hopelessness and fear
 Physical
○ Large house or estate
○ Frontier wilderness
 Psychological
○ In your mind
○ Dreams
○ Omens
○ Foreshadowing
○
Looks like somebody needs to cut their grass! Somebody call the
Homeowner’s Association! Let’s go up and confront that nice old lady
who sits in the window up there. Mrs. Bates? Mrs. Bates? Are you up
there? Mrs. Bates?
Characteristics:

Mysterious Atmosphere
 Oppressive, fearful, full of
doom
○ i.e. – a crypt
 Supernatural events
 Unknown terror
 Words that indicate fear
and mystery
 Now look Gil, I’m not telling you again to
cut those fingernails! You’re going to put
someone’s eyes out with those things!
I’m not kidding! Hey! Stop it! Ouch! Hey!
My eyes! My eyes!
Characteristics:

Victim entranced
by Victimizer
 Fascinated by
their power
 Hey! Don’t look now; but
that feller ain’t got no head!
Holy moly! That feller on
that horse ain’t got head
either! What’s going on
here? Wait a minute! I
thought it was two heads
are better than none! Not,
no heads are better than
two!
Themes



Rational vs. irrational
Guilt and shame
High emotions
 Anger
 Surprise
 Terror
 Grief
 Obsessive love
 Greed
 All I’m going to say is don’t ever trust a man who is wearing a black
turtle-necked sweater. Especially if he has fire on the left side of his
body! And those eyebrows! Just you look at those eyebrows! Look like
demon wings to me! Hey! What are looking at? Stop it! Cut it out! Stop!
Hey! Don’t! Oh1 My eyes! My eyes!
Connection to
Romanticism





Thresholds of the unknown
Shadowy region –
 the fantastic
 The demonic
 The insane
Potential of evil in the individual
Peer into the darkness at the
supernatural
Let me give you some advice. If you ever, and I
mean ever see these two lovely ladies, you’d
better turn around and run like there’s no
tomorrow! And, I ain’t playing! Never trust
anyone whose tube socks are not even!
American Gothic
Gothic tradition established in europe
 American Gothic Writers:
 Nathanial Hawthorne – The Scarlet A
 Washington Irving – Sleepy Hollow
 Herman Melville – Moby Dick
 Edgar Allan Poe – THE MASTER!

 Bald-headed men with needle-like finger nails are just naturally
creepy; don’t you think? He sure does have a nice jacket, though. I
wonder if he would be willing to sell it? Let’s ask! Shall we?
Georgia Common Core Unit #2
Theme