Category: Gothic Literature

Gothicism is defined as a style in fictional literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent or grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence. This style of writing can be found in numerous different pieces of literature. An example of literature that uses this is Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”. In Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”, he tells a mysterious tale about the unknown narrator and his friend Roderick Usher. Roderick’s mental health begins to deteriorate, and the unknown narrator travels up to the Usher mansion to meet with Roderick. The use of gothicism is evident throughout this piece due to the setting, language, and supernatural themes.

To start, it is important to establish the setting. This story takes place at the Usher mansion in the middle of nowhere. When the unknown narrator begins to approach the mansion, they describe their surroundings in an unsettling way. As the narrator observes the mansion in front of them, they say, “I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows— upon a few rank sedges— nd upon a few white trunks of decayed trees…”(Poe 299). This creates an eerie setting for the reader, and sets the tone of what the rest of the story will feel like. After this, the narrator hops off their horse and starts to make their way into the disheveled mansion. Once inside, the narrator discovers the inside is just as spooky as the outside. Taking in the sight of the rooms around them, the narrator describes:

The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellissed(Sic) panes… Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. (Poe 301-302)

The deeper the narrator travels into this structure, the more mysterious and eerie everything that dwells inside of it becomes. More evidence of this can be found in the article, “Disfiguration in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’; or, Poe’s Mad Lines”. In this article, it explains,“The general “gloom” and “melancholy” (397) that pervades the atmosphere of the house also pervades the spirit of its inhabitants”(Pahl). It is evident that the unsettling surroundings of the Usher mansion creates a gloomy setting that sets the tone for the story. The dark details the narrator sees outside and inside this mansion brings the essence of gothicism to life.

In the same way, the language Edgar Allen Poe uses in this story plays an important role in establishing gothicism. As stated, the general feeling the reader gets while reading “The Fall of the House of Usher”, is gloominess. The language Poe uses from beginning to end further demonstrates the gothic traits. The article, “Edgar Allen Poe’s Gothic Aesthetics of Things: Rereading “The Fall of the House of Usher”’ reports this same view:

The existing interpretations concerning the two key questions in Poe’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher,’ that is, the causes of the ‘nervous agitation’ of Roderick Usher and the fall of the House… which are variously described as, among others, being ‘dark,’ ‘gloom(y),’ ‘desolate,’ and ‘hideous’. (Weisheng)

There are numerous instances when the narrator uses this type of language. To illustrate, there is a moment when the narrator begins to describe his feelings towards the Usher mansion after seeing it for the first time. The narrator dejectedly states, “…With an utter depression of the soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation… —the bitter lapse into everyday life—the hideous dropping of the veil. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart… (Poe 299). This proves how speech is used to describe how dark and “unearthly” the atmosphere feels, which fits into the underlying gothicism of the piece. Adding on, there is evidence of this type of language later on in the story as well. This gloomy speech can be seen in the last verse in the poetic song, “The Haunted Palace”:

…Vast forms that move fantastically

To a discordant melody;

While, like a rapid ghastly river,

Through the pale door,

A hideous throng rush out forever,

And laugh—but smile no more. (Poe 307)

Within this poetic verse, it flows with the dark attitude to let the reader feel of the nature of the situation. In each of the previous quotes given, there is the same type of gloomy speech used that is found throughout the entire story. Therefore, the evidence of gothicism is clear and concise due to the language Edgar Allen Poe and the unknown narrator use.

Furthermore, the most prominent factor that contributes to the evidence of gothicism in “The Fall of the House of Usher” are the supernatural themes. The supernatural can be seen in a plethora of ways in this piece of literature. In an article pertaining to gothic themes in literature we read, “Although Gothic novelists often included supernatural incidents in their works, they also pursued other concerns, particularly those related to eighteenth-century morals and manners. Such concerns precluded the single-minded focus and inventiveness of their successors in portraying weird and ghostly phenomena”(Mabbott). For this story, there are several examples of these phenomenons. Firstly, this can be seen when the unknown narrator meets Roderick in the mansion. The narrator notices Roderick is in a bad state of mind, and it worsens once he talks. According to the narrator, “He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions… in regard to an influence whose suposititious(Sic) force was conveyed in terms too shadowy here to be restated—an influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family mansion… obtained over his spirit”(Poe 303). This scene describes how there is some sort of influence taking over Roderick to prevent him from moving forward. The narrator insinuates this influence has something to do with his departed family. Later, the narrator finds out about deceased family member lady Madeline and places her in the donjon with Roderick. As they lay down to sleep, the narrator cannot seem to rest due to an unshakable feeling. The narrator says, “…I know not why, except that an indistinctive spirit prompted me—to certain low and indefinite sounds which came, through the pauses of the storm…”(Poe 309-310). In the previous quote, the narrator senses something has come over Roderick, and now it has come over him as well. This heightens the reader’s awareness of the supernatural in this gloomy story. However, the most blatant and important example of the supernatural comes towards the end of this story. Roderick starts to speak to the unknown narrator about how lady Madeline is alive, though the narrator cannot comprehend what he is saying. However, to his dismay, the narrator speaks: …It was the work of the rushing gust—but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrounded(Sic) lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold—then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated. (Poe 313)

This scene proves that all of the narrators fears and assumptions about the mansion, and all the strange things that were happening were true. These supernatural phenomenons coincide with the gothicism tone that this piece of literature illustrates.

In summary, gothicism is evident throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher”, by Edgar Allen Poe due to the setting, language, and supernatural themes. Throughout the entirety of this piece of literature, all three of these factors were present. The dark and descriptive settings set the tone for the story and what was to come. Also, the language Poe used in the story helped unveil more feelings of gothicism as the story went on. Lastly, the evidence of multiple experiences with the supernatural validate the gothic tone of the story as well. All in all, the story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, by Edgar Allen Poe is a great example of well written gothic literature.

Works Cited

1. The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. New York: Barnes and Nobles, Inc, 2006. Print.
2. Pahl, Dennis. ‘Disfiguration in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’; or, Poe’s Mad Lines.’ Short
3. Story Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 202, Gale, 2014. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1420118397/GLS?u=ccmorris&sid=GL S&xid=206ddc83. Accessed 10 Dec. 2019. Originally published in Architects of the Abyss, U of Missouri P, 1989
4. Poe, Edgar Allan. ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’ Tales and Sketches, by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott, vol. 1: 1831-1842, University of Illinois Press,
5. 1978, p. 392. LitFinder, https://skynet.ccm.edu:2521/ apps/doc/LTF0 0005417 10WK/GLS?u=ccm orris&sid=GLS&xid=504bf024. Accessed 2 Oct. 2019.
6. Poe, Edgar Allan, and Gary Richard Thompson. The Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe: Authoritative Texts, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. W.W. Norton, 2004.
7. Weisheng, Tang. “Edgar Allan Poe’s Gothic Aesthetics of Things: Rereading ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’” Style: A Quarterly Journal of Aesthetics, Poetics, Stylistics, and Literary Criticism, vol. 52, no. 3, Aug. 2018, pp. 287–301. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=s8865286&db=mzh&AN=2018303667&site=ehost-live.

Gothic fiction rapidly gained popularity during the nineteenth century and continues to appeal to contemporary readers. The ‘postmodern’ genre that composes of various elements in provoking distinct emotions of fear and anticipation, this follows the theme of horror, thriller and romance. Gothic literature allows readers to understand the character different perspectives in the story, allowing readers to formalise their own contradicting opinions for its suspenseful writing. Both “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Edgar Allen Poe “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë demonstrates the effective use of gothic features with supernatural and suspenseful elements engaging for all audiences

The classic short story “Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, reveals the story of a man justifying his horrifying actions, highlighting how mentally disturbed he is. The symbolism in “vulture eye” or the recent man’s eye. This can be seen in “He had the attention of a vulture –a pale blue eye, with a movie over it. Whenever it received Pine Tree State, my blood ran cold;” that indicates that the persona feels afraid and afraid by the recent man’s eye. It additionally conveys that the person feels virtually dead or dead by the attention since Vulture’s feast on dead or almost dead prey.

The novel, “Wuthering Height” by Currer Bell demonstrates imaging technique in “ my fingers closed on the fingers of a bit, cold hand. The extraordinary horror of nightmare came around me I attempted to balk my arm, however the hand clung to that, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, woke up by loud faucets on the window, he slowly approaches the window and it turns into a ghost-like figure and it sobbed “Let Pine Tree State in-let me in!”. This demonstrates the emotions of worry and suspense since it uses the five senses in a very descriptive tone for the audience to vividly feel the expertise that the character has encountered.

The two stories “Wuthering Height” by Emily Bronte and Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart” follow the gothic theme provoking the emotions of fear and terror towards the readers, through the use of suspenseful and supernatural components.

Gothic literature is not appealing in the novel Goth girl and the Wuthering Fright by Chris Riddell which is the book I decided to read for my wide reading book for term three. Goth girl and the Wuthering fright is a very different type of fictional gothic book as it is a children’s book and its a completely different take on gothic literature if you compare it to The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe however The Raven is a more appealing take on gothic literature.

In the book Goth girl and the Wuthering fright Ada Goth is the only daughter of Lord Goth England’s foremost cycling poet and with her father away in London giving speeches and getting his hair styled leaving Ada and the Attic club alone in the Ghastly Gorm Hall. This introduction made the book seem boring and not very interesting.

The Raven however has a completely different introduction to the piece which therefore has a different impact to the readers first impression of the book. It sets the scene for the readers and starts to create suspense leaving the reader eager to continue reading , The Raven also gives off a more gothic sense than the Goth girl and the Wuthering fright.

Goth girl and the Wuthering fright is an unappealing type of gothic fiction text , i believe that this is because of the way it introduces it introduces the story , “Sitting in one of the wing-back chairs in the library of Ghastly-Gorm Hall” , the technique shown is the use of convention of setting and characters , the convention of this setting which is the library of the Ghastly-Gorm Hall is introduced to the readers in the first line of this book is what makes a reader bored which would want the reader to put the book away and the use of the convention on characters, “Ada Goth was reading her father’s latest book” this convention adds to the introduction but doesn’t have that spark in it that would want you to continue reading the book , both these factors contribute to what makes this novel more of an unappealing gothic children’s novel.

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe is a more appealing type of gothic fiction text because of the way this text is introduced to the reader , “ Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary..” the technique used is the convention on setting , Edgar Allen Poe is setting the scene for the readers and I believe the way he has written it captivates the reader’s mind to want to read more.Another technique he uses is the symbolism of the chamber door which captivates and keeps the readers on the edge of their seats is the suspense of not knowing what’s behind the chamber door , “As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door…… tapping at my chamber door—Only this and nothing more.” These conventions that Edgar Allen Poe uses in The Raven is what makes this text an appealing gothic fiction text.

I believe that children’s books should not be written as a gothic fiction book an example of this is Goth girl and the Wuthering frights is a gothic children’s book that is not appealing to readers however gothic fiction can be very appealing this is shown by Edgar Allen Poe’s text called The Raven which is not a children’s book and that gothic fiction suits The Raven’s type of text.

The few elements that make up Gothic literature, sexuality contributes to many themes of novels. While being such a controversial topic, especially during the Victorian era, many authors continued push this element in their works. Two novels that really concentrated on the theme of sexuality was Carmilla written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Dracula by Bram Stoker. Centered around vampires, which are known for their expressing their sexualality and provoking other’s repressed desires.

The ideal role of women in society during this time was very strict. Society created its own social laws that provided the way that women should be presented and the way that they should act. Society wanted women to very pure and virginal. Women of this time were considered to be very feminine and naive, while also depending much on their husbands. Both Carmilla and Dracula shows these types of women, but both works also shows women that are considered against these gender norms.

In Carmilla, Le Fanu writes about a stereotypical man of the 1800s and gives these characteristics to a woman. He challenges the roles of gender and sexuality giving Carmilla much a masculine sexuality. Her physical appearance is still described as feminine and elegant, “I saw a solemn, but very pretty face looking at me from the side of the bed (Le Fanu 3). While her outside appearance is more feminine, Laura takes an interest in the way Carmilla acts. She first thinks that Carmilla could be a male suitor in disguise. Carmilla uses her masculinity to pursue Laura and show her affection so that she will be submissive to Carmilla and she can fulfil her need for blood.

The more that Laura gets to know Carmilla the more she starts to feel stronger emotions toward her. She begins to get closer to Carmilla, even though she feels that these emotions she is having are not pure, “it embarrassed me” (Le Fanu 25). Laura feels ashamed by these actions because she is used to having her sexaulity supressed. During this era, women were given a role in society that was considered pure. It was very frowned upon for a women to be openly sexual. Which of course also meant that any homosexual or lesbanism acts were considered unnatural.

This power that Carmilla has over her preys, creates a sense of terror.

This fear of female sexuality continues to fill the plots other novels through the Victoria era. Bram Stoker uses his novel, Dracula, to show how the use of female sexuality threatened the ideals of this era. The idea was that if Dracula has the chance to turn a pure women into a vampire. If he succeeds women will have open and embrace their sexuality and use this power and in turn this will give the women a much more dominate role that is only seen in men.

This is actually seen quite early Bram Stoker’s novel. In chapter three Johnathan Harker unexpectedly meets the brides of Dracula. Harker describes the women, examining their beautiful faces. While these three women begin to seduce Harker, he begins to feel emotions that were thrilling to him, but also feelings of disgust, “There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal”. (Stoker 32) These feelings that were overcoming him were feelings of desire that these three women had created, but he also felt repulsed because he related the emotion of fear to their sexuality, “There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear” (Stoker 31). The three sisters represented in this novel is how women should not be represented. They used their beauty and their sexuality to get what they wanted. These women take on a more dominating role, and by seducing Harker, he is overpowered by them, making him the submissive.

This essay will examine the representation of doubles in Irish Gothic literature and its thematic significance. For the purpose of this essay when invoking the phrase Gothic, I am referring to the definition of Gothic as a genre of fiction ‘characterized by suspenseful, sensational plots involving supernatural or macabre elements and often having a medieval theme or setting.’ In addition, by a Gothic novel I am implying the definition to be that ‘with scenes of cruelty and horror and […] sharing a grotesque, or claustrophobic atmosphere.’ In light of this, the texts that I will explore this Gothic doubling and its thematic relevance are Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, published in 1890, alongside John Banville’s Birchwood, published nearly a century later in 1973. Each of these authors explores the Gothic genre using beautiful, flamboyant language and disconcerting imagery of doubles. There are many instances of doubling in both novels. Firstly, I will examine Wilde’s Dorian Gray and how it exemplifies doubling through the reflection of self in the characters of Basil, Lord Henry and Dorian. It is also seen through Dorian and his evil doppelgänger portrait and again through the uncanny similarities between Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Charles Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer. Secondly, I will examine Banville’s Birchwood which, on the other hand, tends to explore doubling out of morbid curiosity with the mirror imaging of the self in others. This essay will look at his extensive fascination with twins in Birchwood, the possible doubling of the house with Gabriel’s familial life and the doubling of Birchwood and Banville’s Mefisto.

Firstly, Oscar Wilde published his first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. At this time his classic was deemed fit for ‘none but outlawed noblemen and perverted telegraph-boys’ by a critic from The Scots Observer on July 5, 1890. Nearly a century on this novel is renowned for its flamboyancy as well as pushing the boundaries of 19th society. Quite often the theme of doubling becomes an integral part of literature due to the author projecting their own wants and desires into their fiction, imposed upon them by the conformities of society. In the case of Dorian Gray, this reflection of self is particularly prevalent. As Dorian is a double of Wilde, they are each simultaneously a double of Basil and Hallward as this essay will show. For instance, there are parallels between Wilde (Dorian) and the characterisation of Basil Hallward and Lord Henry. Basil ‘represents Wilde’s moralist personality, who lives in Victorian society trying to follow the social manners and customs.’ He is portrayed as morally incorrupt, his only fault is his unfaltering devotion and adoration to Dorian. Basil’s doubling acts as a moral barometer for Dorian. This is exemplified on numerous occasions throughout the novel, the most important being when Basil is reunited with a grotesque imitation of his painting. He entreats Dorian to save his soul by repenting, ‘It is never too late, Dorian. Let us kneel down and try if we cannot remember a prayer. Isn’t there a verse somewhere, “Though your sins be as scarlet, yet I will make them as white as snow”?’ As Basil is a projection of who Wilde would like to be, it is significant that this version of himself is killed by an evil, narcissistic alter ego. Having Basil murdered by Dorian in a trance-like state, Wilde provides ‘a ‘Gothic’ explanation for Dorian’s action by adding an act of “supernatural cruelty” to the narrative. He does this to confront and condemn society idolatry and narcissism as emphasised by Basil (to Dorian), ‘I worshipped you too much. I am punished for it. You worshipped yourself too much. We are both punished.’

Lord Henry’s doubling, on the other hand, represents ‘Wilde’s primitive ego, his malevolence and a part of Wilde’s restricted desire under Victorian strictness.’ He behaves as a morally corrupt depiction of Wilde (Dorian) as highlighted by his statement, ‘There is no such thing as a good influence, Mr Gray. All influence is immoral […] Because to influence someone is to give him one’s own soul.’ Quite unlike Basil who symbolises a relief from moral degeneration. This distinction is reiterated by Dorian’s own observation, ‘‘He was so unlike Basil. They made a delightful contrast.’ His decadent lifestyle attracts and quickly perverts Dorian’s character, making him egocentric. This is demonstrated through the discourse between Dorian, Basil and Lord Henry over Dorian’s cruelty towards Sibyl. While Basil condemns Dorian for his behaviour, Lord Henry conversely exonerates him stating, “If you had married this girl, you would have been wretched.” It is because of Lord Henry’s candidness and his being true to the cynical and amoral self, that Dorian is enamoured by and imitates his lifestyle. Lord Henry’s duplication through Dorian is thematically significant as his ‘moral and cultural decline, as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure and luxury’, represents the flawed, incongruous Victorian society. In fact, the theme of the ‘double life of caring about one’s reputation, while secretly transgressing society’s moral codes is central to the plot of Dorian Gray. Dorian emulates Lord Henry’s dandiacal disdain for established pieties’, yet shows more regard for his standing than Henry. This is exhibited when Dorian murdered Basil and asked (Name) to protect his reputation, Q. While Lord Henry’s amoral actions appear to warrant no consequences, finally we see a crack in Dorian’s “respectable” camouflage. Wilde’s own image and stature as part of upper-class Victorian society were marred due to his dubious lifestyle. Particularly pertaining to his association with a ‘recent scandal involving a homosexual brothel in London.’ The parallel between Wilde’s antics and Lord Henry’s is emphasised by a letter written to Lord Alfred Douglas where Wilde acknowledged that the characters are a reflection of himself, ‘Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry is what the world thinks of me.”

John Banville’s Birchwood is the name given to the Godkin’s grotesque Gothic house which consumes its inhabitants. At a metaphorical level, ‘it also encompasses Gothic motifs such as family secrets and hauntings, dark doubles, a madwoman in the attic, and an incestuous affair.’ The Gothic doppelgänger is defined as ‘the alter ego or identical double of a protagonist […]; the split personality or dark half of the protagonist [or], an unleashed monster that acts as a physical manifestation of a dissociated part of the self.’ In regards to this definition. Birchwood, like Dorian Gray, presents multiple examples of the archetypal figure of “double or doppelgänger” as displayed through the persistent theme of twins and alter ego’s in the novel. Gabriel and his twin Michael are a perfect example of this. During the course of the novel protagonist, Gabriel is told a story of twins Gabriel and Rose by his aunt Martha. Succeeding this Gabriel searches for his twin sister Rose. Gabriel’s search for the “missing” part of himself- can be understood as a narcissistic quest for self-synthesis.’

Gabriel’s profound need to separate himself from his mad family leads him to seek for a fictional alternative. He denies his true twin Michael while convincing himself that the image of his mother as a child is the imaginary Rose, ‘No, I knew this girl was someone else,’ he insists, ‘a lost child, misplaced in time.’(17?) This denial stems from the Double’s or doppelgänger’s frequent search of self or wholeness associated with their narcissistic traits. Although Gabriel renounces his double for the majority of the novel, he admits he knew Michael was his true twin in the end, ‘I knew [..] but denied the knowledge, as Beatrice did for so long as her fractured brain would allow, and then went conveniently mad, and died caged.’ Gabriel’s fictional creation of Rose was a result of desperate unwillingness to face the truth about himself and his provenance as well as denying the existence of his twisted darker half.

Gabriel’s [futile search for Rosie was a result of] ‘a ubiquitous yearning for an unattainable perfect internal state’ that Michael could not attain. However, despite Gabriel’s attempts he could not deny their disconcerting connection, ‘I cannot say that I ever liked him, but there was between us a bond which would not be ignored however we tried…’ When Gabriel returns to claim his ‘mad’ inheritance at the end of the novel he finds a ‘twisted, parodic form of the sister he yearned’ for in his now transvestite twin Michael. He resolves to kill Michael as a cathartic release from his evil double, but could not, ‘Q.’ As though killing Michael would result in killing a piece of himself as seen in Dorian Gray. Thus, unlike the rest of the Godkin family, Gabriel breaks free from the Birchwood house’ disturbing cyclical consumption of its occupants. >In Birchwood, for example, Ada and Ida, or Justin and Juliette, almost but not quite identical, assonantal and consonantal versions of near harmony, serve the theme of a split identity with poetic precision. Justin and Juliette, the children of Silas and Sybil, appear to Gabriel as ‘an uncanny, disturbing couple… doubles in body and spirit, a beautiful two-headed monster.’ (find page) His friend, Magnus, ‘merged them into a single entity which he called “Justinette”.’ The palindromic Ada frightens Gabriel, whereas gentle Ida, for whom everything ‘was a perpetual source of wonder’

Thirdly, the theme of double’s and doppelgänger’s as represented through a narcissistic search of wholeness, like Birchwood, is prevalent in Dorian Gray, most notably Dorian’s egotism displayed by the portrait. The use of the popular Gothic trope, the evil double is reimagined by Wilde’s Dorian Gray as he creates the other self through the self and art. When Basil first presents Dorian with the beautiful, untainted portrait, Dorian is overwhelmed by ‘the sense of his own beauty [that] came over him like a revelation. […] He stood gazing at the shadow of his own loveliness.’ He wept that the image of his youth would haunt him always as he would grow old and ugly. His vanity thus, leading to a contract with the devil binding his soul eternally to the portrait, became his fatal flaw. Dorian determined, ‘I am in love with it, Basil. It is part of myself. I feel that.’ This connection as described by Dorian is emphasised by John Paul Riquelme, author of Oscar Wilde’s Aesthetic Gothic, ‘The portrait is a kind of mirror that contains not his image with inflamed cheeks but a dark version, a shadow.’ Like Gabriel, Dorian’s double is a ‘foul parody, some infamous, ignoble satire’ of the ‘whole’ self. Dorian’s evil double is extended through the ageing and decaying image of the portrait. His double existence reflects the contradictions of Victorian Society; as importance is given to his beauty rather than the immorality that exists deep within the classes. ‘The picture reflects Dorian’s downfall of moral degradation and grows ugly. Dorian becomes a lump of avarice and sin.’ Although it appears Wilde is living vicariously through Dorian’s decadent lifestyle, he is instead confronting society with the consequence of sin, perhaps even his own. Wilde highlights this in a comment on the degeneration of the portrait, ‘Here was a visible symbol of the degradation of sin. Here was an ever-present sign of the ruin men brought upon their souls.’ Dorian stabs the portrait as an act of repentance to save himself. However, the result is that he inadvertently kills himself thus, the stabbing also acts as self-destruction. This stresses Wilde’s own beliefs of aesthetics of Art for Art’s sake, ‘all art is quite useless’ while also confronting society with the inevitability of penance.

Like Wilde, Banville reflects the double using a unique alternative to the other self with the Birchwood house and its inhabitants. Various Gothic themes constitute the background of the novel in order to reinforce the paradigm of the madhouse [in Birchwood]: the house that shelters the mad, and the transgenerational transmitting of the mad households own madness. The Gothic is an ideal platform for the exploration of family degeneration, inheritance, loss and incest, as well as doubles. At the beginning of the novel, Gabriel states, ‘I have come into my inheritance.’ However, Gabriel’s true legacy is a twin that threatens his existence and ‘transgenerational hauntings of madness’ that comes with the Birchwood plot. A general sense of disease and decay pervades the novel. This is firstly reflected in the regression of the Birchwood house itself as its foundations crumble around the Godkin’s family. Q. This regression is paralleled in the Godkin family’s mental deterioration as each family member is picked off by the house. Granda Godkin’s mind is the first to decline as it was ‘forever frozen in that moment of collision and clatter.’ Granda Godkin’s death began the first of the recurring deaths and declines in the home. Next, Grandma Godkin became trapped to her room for a time and meets her demise in a grotesque and supernatural act of spontaneous combustion. Her absurd death left the Birchwood home quieter as “the house, weary of this wild old woman, finally turned on her and extinguished her itself”. Leaving Only her two feet behind, an image so disturbing that it becomes comical as emphasised by Gabriel, “I can never think of that ghastly day without suspecting that somewhere inside me some cruel little brute, a manikin in my mirror, is bent double with laughter”. Martha is also destroyed by the madness of Birchwood as Beatrice, who had finally succumb to her demons over the incestuous birth of her “son” Gabriel, convinced her that her Michael was inside the burning hayshed: “Her dress burst into flames then, and she trotted on through the door” (p. 97) while “Mama still stood, still smiling placidly” (p. 97). The ‘grotesque cycle of life and death, symbolized by the birch tree, eventually loses its meaning so that dark and silent laughter can be the only response to the absurd repetition of madness.’ With this act, Beatrice seals her fate as the screaming woman in the attic frequently seen in Gothic literature, Maria Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent for example. The Godkin family are converted into ghosts of themselves, both metaphorically and literally, while Gabriel continues the cyclical theme of the madhouse. The personification of the Birchwood house as “consumer” is also reflected at the end of the novel as it is transformed, Q. This perhaps alludes to the idea that without its disturbed occupants of the house was healed of its poisonous deterioration.

Finally, both Wilde and Banville reflect the double by basing some of their novel’s content off another novel. There are some examples of how Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray’s content parallels the imagery of Charles Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer. Wilde was the great-nephew of Charles Maturin and used this familial connection to influence his own work. In 1897 Wilde went into a ‘self-imposed exile’ in Paris and took the pseudonym Sebastian Melmoth. As Montgomery Hyde quotes from the letter Wilde wrote to Wilkinson in January 1900:

‘You asked me about “Melmoth”: of course, I have not changed my name: in Paris I am as well-known as in London: It would be childish. But to prevent the postmen having fits I sometimes have my letters inscribed by the name of a curious novel by my great-uncle Maturin: A novel that was part of a romantic revival of the early century, and though imperfect, a pioneer (Hyde, 454-455).

Both Dorian Gray and Melmoth have shared Gothic elements such as moral corruption and degeneration. In Dorian Gray with ‘liberation from all moral principles, especially with the (homo) sexual liberation.’ While in Melmoth, ‘moral corruption and degeneration flourish from the suppressed natural and human desires’, such as the need for power. Dorian pledged his soul for eternal youth, ‘If it were I who was to be young, and the picture that was to grow old! […] I would give my soul for that!’ Melmoth, on the other hand, sold his soul for supernatural powers, including an extended life of 150 years. Even their appearance shares some resemblance as Dorian’s eyes are described by Wilde as ‘discs of blue fire’, whereas Melmoth’s are ‘fiery orbs’. Both men have supernatural paintings of themselves and both succumbed to death as a consequence for their sins.

Like Wilde, Banville’s Birchwood doubles with another novel, his very own Mefisto. Both protagonists share the same forename, in Birchwood, it is Gabriel Godkin who narrated the story and in Mefisto it is Gabriel Swan. Both protagonists are twins who have “lot” their other halves. Gabriel Godkin is in search of his fictional “missing” twin Rose (in place of his actual twin Michael). Whereas, Gabriel Swan is haunted by the ‘stillbirth of his twin identical twin brother.’ Both characters are thus in search of ‘wholeness’. Banville himself acknowledged the similarities of the two novels in an interview he stated, ‘[there are] many overt and covert allusions to Birchwood made in the novel [Mefisto].’ Their loss of a twin links them through a sense of shared desolation and incompletion. Both journey outside of their home, escaping pandemonium and greeted again by new chaos. Gabriel Godkin searches for this unity by leaving home and joining the circus where he inadvertently finds his family double. Swan ‘struggles to find it through scientific enquiry.’ Gabriel Godkin then watches as his new family life crumbles under the weight of more deaths, Q. The fragmented sense of self appears to worsen as a result of searching for a fictional, unattainable wholeness that could be found in acceptance of self.

In conclusion, the representation of doubles in Irish Gothic literature is well represented by Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and John Banville’s Birchwood. Both Wilde and Banville use the Gothic tropes to make the content of their novels strange and unfamiliar. Wilde explores the double using art while simultaneously condemning and discrediting society for their shameful behaviour and for making art anything more than “art’s sake”. Banville, on the other hand, criticises society for their needless search of more using the Gothic double as a representation of this unattainable ‘wholeness’. Dorian Gray’s death represents the consequences of immoral acts, while Gabriel Godkin’s turmoil haunts him and serves as a reminder to accept self as whole instead of searching for a fictional, narcissistic whole.

The word “Gothic” comes from the Middle Ages. The Goths were East Germanic people. They were violent and brutal. They were not civilized. Goths played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire. When we think of the 18th century we can see two things; one is The Enlightenment and the other is Neo-classism. In those times classical values were reestablished. When we think of classical values we think of rationality, reason, harmony and balance. Gothic literature is like a respond to the idea of rationality. It is opposite of the classical values. It is about dealing something that rational world cannot deal. Gothic fiction can be defined as a style of writing that includes horror, fear, death, the idea of sublime, supernatural elements, the battle between good and evil, dark isolated places and excessive emotions.

Neo-classicism is all about the order, balance and how the things come together in harmony. However, Gothic novels are about disorder and disharmony. Gothic novels are not about what you think; they are about how they make you feel. Gothic also deals with the unconscious mind it is like exploring people’s dark sides ,fears and terror. We see Gothic elements in lots of books and some of them are more effective showing Gothic elements. I chose two books one is Jane Eyre and the other is Wuthering Heights and this thesis demonstrates that Wuthering Heights is more gothic than Jane Eyre in terms of setting, characterization and plot.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte has lots of Gothic elements to begin with setting the story takes place in many places for example Gateshead, Lowood School, Thornfield, Moor House and Ferndean. They are isolated places and the atmosphere is dark, spooky and mysterious. She lived in Gateshead Hall throughout her childhood. She was not welcomed there her cousin John Reed was very cruel to her. The red room in Gateshead is a symbol of death because Jane Eyre’s uncle died in that room. Jane Eyre was locked in red room because of her bad behaviors. Jane Eyre heard stories of room being haunted by the ghost of her uncle. She is locked in the room all night and she was afraid and then she sees something Gothic in the room.

Returning, I had to cross before the looking-glass; my fascinated glance involuntarily explored the depth it revealed. All looked colder and darker in that visionary hollow than in reality: and the strange little figure there gazing at me, with a white face and arms specking the gloom, and glittering eyes of fear moving where all else was still, had the effect of a real spirit: I thought it like one of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp, Bessie’s evening stories represented as coming out of lone, ferny dells in moors, and appearing before the eyes of belated travellers. I returned to my stool. (21)

After seeing the “strange little figure” she faints and she becomes hysterical. Red room becomes a prison for Jane. Not only physical but also mental prison. After this event her aunt sent her to Lowood School. The school becomes another prison for Jane. She couldn’t go out of the school for 8 years. This was a place of loneliness and poverty. Lowood School was also an isolated place far away from civilization. The atmosphere was full of sadness because of the girls and there was sickness. These bad feelings are one of the elements of gothic fiction. After Lowood School Jane goes to Thornfield to work. In gothic elements there is a mystery and in Thornfield the mystery comes from Rochester’s hidden past and the mysterious hysterical laugh that comes from the hallway. The Moor House becomes another prison for Jane Eyre.

In Gothic novels there is an evil villain and innocent, pure, angelic woman figure. In Jane Eyre the evil villain is Edward Rochester and innocent girl is Jane Eyre. Rochester considered as a villain because of his anger and his secrets. He is very angry man the servants and even Adele scares of him. He creates fear and horror people near to him. He makes fun of Jane all the time which also makes him villain. He has so many secrets. Jane Eyre doesn’t know anything about his past. He even hides his wife. Although he is married he tries to tempt her. He offers her to be his mistress. Rochester is not the only villain in the novel. John Reed is also a villain. When Jane tries to read a book he hits her so badly and he makes her locked in the red room. Another villain figure is St. John Rivers although he is a Saint he becomes another oppressor figure in Jane’s life because he wanted to marry her not for love and he also wanted to keep her with him like a prisoner. We have an innocent girl who is Jane Eyre. She has suffered throughout her whole childhood. She was tortured first in her aunt’s house and then in Lowood school and then in Thornfield. She is pure she doesn’t talk to any man except from her cousin. So Rochester is the first man she sees and interacts in her life but on the other hand Rochester has travelled the world but we don’t know his past experiences about women.

In Jane Eyre Bertha Mason represented as a Gothic figure. So in the novel one of the Gothic elements is represented through Bertha. At the beginning of the novel we don’t know who Bertha is but Jane hears hysterical laughter at nights. She thinks that it might be a ghost or something. After she goes to see Bertha she sees that she seems like a ghost. She has dark face, she acts like a crazy person and she also attack people so the characterization of Bertha creates gothic figure in the novel. We can think of her as a victim of evil villain because she becomes a crazy person because of Rochester. We have another innocent figure who has abused by Rochester which is Adele. She seems to be a bastard child of Rochester but he cannot be sure whether the girl is his or not. She is growing up without love of Rochester he locks her in the Thornfield he barely sees her.

In Gothic novels gothic elements created from the Gothic plots in Jane Eyre there are lots of events that we can consider as Gothic. This was a demoniac laugh—low, suppressed, and deep—uttered, as it seemed, at the very keyhole of my chamber door. The head of my bed was near the door, and I thought at first the goblin-laugher stood at my bedside—or rather, crouched by my pillow: but I rose, looked round, and could see nothing; while, as I still gazed, the unnatural sound was reiterated: and I knew it came from behind the panels. (280)

This is the moment that Jane heard a demoniac laugh. It was an unnatural sound. It creates sense of mystery and horror because she thinks that the sound might come from a ghost.

What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it groveled, seemingly, on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal: but it was covered with clothing, and a quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as a mane, hid its head and face. (559)

It is a description of Bertha Mason. She is described as a beast. The description of Bertha Mason is a gothic description. She is a demonic figure in the novel because of her Gothic appearance and her hysteric laugh. She is an embodiment of violence and animal-like figure. For some of the critics Bertha Mason is a representation of future Jane because both of them are restless souls. She is like a darker version of Jane Eyre. Madness is one of the themes that we see in Gothic novels and in Jane Eyre madness plays big role in the description of Bertha Mason. Extreme emotions of characters are another Gothic element for example the big hatred between Rochester and Bertha.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte has lots of Gothic elements. Setting is very important to create Gothic atmosphere. There are Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Wuthering Heights represents wildness and Thrushcross Grange represents civilized society. Wildness of Moors reflects wildness within Catherine and Heathcliff that’s why we have a kind of wild nature. Wuthering means storming weather it fits with the Gothic idea of storming, thunder lightening but also it refers to stormy and passionate people. There is also pathetic fallacy in the novel it means the weather reflects person’s inner feelings. The weather reflects character’s inner feelings so we have stormy weather and stormy feelings. We have extremes of weather like rain and storming. In Wuthering Heights there is a grotesque carving and they have wild animals. Wild animals give a sense of danger. Even their dogs are not friendly. “On that bleak hill-top the earth was hard with a black frost, and the air made me shiver through every limb” (7). The weather is bleak, cold and dark to create a gothic atmosphere.

In Gothic novels we have evil villain and innocent, pure, angelic woman figure. In Wuthering Heights the evil villain is Heathcliff and innocent girl is Catherine. Gothic novels have this dichotomy of villain and innocent girl. By creating this dichotomy we have a sense of fear and suspense because evil villain always tries to chase innocent girl. He is considered as being an evil villain because of his excessive emotions and his violence. When he was a child Mr. Earnshaw brought him to Wuthering Heights and after he dies the son of Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley, started to abuse him and he treated him as a servant. Heathcliff loved Catherine so much and he wants to marry her but she decided to marry Edgar Linton instead of Heathcliff after these events he started to take revenge on Hindley and Catherine. Heathcliff has excessive emotions like seeking revenge and his obsession to Catherine. He doesn’t stop loving her even after she dies. He goes her grave and kisses her. It is not a love it is obsession. It is another quality of him being an evil villain he has powerful emotions. As well as evil villain Gothic novels have innocent characters. In the novel it is Catherine Earnshaw. She is an important figure in the novel even after her death. She is a figure of damsel in distress. She is stuck between two men and she didn’t know what to do. She is loved by Heathcliff but she is also became the victim of him. She died because of the fight between two men. We don’t know anything about Heathcliff’s past, we don’t know where Heathcliff came from. We only know that he has dark skin and he has black eyes. His past and his origins are mystery for us. England was dominated by class and respectability so knowing your origins are important but he has no origins so he can’t find a place in society because he doesn’t know anything about his parents or his country.

The idea of Heathcliff’s origins remain mystery makes him mysterious and it creates sense of suspense. Heathcliff is not a friendly character. He is an outsider. Heathcliff and Catherine are outside of Christianity. They have wild enjoyment of nature. Edgar and Isabella are spoiled children but Heathcliff and Catherine are the children of nature. Heathcliff and Catherine have a relationship but it is not a normal relationship it is a very intense relationship. It is a story of love goes wrong and it is a destructive love. Even after her death Heathcliff continues to love her obsessively. It is related to extreme emotions of love, hatred and jealousy. Another gothic theme in the novel is revenge. Heathcliff has a desire for revenge. Hindley wants to send Heathcliff out of the family and he says you can stay here but only as a servant. It is the reason that Heathcliff wants revenge. Hindley treats him so badly and he also drops him in his class. He is not a middle class anymore he is now working class.

Wuthering Heights has a Gothic plot line like the ghost of Catherine, violent actions, macabre, supernatural actions, unpleasant things, extreme emotions that leading them horrible events and death. Lots of people die; Earnshaws, Lintons, Catherine, Hindley, Heatchliff and Isabella. Gothic usually has romantic plot at the end Gothic elements disappear and story becomes more romantic. Gothic is also about transgression.

[…]Knocking my knuckles through the glass, and stretching an arm out to seize the importunate branch: instead of which, my fingers closed on the fingers of a little, ice-cold hand. The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, ‘Let me in—let me in!”

It is a supernatural element. The ghost of Catherine is knocking on the window. Lockwood doesn’t know whether he is dreaming or sleeping. “What can you mean by talking in this way to me!” thundered Heathcliff with savage vehemence. “how- how dare you, under my roof- God! He is mad to speak so!” And he struck his forehead rage”. In this part of the book we see Heathcliff’s violence.

Now, fully revealed by the fire and candlelight, I was amazed, more than ever, to behold the transformation of Heathcliff. He had grown a tall, athletic, well-formed man; beside whom my master seemed quite slender and youth-like. His upright carriage suggested the idea of his having been in the army. His countenance was much older in expression and decision of feature than Mr. Linton’s; it looked intelligent, and retained no marks of former degradation. A half-civilized ferocity lurked yet in the depressed brows and eyes full of black fire, but it was subdued; and his manner was even dignified: quite divested of roughness, though stern for grace.

He still has passion but he is transformed. He has money now. It is never explained how he gets money. As we don’t know his origins we don’t know where he gets money from. It also creates mystery.

She rung the bell till it broke with a twang: I entered leisurely. It was enough to try the temper of a saint, such senseless, wicked rages! There she lay dashing her head against the arm of the sofa, and grinding her teeth, so that you might fancy she would crash them to splinters! (93)

This is completely Gothic. She acts like a mad woman. She started to harm herself.

She could not bear the notion which I put into her head of Mr.Linton’s philosophical resignation. Tossing about, she increased her feverish bewilderment to madness, and tore the pillow with her teeth; then raising herself up all burning, desired that I would open the window. We were in the middle of winter, the wind blew strong from the northeast, and I objected.

She is in a rage and in these quotations we see the madness theme. It is an violent behavior and this kind of violent behavior mirrors Heathcliff’s violent passionate behavior. Heathcliff kills Isabella’s dog to upset her this event is also cruel and Gothic. Heathcliff marries Edgar’s sister Isabella and after he marries her he started to torture her. Heathcliff forbids her to go Thrushcross Grange she has nowhere to go she is stuck like a prisoner so it is again an example of damsel in distress and male oppressor. Isabella terrified of Heathcliff because he is a violent man. I repeat it till my tongue stiffens – Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you – haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!.

Catherine dies and even after her death Heathcliff has intense feelings towards her. Heathcliff doesn’t want her to rest in peace. He wants her to hunt him. “he dashed his head against the knotted trunk; and, lifting up his eyes, howled, not like a man, but like a savage beast getting goaded to death with knives and spears” this was very Gothic description Catherine was biting pillows and now Heathcliff is dashing his head. There is violence in their actions. Gothic novels usually have macabre and necrophilia in Wuthering Heights Heathcliff goes to Catherine’s grave and opens the grave and he takes Edgar’s hair out and he puts his own and he kisses her. Their love is like obsession. He goes beyond the grave and he wishes to lay beside her. Even he is a horrible person driven by revenge he is haunted by his love. At the end of the story we see Heathcliff and Catherine are finally together it is also supernatural idea.

The late 1700s birthed a gothic intensity, a genre; it brought out the dark minds of horror, the reality, the eyes who saw the darkness, and the sensual desires one has. It created sub-categories of the most terrifying horror stories in time with the help of authors such as Stephen King or Tim Burton. A gothic sense has come into this present time as reality to the human race, bringing up terrible matters in this world like a bloody, gruesome war. In the stories of ‘ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,’ by Robert Louis Stevenson and ‘ The Fall of the House of Usher’ by Edgar Allen Poe, they show how dark reality can be in stories and the dark consequences that can come to the characters.

In a fairytale, there’s beautiful scenery with talking animals and how a princess meets a prince. A Gothic tale is opposite to a fairytale, it’s dark and gloomy, and gives you the chills. Robert Louis Stevenson makes the audience have a spark of interest in the first chapter of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on page 4, remarking from the character Mr.Enfield,’ …about Three o’clock of a black winter morning, and my way lay through a part of town where there was literally nothing to be seen but lamps. Street after street and all the folks asleep-street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church-till, at last, I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman. All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut.’ describes the murderous witching hour as a creepy and dangerous place. Edgar Allen Poe showed gothic imagery similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the first paragraph of the fall of the house of usher speaking,’ DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was –but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because of poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.’ It brings a sense of chills that no one could stand, but brings the sense of curiosity killing the cat.

With gothic imagery in a story, there always have to be characters to keep the story rolling. There is a realistic comparison with disorders and drug addiction in a gothic story; perhaps to show the world it’s not all rainbows and butterflies and that people would rather ignore this cruel world.’ I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a millrace in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, at that moment, braced and delighted me like wine.’ on page 82 of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde proclaimed what it was first like to take the chemical drug and how he became addicted to it. In paragraph 2 of The Fall of the House in Usher, the narrator claims the friend has an identity crisis.’The writer spoke of acute bodily illness –of a mental disorder which oppressed him –and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady.’ It shows the struggle with the mind of darkness between good and bad.

Something may stick with a person while watching a scary movie, such as safe heaven or running to a door with adrenaline going through the person’s veins because of fear. For some authors and scriptwriters, it’s to bring a hidden meaning within the object in a story of gothic or general English literature. In paragraph 1 of The Fall of the House of Usher, this quote,’ What was it –I paused to think –what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher? It was a mystery all insoluble; nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I pondered. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth.’ shows a hidden meaning about the house of usher as a scene where consequences can begin. ‘The stick with which the deed had been done, although it was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken in the middle under the stress of this insensate cruelty; and one splintered half had rolled in the neighbouring gutter-the other, without doubt, had been carried away by the murderer.’ on page 27 of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, it explains that the cane Mr.Hyde had broke in half after murdering a messenger shows that Edward Hyde is not civil anymore in society.

English literature, especially gothic literature, brings the feeling of the unknown. Everyone in the world feels the feeling of the unknown because they would never know what would happen to them as a main character in a story. Including a dark story in this world, does show the reality of the fear in the world and how every choice a person chooses in their path can have a consequence. The darkness will always be there, but in whatever case the darkness might be (if it’s your darkest desires or an addictive experience), it will go away. Whether if the person dies or gets help, they’ll have a better image of reality.

Bram Stoker and WW Jacobs are both writers of Gothic Literature. Bram Stoker wrote ‘Dracula’s Guest’, sadly it was published in 1914 two years after his death. WW Jacobs wrote the story ‘Monkey’s Paw’, which was written in 1902. Both stories use a variety of techniques that create suspense and tension. ‘Monkey’s Paw’ is a story about an innocent family who are introduced to a talisman. He holds the fate and power which leaves their family in a problem situation when they try to change their faith. ‘Dracula’s Guest’ tells the story of a man who travels out with his horses near Dracula’s house, looking for a destination at dusk. He is warned and told to be careful of the weather.

In Stoker’s story, the man’s journey is on Walpurgis night. Walpurgis night is a festival in Germany that happens on April 30 (May Eve day). On this day it is said that the witches meet on the Brocken Mountain and revel with the Devil. The man starts on a bright sunny day in Munich, but as he sets off, he can see a possible storm cloud in the far distance. Along the way, now and then the horses throw their heads and sniff the air suspiciously. The road is bleak as they are traveling along a sort of windswept plateau.

These are great descriptive words and Stoker has really described the conditions for us. The words “air suspiciously, bleak, windswept plateau’ really describe the scene. They create suspense and darkness which is what Gothic Literature does so well, making the story seem dark and scary. The Gothic elements make the short stories really interesting to read. They create fear, anxiety, curiosity, empathy and triumph good over evil. Already from the opening part of ‘Dracula’s Guest’ we feel curious and nervous about what’s going.

As the story continues on, we get more anxious and curious, especially with the sky getting dark. More descriptive words from Stoker, like “ muffled roar, drafting rapidly, clouds high overhead, mysterious cry” increase the tension. In the story now they are travelling through miles and miles of bleak country as the sky is getting darker and darker. The air is cold, and the snow is beginning to fall heavier and heavier. They hear a mysterious cry coming out from the bush.

Later, he approaches a sepulchre that is standing all alone. He walked over and read the sepulchre with writing on it in German. Written on the back of the sepulchre is a scary message: THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST”.

The story continues to use Gothic elements to keep you guessing and curious to find out what will happen. In the end, there is a message from Dracula that is the reason why a rescue party was sent out when the carriage driver and his horses returned to the inn.

Dracula’s Guest is a brilliant short story because it uses so many different Gothic literature skills. Dracula’s guest uses suspense, emotion, curiosity and empathy.

Monkeys Paw is another great example of a Gothic Short Story. Monkeys Paw is also quite dark and creates a lot of suspense and tension this draws in the reader. One of the main components with Gothic literature is that a lot of the writing is dark, and the author is trying to create tension and lead you to have a little bit of fear.

WW Jacobs writes this story really well and straight away, only a couple of lines into the story we can tell that it is already quite spooky, and this makes the reader curious. The first couple of lines are used to introduce the conditions. It tells the reader that the night is cold and wet, it also has the blinds in the villa that had been drawn down and the first was burning brightly. Straight away here Jacobs has already painted a clear picture of what the conditions are like and he keeps going into great detail to describe the rest of the surrounds. As the story continues suspense and fear sets in as the story describes the gate banging loudly and that they could hear the heavy footsteps as they came towards the door.

The story continues using great detail and creates suspense among the readers. With the readers intrigued the story ends but not a happy ending. Unfortunately, Herbert is not coming back, and Mr and Mrs White have lost both of their children.

In summary, both Monkeys paw and Dracula’s guest are great examples of Gothic literature short stories. They both create and use suspense, tension, darkness, curiosity and empathy to help tell the story in great detail. Both these stories made you want to keep reading because they do get you hooked with their different Gothic elements.

Emily Bronte was born on the 30th July 1818 in west Yorkshire. She is one of the most significant figure of the nineteenth century literature. Although she lived a brief and a protective life she has left behind some of the most passionate and inspiring works. Among the six children that included the famous Charlotte and Bradford Bronte she was the fifth child. She was good at art just lie her siblings. Emily was self taught she was also good at music but terrible at spellings, she learnt to draw by copying images from manuals and popular prints of the day. At her early age birds, plants, animals where a significant part of her poetry as she wrote about all that she could observe as a subject of her poetry.

The Bronte sisters were isolated both socially and intellectually and gave themselves to fantasy worlds which were found in the poems, tales also in the magazines. She collaborated with her sisters Anne and Charlotte and wrote poems under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. She wrote about her exploration of self, imagination and she was closely connected to the Romantic poets like Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth rather than the Victorian writers the ones of her period like Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. She was quite devoted to her work and also appreciated the works of her peer writers such as the works of Emily Dickinson’s. Emily Bronte wrote several poems and had no intension to get them published or to even show them to her family. Emily along with her sister Anne created a fictional, women centered world called Gondal. Though Emily is greatly known for her novel, Wuthering Heights she sent most of her creative energy in the construction of Gondal a extensive imaginary island located in the pacific Ocean that was ruled by women.

Both the sisters Anne and Emily wrote narrative poems that described Gondals dynastic family sagas and political battles a land of wild moors. Gondal reflected the real world psychologically and in terms of moral laws where as the other two siblings choose emotional dreamworld to write about. She had to pay to get Wuthering Heights published which is also a reason why women found it was very difficult to write in that age. A lot of her Gondal poems and her novel was considered as antiromantic. Her idea of love was not eternity but rather she refused it unlie the other romantic poets as William Blake, William Wordsworth, and Lord Bryon. Wuthering Heights was different from the other novels of that age due to its dramatic and poetic presentation. Wuthering Heights was initially not accepted by several publishers before Thomas Cautley Newby’s acceptance. Even though she is more renowned as a novelist than as a poet, scholars gaze at her poetry as a considerable part of her work. By the early twentieth century she was considered as one of the most important women novelists of the century.

The novel Wuthering Heights was considered one of the most powerful and original works in the nineteenth century literature, in which elements of the Gothic novel, the Romantic novel, and the social criticism were found. At the beginning Wuthering Heights was not appreciated by the critics in terms of its literary significance and the crude side of life that she has depicted in her novel. After her brother’s death she got ill Emily caught cold which soon developed into swelling of the lungs and led to a disease called tuberculosis her condition worsened gradually, she declined medical help, saying that she would have ‘no poisoning doctor’ close to her and died on nineteenth December 1848 she was at the age of thirty. There is no evidence of a document for a second novel , but many thought that her sister Charlotte might have burnt it with a lot of Emily’s other material after her death as the letter from Emily’s publisher suggests that she had started to write her second novel but the manuscripts were not found.

Victorian Age (1837-1901) ruled by Queen Victoria being one of the most important eras in the history of English literature. Equipment and manufacturing development helped Britain to be one of the leading countries of the world. The Victorian age was a time of great wealth in the History of English Literature. This period the lower-class became more insecure but on the other hand, the middle-class people got more power. Basically it was the raise of the middle class. The wealthy became vulnerable in the society. Just as the Elizabethan England, The Victorian England saw growth of prosperity, prestige, and culture. Some of the most important topics were democracy, feminism, socialism etc. Victorian period was a time of disagreement, which can also be termed as Victorian Compromise. There were a lot of differences between science and religion. Various conflicts arose due to this. Secondly, the gap between the rich and the poor increased.

The poor started getting poorer and the rich started getting richer. The rich people hired the labors and gave them low wages as it was the time when there was industrial development and thus the work of the labors reduced which resulted in their poor becoming poorer and rich becoming richer. Victorian novels depicted almost every perspective of Victorian life. Though poetry and prose were luminous, it was the novel that overwhelmingly proved to be the Victorians special literary victory. Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, and David Copperfield are some of the most prominent authors. During the eighteenth century there was a raise in novel and also the decline of drama was seen during this time also the raise of Addison

Gothic literature was the genre that emerged as the darkest romantic form of the late 18th century, and the literary genre seemed to be part of a broader romantic movement. Gothic romance features terrible facial expressions, ugly romance, supernatural elements and dark landscapes. From the beginning, this fictional type contains many different elements and has a series of renewals. Most elements found in Gothic literature are similar to the middle Ages and have similar themes and backgrounds. The reader’s fascination with terrorism has paved the way for another exciting example to help advance this movement. Many aspects of Gothic literature are fascinating, including mystery, anxiety, supernatural, atmosphere and setting, curses, romance and anti-heroes. Wuthering Heights (WH), by Emily Bronte, is located between the unpleasant Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, it is a romantic love story. The story is told by Narrator Lockwood, a WH visitor who is told the story by the maid Nelly Dean. Her narratives is about the orphan Heathcliff, Catherine Earnshaw, her offspring and Linton family. Heathcliff is a passionate gypsy boy adopted by the Earnshaw family. He loves Catherine and she loved him back, but she chooses Edgar Linton to marry him since he has status and wealth. Heathcliff fled along with Edgar’s sister Isabella and took over Earnshaw and Linton and became a rich and respected person. Heathcliff loved Catherine throughout history, despite his revenge on the inability to own her, he was buried next to her after death.

Bronte clearly explains the powers and events of nature in the stories of Nelly Dean and Lockwood, and shows the relationship between the internal and external nature of WH. This novel is full of violence, abuse, scandals and hostile characters that promote and revenge among each other. These characters do not conform to known social values and do not respect traditional ethical principles. However, although the characters in this novel are uncivilized and mysterious, WH is still very popular in that era and has existed for many years. Despite the popularity of the novel and its admiration for its beautiful poetic style, WH raised a myriad of questions and explained many explanations. In an unconventional environment, WH solves eternal problems. The passion for love, the desire for revenge, and the instability of the social class. At the turning point of ghost expressions and references to devils and other supernatural elements, WH is a variety of Gothic novels, but Bronte often breaks this form. WH ignores this agreement in many ways, it’s a strange novel that captivated generations of curious readers.

The story of Gothic novels includes the concepts of delusion, wildness and taboo. Gothic imagination always includes the theme of persecution, is generally ambiguous, victims persecuted become oppressors, and vice versa. One important factor of insanity is that Gothic debate, ambition, or revenge is an important factor that makes at least one character desperate, ‘Terror made me cruel, Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!’ A Gothic novel is a supernatural, tragic, or horrible story. Some Gothic features and customs often occur in evil places such as castles and destroyed buildings, preferably underpasses, mazes and dungeons. Supernatural can take the form of ghosts, nightmares, or animated objects from previous inanimate objects. Castle, ghost, nightmare are seen in the WH novel. Ghosts and nightmares are clearly seen by Lockwood’s in the first chapters, ”Who are you?’ …. ‘Catherine Linton,’ it replied … As it spoke, I discerned, obscurely, a child’s face looking through the window. Terror made me cruel; and, finding it useless to attempt shaking the creature off’.

Heroes are usually motivated by emotion, violence, and sadness, this clear from the next quote ‘I have not broken your heart – you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.’ When Heathcliff becomes a monster, his revenge becomes part of everyone lives, Isabella, Hareton, Cathy, and even his son, he did everything cruel and inhumane beyond his usual thoughts. This seems to bring new improvements to terrorism and new depth to worsening. Gothic has always approached supernatural as if it could be described or observed according to official realism patterns. Gothic tries to record fear through supernatural novels that are cruel and difficult to explain. Antiheroes are a romantic but vicious hero who overcomes their obstacles by using evil instead of good, they characterize the Gothic genre. Heathcliff is an innocent child who has lived a difficult life until Mr. Earnshaw picks him up. He grew up with Catherine and Mr. Earnshaw loved him and cared for him. As a child, he is a friend of Catherine who begins loving him as he grows up. However, he loses care and love after Mr. Earnshaw’s death and feels betrayed when Catherine leaves him to Edgar Linton. These events bring a profound change in Heathcliff, and remain a sadistic demon throughout the rest of the novel. It is also hard to move his feelings. Emily Bronte has given Heathcliff a hard cover that makes it hard to read his heart and fully understand his emotions. However, it seems that the dark side of his personality has become very powerful and takes charge whenever he tries to empathize with others.

There are two key factors behind the change in the character of Heathcliff – Catherine whom he loves marry Edgar Lynton and Hindley’s harassment of Heathcliff after Mr. Earnshaw’s death. While all the characters in WH are unique, Heathcliff, despite his bad morals and rudeness in some situations, shares his deep dark feelings; his frustration at not finding his love made him sadistic and charismatic. At several points, he seems to be using his evil attitude to conceal his true emotions and longing for Catherine. However, he also seems to be genuinely determined to punish others around him. That seems at least because he does not hesitate to prove through his cruelty that he is really naïve as he appears. However, despite his arrogant attitude, his longing for his lost love is proving to be a hero. However, his pain is somehow justified by his behavior and makes readers sympathize with him. In the preliminary scenes, he appears as a stubborn, arrogant and hospitable owner. People in his family view him as unruly and unhygienic without any sense of creation and civilization. In his first few experiments, Lockwood became aware of what kind of person he was. Nelly tells him the rest of the story and how Heathcliff became evil and brutal.

Heathcliff still remembers Catherine and cries as a child for her return. He yearns for his love, and prays for Catherine’s return. He slams his whip on anyone who believes he is responsible for his loss or even is linked to it. Bronte’s face of love is bleak, darker in ghost-like points. So the whole novel settings look haunted and Gothic. Heathcliff himself thinks of nothing but revenge and turned him into a monster. Bronte sculpted her characters brilliantly, most importantly are the settings that add to the blues and bitterness of the story, the characters continue to destroy themselves by spinning in a spiral of special emotions. As with the arrival of the little guy from Liverpool, he launched a series of serious events. Heathcliff is portrayed as a hero led by his desire for revenge. Catharine betrayed his trust and married Linton and Linton himself died. He eulogizes himself by punishing Isabella, Edgar’s sister, who marries her to pursue his vengeful intentions. Other characters in the novel compare him to Satan (omen) and Heathcliff is doing his best to ensure that he remains as Satan in their eyes. Their fear somewhere seems to give him a sense of victory and help him overcome the frustration caused by Catherine’s loss. It is his love and longing for Catherine Earnshaw that changed him forever.

After the death of Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley kept Heathcliff deprived and mistreated. He is abandoned by Catherine and he is neither educated nor rich. Heathcliff was an orphan and it was natural that, after finding love and shelter in the WH, any kind of deprivation would have hurt him badly. The pain continues to reveal itself until Heathcliff is alive and tries to inflict the same pain on all the others who have taken him away his love for Catherine and mistreated him. He intelligently gains ownership of both the WH and Grange. There’s a lot about Heathcliff that’s incomprehensible, but that’s what makes him really unique. Heathcliff underwent a major change but then his frustration became well understood, especially in light of his love for Catherine. However, it is Heathcliff’s pain that makes the novel very interesting and attractive despite all the depression it has. The character of Heathcliff keeps the story going. He avenged anything that prevented him from being with the woman he loved. Heathcliff brings evil and goodness. His character cannot be predicted because the reader believes that after his return he will use his power and wealth for the good of restoring what he lost to Edgar Linton. The character of Heathcliff gives another aspect to society; it does not convey rights whether good or bad, it states that they are both. The use of the antihero concept was new during this period, nightmares, ghosts, mystery, castles, and the setting, all contributed to make WH a Gothic novel.

In conclusion, Bronte’s novel includes a relationship between nature, inhumanity, romance, and fear, the soul that can survive after death, betrayal, personal injustice, imagination, separation, and death. Bronte has achieved artistic success by working hard with inspiration; this is not a surprising result. Gothic novels are mysteries, usually supernatural and frightening, placed on the dark settings of medieval monuments and haunted castles. Wuthering Heights, revolving around the emotional and destructive love between Heathcliff and Catherine, is for sure one of the brilliant gothic novels around the world.

As far as the sense of gothic, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe was one of the texts that really stuck out. The story is about the narrator, Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator’s friend, Rodreick, and Rockreick’s sister, Madeline. The first conflict is when Madeline gets sick and it is a disease so bad, it’s said to be incurable. Then, she dies and Edgar Allen Poe and Rodreick bury her together. Then comes the first suggestion of the supernatural and horrifying events, “Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door! […] but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated figure.” This shows how terrifying the story is; an example of the gothic. Next, it is discovered that the house that Rodreick and Madeline live in is haunted. Edgar Allen Poe uses life-like descriptions to describe Usher’s house as it starts to fall. It’s almost described as if the house was living, like it’s an actual person. And right as the house begins to fall, Poe barely makes it out alive. This is another example of how gothic writers like Poe tend to make things overdramatic.

In the story, Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne uses gothic elements to tell the mysterious story or adventure of Young Goodman Brown. The story starts off when Brown leaves his wife, Faith, alone at his house so that he can make a journey. He travels through the spooky forest alone, “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It was all as lonely as could be, […] ‘There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree,’ said goodman Brown, to himself; and he glanced fearfully behind him, as he added, ‘What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!’” The setting of this spooky forest itself is a gothic element because of it’s horrifying elements described by Young Goodman Brown. With the exception of the setting, it is here where the first gothic element is presented . As he travels through the forest, he becomes suspicious that there might be Indians or the Devil hiding behind each of the trees. Then, out of nowhere, a random man appears who supposedly planned to meet him. Everything is normal about the man except for his mysterious staff, which has a serpent on it. The serpent is said to look so real, that it’s almost as if it is actually moving, “But the only thing about him, that could be fixed upon as remarkable, was his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself, like a living serpent.” This is the first reference to the supernatural. It really shows the abnormal, creepy part of the story, giving it that sort of spooky kick. The depiction of the serpent on the man’s staff is a great quote to represent Hwthorne’s unique gothic writing. After this, a pious appears and reveals the man as the devil, and that she is a witch. Young Goodman Brown is constantly told that he should go to the “devil’s evil forest ceremony.” He is reluctant until he hears Faith’s voice coming from the direction of the ceremony, and he uses the man’s mysterious staff to travel there ever so quickly. At the ceremony, there is a figure on a rock surrounded by burning trees with the whole community there too. This is the supernatural as well as devil portrayed to the extreme, a very integral gothic element. The ceremony is a righteous gathering around flaming trees and a figure that is assumed to be the devil in the middle, on this glorious rock. Goodman Brown discovers that Faith is there too standing right next to him, and she is revealed by dramatically unveiling her mask. They are both pulled into the base of the ceremony by the rest of the people, and when they wake up, their whole world is changed. The community they live in is completely taken over by the devil, and Young Goodman Brown is very unhappy.

The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne also portrays a great deal of gothic literature, not with a castle or the supernatural, but with the sense of evil, and a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the story. Georgiana is this beautiful girl who has one imperfection; the birthmark on her face. Aylmer, Georgiana’s husband, will not let Georgiana hear the end of this. Aylmer is never satisfied with Georgiana, and she just wants to make him happy. “With her whole spirit she prayed that, for a single moment she might satisfy his highest and deepest conception.” This quote demonstrates that Aylmer’s insistence on perfection is insane. He is so focused on perfection that he is never just never happy in life at all. At some point, it is important to realize that you can’t scientifically control how you feel. Aylmer wants Georgiana to get the birthmark removed, but Georgiana realizes that even if she does get her birthmark removed, it will only temporarily satisfy Aylmer. The fact of the matter is that Aylmer will never be satisfied. He will always find something to rag on Georgiana about, and there’s not much Georgiana can do about that. This shows the gothic theme of a character’s true identity being revealed at the end of the story. Aylmer is a passion-driven villain who represents evil in this story, as well as the gothic.