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The Use of the Supernatural in Gothic Literature
Summary: An important feature of the Gothic genre, the supernatural and the ideas associated it came in direct conflict at that time with the rational ideals of the Enlightenment. Hollace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764), Anne Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, and Gregory Matthew Lewis' The Monk (1797) serve as examples of how and with what effects writers in the Gothic tradition exploited elements of the supernatural for their own literary purposes.
The supernatural, or otherwise inexplicable events, is a feature of the Gothic genre. Ideas about the supernatural, including those found in superstitious beliefs, came into direct conflict with the rational ideals of the Enlightenment. Elements of the supernatural are sometimes exploited by writers in the Gothic tradition in pursuit of the writers' own literary purposes.
Hollace Walpole was the first in the field of Gothic literature. He invented the Gothic genre in 1764 with the introduction of 'The Castle of Otranto'. 'The Castle of Otranto' was an overblown novel which gave readers the clichés that defined the Gothic, such as the foreboding castle, creaking hinges and extinguishing lamps. It also introduced the major Gothic themes, which would be discussed further.
One such Gothic theme which ties in with the idea of the supernatural is the idea of inherited evil, or the son paying for the sins of the...
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This section contains 1,971 words (approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page) |
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