An introduction to gothic

An introduction to gothic

The main question people will ask is what is gothic and what is our fascination with it?
After some thorough research such as the BBC4 documentary on Britain in its midnight hour and university lectures with a brief introduction to gothic I know have a clearer insight as to why people are fascinated with gothic.

What is gothic ?

Gothic is a word used by the Italians to describe something gloomy or bizarre or something that seemed unreal to the civilised world. The world gothic often referred to architecture particularly buildings firstly located in Rome Italy and Greece.

Gothic later expand to describe other pieces of art such as paintings and also literature such as poems and novels, the first popular gothic horror novel was the Horace  Walpol Novel the castle of Tranto which mainly character was the castle itself also known as a gothic piece architecture.

What is the fascination with gothic horror?

Over the centuries people have become fascinated with horror for many reasons, people have become fascinate particularly with the past such as the medieval period and the Victorian era. The Victorian era was a period which was mainly interested in death due to figure head Queen Victoria being obsessed with death after the loss of husband Price Albert.  The fear and interest  of death and the unknown as well as  anxiety of changes such as industrial changes and science also made people fascinated with gothic horror.

The liking of the bizarre the magic and the supernatural which highlighted elements of reality became popular with people though literature and novels in particular such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Bram Stoker's Dracula to modern day blockbusters such a twilight and Harry potter. The location, sexual power and storyline also has an impact on the audience giving them a fascination with horror.

In terms of literature the gothic genre has developed not only into horror but also: romance; crime; thrillers; fantasy and science fiction appealing to a wide audience. Recent statistics surprisingly convey that a higher percentage of women age 18-49 like to watch horror more than men aged 14-35 , why is gothic horror so appealing to women?

anonymous. (unknown). textual characteristics of the gothic. Available: http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/creating/pages/origins.htm. Last accessed 01/04/15.
unknown. (unknown). El doctor frankenstein. Available:

http://historiasdelceluloide.elcomercio.es/2013/04/el-doctor-frankenstein.html. Last accessed 01/04/15.

who is Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole (1717-1797)was an English Historian and member of the parliament, he was known for his 1830 gothic novel, Castle of Tranto which tells a story about the evil lord cursed by his ancestors, his novel appeared quite bizarre but still caused pulses to race. Walpole was also known for his gothic style architectural building located at Strawberry Hill in Twickenham outside of London. The English historian, was also known to be unusual and was considered to be quite queer even though he was married to wife Catherine, a letter later revealed his passion for men including the affair with his MP cousin Henry Conway. In march 1797 Walpole had recurring attacks as well as gout and died in March, his family buried him in a tomb in ST Martins church, Norfolk.

Anonymous. (unknown). Horace Walpol biography. Available: http://www.online-literature.com/horace-walpole/. Last accessed 01/04/15.

anonymous. (20/10/14). the art of gothic . Available: http://portal.solent.ac.uk/library/library.aspx. Last accessed 01/04/15.

The gothic motifs

British library. (06/2014). The gothic. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNohDegnaOQ. Last accessed 01/04/15.

 

The Youtube clip I found very interesting and to the point, it explains what the gothic motifs are in detail and refers to examples such as architecture, literature and paintings. The video clips is also filmed in Horace Walpol's Strawberry Hill gothic style house to convey gothic style architecture .

 

Place and time:

Place and time is an important motif which is also taken into consideration when creating a novel, film, or painting for example. Strange places which are used in popular novels such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stokers Dracula  add to the fascination of horror . In novels such as Dracula and frankenstein the time also adds to the fascination of the audience, living in a modern world with technology and going back to a world without out it conveys to audience how far time has moved forward.

 

Power

Power is the heart of gothic horror and is a key element used in art and literature , people being forced by those who are more powerful in a society and being made vulnerable adds to the audiences fascination of the gothic.

 

sexual power

Sexual power is another element used in gothic horror , which is usually used in novels due to being held back in other novels this adds to the audience fascination due to it being something new and something different . Gothic horror novels usually tend to include storylines which involve same sex desires; violence and incest.

 

The uncanny

extract from the uncanny

'one curious to know what this peculiar quality is which allows us to disguise the uncanny certain things within a boundary which is considered fearful.
place puts into consideration anxiety and emotional effect

The uncanny is another element which is sometimes used in gothic horror, the meaning of uncanny is to have something new which takes you back to the old past such as wax works and dolls, which can also be considered as a phobia or freaky .Sigmund Freud

Clive bloom (11/05/2007). a students guide to gothic. unknown: Clive Bloom. 100.

 

The sublime

The sublime is often used in gothic horror particularly in paintings and often novels. The sublime meaning originated from Edmund Burke , its a way to describe the natural world or an experience that doesn't seem to work together such as a storm at sea .

 

Crisis

A crisis is a main element used in gothic horror novels which usually focuses on problems in the society or political world, by novels having a build up and a climax which usually involves a crisis this keeps the reader fascinated and drawn in wanting to find out what happens next.

 

The supernatural and the real

The supernatural and the real tend to be included in most gothic horror literature for example Martin Lewis's novel the monk was a novel that caused plenty of controversy due to his believe in the revolutionary being sexy , this caused people to fear the innocent being corrupt . Martin Lewis was nearly prosecuted due to his novel due to writing bad things about major event that had happened during the century  his writing could not be used in any other languages except the gothic

anonymous. (20/10/14). the art of gothic . Available: http://portal.solent.ac.uk/library/library.aspx. Last accessed 01/04/15.

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