GGOTHIC LITERATURE

Will the real Goth please stand up?

Gothic Cathedral Goth, Germanic Tribe

How about this Goth?

Ahem…actually we’re talking about a literary movement!

Gothic Literature

A genre of fiction dealing with tales of the macabre and supernatural, which reached a height of popularity in the 1790’s.

Counterfeit Medievalism

Think of it as a Medieval Revival. Gothic authors wanted to conjure up a dark and distant past.

If it’s Gothic, it will probably feature…

ANCIENT CASTLESAND RUINED ABBEYS

SecretPassagesAndUndergroundDungeons

Flickering Lamps…only the really scary kind…

SC

REA

MS A

ND

MO

AN

S

GHOSTS AND

GRAVEYARDS

GOTHIC became

a label for the

mysterious,

supernatural, and

terrifying….

especially the

pleasurably

terrifying.

The Castle of Ontrato, Horace Walpole, 1764

Walpole led the way in this genre with his self-styled Gothic Story.

The Castle of Ontrato had all these and more!!!!

• Haunted Castle• A hero named Manfred• Mysterious deaths (sickly heir crushed by

giant helmet on his wedding day!)• Moaning Ancestral portrait• Damsels in Distress• Violent passions• Strange obsessions

Mary Shelley, Frankensteinthe most enduring Gothic novel

Edgar Allen Poe

Poe is a well known for crafting terrifying tales, although chronologically he came after the Gothic literature of Romantic period writers.

Even today…we still love a scary story…

So to sum up…

• How would you define Gothic Literature?

• What are some common elements of Gothic Literature?

• Why might these stories appeal to people?

Thanks forListening!!!