Gothic Tradition in Literature; Do Poe and Hawthorne Measure up - Essay Example

Gothic Tradition in Literature; Do Poe and Hawthorne Measure up There are many necessary features that make a story a part of the gothic tradition. Best known, however, is the concept of fear. Gothic stories use the hidden and esoteric to create an aura of fear in the reader. Both Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne use fear as a tool in their writing, yet they are not both writing in gothic tradition. While Poe uses symbolism, darkness, and death imagery to terrify the reader, Hawthorne chooses to use parable to educate the reader, with fear being merely an afterthought. In Poe's "Ligeia", death and darkness are used as the setting to create a scene of terror, after creating a scene of love for the lost "Ligeia". In his "Fall of the House of Usher", Poe Hawthorne, on the other hand, uses the veil from "The Minister's Black Veil" as a parable for the hidden sins that all people share, and their deep seated need to hide these fears not only from others, but from themselves. By reviewing these three works, it becomes clear that while Poe measures up to the gothic tradition, Hawthorne most certainly does not. Gothic tradition in literature is seen as a close relative to romanticism. However, gothic literature is dark, relying on visual imagery of night, of gloom, of old, dangerous buildings, and of utter solitude, creating a feeling of apprehension in the reader that is often shared by the narrator, leading in the end to utter terror. Specifically, Gothic novels rely on symbols to create the environment, which includes haunted buildings, evil twins, physical decay and imminent death, incest, madness, and descent (both spiritual and physical). (Prendergast 1) These symbols allow the reader to feel evil without a clear understanding of what is evil. Poe uses these symbols in both "Ligeia" and "The Fall of the House of Usher." In "Ligeia" the reader is at first saddened to learn of the death of the narrators love, the once beautiful Ligeia. Yet during his recollection of their last days together, and of the outpouring of love she shared with him, he recalls how violently she fought with death. It is not until after he remarries that her desperate desire to stay with him becomes clear. He clearly notes how strong a person she is, and as she passes, she whispers "Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death utterly; save only through the weakness of is feeble will' (Poe 131). Her insistence, even at death that only the weak die is an omen of what is to come. After remarriage to "the successor of the unforgotten Ligeia-the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion, of Tremaine" (Poe 132) the new couple enter into the bridal chamber, a place in which light is limited from the outdoors, and which is pentagonal in shape, a symbol of magic. Even here, with a new bride, the narrator thinks only of Ligeia. Not soon after marriage, Lady Rowena falls ill, and rapidly nears death. It is in the middle of the night, a classic gothic symbol, when she has an attack, and the narrator gets for her a decanter of wine, to calm her. When he gets the wine, he sees on the carpet a shadow that comes from no human source, "a faint, indefinite shadow of angelic aspect" (Poe 135). Believing this to be imaginary, as he was under the influence of opiates, he gives his wife a glass of wine to calm her nerves. Again he sees an image which no other person sees, several drops of ruby colored liquid falling into her drink. Within days, she has died. It is then, the final night together in which he sits up with her body, that the imagery becomes distinct. It is night, and the narrator finds himself alone with the body of his deceased wife. Time and again he daydreams, and thinks back to his first wife, Ligeia. Each dream is interrupted by an apparent change to the body in front of him. At first, his concern is that she is not truly dead. Yet when he attempts to awaken her, she appears even more in a state of death than before. Again and again she appeared to revive, until even the narrator will no longer share how many times she appeared alive. Each time she revives, he has been dreaming of Ligeia. Finally, just as morning begins to break, the body shudders, and it appears the Lady Rowena is still alive. However, he sees that she looks different. "There was a mad disorder in my thoughts-a tumult unappeasable. Could it, indeed, be the living Rowena who confronted me" (Poe 137). He doubts the very existence of the woman he knows had lay dead on that table just moments before. As she rises, he sees that he is correct. It is not the fair-haired Lady Rowena, but the black haired Lady Ligeia! This story is a prime example of gothic literature. While at the beginning of the novel there is mention that death is only for the weak (of which Lady Ligeia is not), the action then takes place only in a place of magic, and primarily at night. While the narrator is with his new wife, she avoids him even in the bridal chamber, allowing him to sit in solitude and think of Ligeia. Finally, at her death, at night, in the pentagonal room, he begins to imagine that Rowena is still alive. He is both terrified, and in awe of what is happening. It is not Rowena who awakens though, but Ligeia, who has apparently driven mad and murdered (through the wine) her counterpart, so that she can overcome death. And as dawn breaks, the two lovers are reunited. In 'The Fall of the House of Usher", Poe creates a symbol of darkness and death even from the beginning, the physical house. The narrator has been summoned to the house of a childhood friend to help him overcome a malady. Again, Poe allows the reader a preview of things to come. "Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn"(Poe 161). Even before setting foot inside the house, the reader becomes aware that there is already separation, a break in the House of Usher. Poe uses the wording "House of Usher" to describe both the physical house, and also the family line of Usher, which ends in the brother and sister who live here. The crack, though physical in nature, represents also the fall of the people within. The narrator, though unhappy to be there, works hard to help Frederick Usher regain some sanity. Yet, as he sees, "the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness, as if an inherent positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of the moral and physical universe in one unceasing radiation of gloom" (Poe 165). It becomes clear that there can be no cure for this darkness of spirit. At the death of Fredericks sister, Madeline, the two men work together to place her body in a tomb inside the house, to protect her grave from physicians who desire to know the cause of her malady. At the death of his sister, Frederick seems to change, wandering the halls at all hours, and seeming distraught. The narrator, too, feels odd. On the last night the narrator is in the house, the two men are both restless, and meet in the hallway during a terrible storm. Frederick is distraught, and the narrator hopes to calm him through reading. As the story progresses, the two men hear sounds as if from the story themselves. As the story ends, however, the sounds continue, and Frederick exclaims "Now hear it-yes, I hear it and have heard itwe have put her living into the tomb!" (Poe 175). As Madeline appears and falls against her brother, dead, the narrator flees the house. No sooner is he out the door then the crack upon the house widens, and the House of Usher falls. As in Ligeia, Poe uses the symbols of night and death to create an unspeakable feeling of horror. However, he also chooses to use the symbol of the doppelganger, or alter ego, which he creates in the sister and brother. He also uses the house as a symbol for the relationship of the family of Usher, which, while standing, had a fatal flaw. Hawthorne, on the other hand, does not use traditional Gothic symbol in his story of "The Minister's Black Veil." Instead, he creates a parable in which the black veil which the minister chooses to wear symbolizes the way that all people hide their sins from one another, and especially from themselves. While the veil creates fear at first in his congregation, the reader is at no point given to apprehension, as the character of the minister is described several times as being good. Hawthorne uses his story to make a point about human nature, and how each person creates for their own selves a veil. When the minister is asked why he wears the veil, he replies: this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers , so with familiar friends. No mortal eye will see it withdrawn. This dismal shade must separate me from the world" (Hawthorne 17) While both Hawthorne and Poe use fear to create an ambiance for their stories, only Poe is truly a writer in the gothic tradition. Hawthorne uses parable as a means to the reader's conscious mind, in order to teach a lesson about human nature. He uses symbolism, but not gothic symbolism, as he does not attempt to create terror, only understanding of humanity. Poe, on the other hand, uses classic gothic symbolism to create an atmosphere of fear, which is primarily aimed at the unconscious, and is meant to terrify, not necessarily educate about human nature. Both Poe and Hawthorne do describe the fundamental nature of humans, and both use symbolism to evoke strong feeling, but Poe, with his darkness and death, is the one who chose to write in gothic tradition. Works Cited Arvin, Newton. Hawthorn's Short Stories. New York: Random House, 1946. Fisher, Benjamin F. The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2004. Prendergast, Kathy. "Introduction to Gothic Tradition." Gothic Tradition. University of Saskatchewan. 01 May 2006 . Read More