The Gothic Imagination - Essay Example

The Gothic Imagination Gothic imagination has an incredible generative power which catches the attention of numerous readers. The fictions o this tradition is especially noted for the environment it creates taking the readers from the ordinary, commonplace world to an unimagined, extra ordinary world where they can live with the characters and fly in the wings of fantasy. Gothic can be understood as a genre in which the particular mood created helps the reader to be taken to the sublime world of imagination. It is "a literary style popular during the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. This style usually portrayed fantastic tales dealing with horror, despair, the grotesque and other "dark" subjects. Gothic literature was named for the apparent influence of the dark gothic architecture of the period on the genre. Also, many of these Gothic tales took places in such "gothic" surroundings, sometimes a dark and stormy castle as shown in Mary Wollstoncraft Shelly's Frankenstein, or Bram Stoker's infamous Dracula" (Gothic). The American critical theorist Eve Sedgwick has been a chief contributor to the idea of Gothic imagination. To understand the term "Gothic" let us note that there is a great relation between Gothic and romance. As Sedgwick, in The Coherence of Gothic Conventions which studies the relationship between Gothic conventions and the ways in which its practitioners use language and structure narrative, remarks, "Gothic" has not been the supplest of terms. (Sedgwick 1986) An analysis of the popular novels, The Castle of Otranto, Frankenstein, and Dracula would give the best idea of what a Gothic Novel is. This is a discussion directed towards the same. The writers beginning with Horace Walpole in his The Castle of Otranto through the famous writers like Mrs. Radcliffe, M G Lewis, Mary Shelley, Maturin, Melville, Faulkner, and Stoker have dealt with the elements of what is now termed the Gothic literature. Their works take the readers to world of sublimity and great imagination. "Their Gothic novels attempt to submerge the reader in an extraordinary world in which ordinary standards and moral judgments become meaningless and good and evil are seen as inextricably intertwined. Gothic writing is closely related to romantic: both are the product of a profound reaction against everyday reality and conventional religious explanations of existence. But while romantic writing is the product of faith in an ultimate order, Gothic writing is a gloomy exploration of the limitations of man" (Hume 1969). Thus many of the Gothic considerations come to our discussion. The genre of Gothic fiction merges the elements of both romance and horror. This literary tradition has its beginning with Horace Walpole's novel The Castle of Otranto which came out in the year 1764. As the introductory essay of Three Gothic Novels remarks, "a reader familiar with the Gothic novels of the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century will easily recognize in them themes and proceedings which were stock-in-trade of the tales of terror" (Fairclough et al 1968. p. 7). The finding out of the beauty in elements of terror itself changed the concept of the literary appreciation. The discovery of Horror as the source of delight reacted on men's actual conception of beauty itself: the Horrid, from being the category of the Beautiful, became eventually one of its essential elements, and the 'beautiful horrid' passed by insensible degrees into the 'horribly beautiful" (Fairclough et al 1968. p. 10). The examples of the novels show that the gothic genre is especially noted for its appeal of terror and mystery and it cannot be smothered. "The Gothic novel is defined not by its stock devices-ruined abbeys and the like-but by its use of a particular atmosphere for essentially psychological purposes" (Hume 1969). The Gothic novels of the writers like Walpole, M G Lewis, Mary Shelley, Melville, Faulkner and others submerge the readers in a world where ordinary standards and ethical conclusions are pointless and good and evil are seen as inextricably entangled. As David Punter in A companion to the Gothic makes clear, the Gothic revival and its literary and fictional background are apparent in an artificial or fabricated aesthetic phenomenon. This is clear when we attempt an analysis of the novel The Castle of Otranto which may be seen as a blending of every type of fakeness. The novel is especially remarkable for its contribution to the Gothic imagination and we are able to gather the elements of Gothic setting which is all created by the imaginative faculty of the author. Everything about novel is fabricated so as to take the readers into a world beyond that of the ordinary. The novel is very remarkable in finding the relation between the gothic imagination and fiction. By dealing extensively with the elements and features of extra ordinary life environment, the novel creates in the minds of the reader a new experience of things beyond the ordinary imagination. Everything in the novel is set in a way that they stimulate the imaginative faculty of the reader. For example, in the opening setting of the novel itself, the intention of the author is clear. We understand the situation as one beyond the normal and ordinary. It is a world of Gothic sublime and the reader is emotionally and psychologically led to this particular setting by the agency of various elements. They include most significantly the castle and its environment and the persuasive narration of the events in this setting helps the reader formulate a clear sense of this sublime world. The author's interest in providing the readers of that particular age, noted for their interest in extra ordinary elements of life, with what they expected. It is obviously the deep, horrifying emotional and psychological characteristics of the readers that the author aimed at. The enthrallment of the readers for the most sublime and emotionally intensifying moments of life was exploited by Walpole. The author draws beautiful pictures of the situation to help the reader identify those sublime moments of life which they expected in the real life. However, the work is an evident struggle against the reality of the normal life situation and religious explanations of existence. On the basis of the criteria put forward by Sedgwick, we can conclude that Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764) is the forerunner of the stories and novels termed as Gothic fiction. His attempts to combine the wildness and imagination of early romances and the prospects necessitated by the fresh fiction made the invention of the Gothic novel possible and The Castle of Otranto has a prime position in this attempt. As opposed to the conventional plot and theme of fiction, Walpole's novel provides a sense of wildness to the plot or a sense of fast forward motion. The suspense or the mystery is the key behind the success of the novel. The Gothic nature of the work is helped out by the choice of words or diction which is carefully selected to create the Gothic splendor of the work. Such intentional choice of words affects the reading experience of the readers. Walpole, in effect makes use of a set of stimulating words for his purpose. The construction of the plot is yet another contributor to the grandeur of the novel. Walpole takes special care to effect the interrupted events by which he is able to create a new crisis or event before an existing one is resolved. It is a very effective way to bring about the intention of the author that is to make a Gothic sense of the extra ordinary type. When Theodore's dialogue with Isabella at the trap door is interrupted by the arrival of Manfred, we find such a situation. The Gothic element of mystery runs throughout the novel The Castle of Otranto and the very first pages of the novel tell the mysterious behaviors of Manfred. Other than those evident in the beginning pages of the story, there many other mysterious occasions where we identify this mystery element as in the vague prophecy, the sighing portrait, supernaturally waving plumes and the like. As soon as the mysteries in the beginning of the novel are resolved, new and more colorful mysteries are introduced by the author so as to keep the tempo of the Gothic feeling go on. In the occasions where Hippolita is reported to be departed, Isabella is found missing and others we find this tendency of the author. "The standard Gothic devices and motifs are all in place moonlight, a speaking portrait, the slamming of doors, castle vaults, an underground passage, blasts of wind, rusty hinges, the curdling of blood, and above all, in practically every sentence, strong feelings of terror ("Words cannot paint the horror of the princess's situation ...")" (The romantic period. 2007). As we have dealt in full length with the gothic elements in the novel by Walpole, let us now seek the example of the same in other novelists as well. The insight given by Sedgwick is remarkable in understanding the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley which "is a compilation of Romantic and Gothic elements combined into a singular work with an unforgettable story" (Critical Essays. 2007). The Gothic Novel tradition started with Walpole's novel focuses mainly, as we have already remarked, on the mysterious and the supernatural. In this sense the novel by Mary Shelley, remarkably at the age of fourteen, is one of the rarest examples of Gothic novels. "In every good Gothic tale, there is a strong element of the supernatural. Shelley demonstrates this in the actual creation of the monster, where the hint is that Victor harnessed the forces of nature such as lightning, to give the spark of life to the collection of body parts he had assembled. This creation had a supernatural link with its creator, and vice versa, and whenever they were close to one another, they sensed the other's presence" (Young Frankenstein. 2007). It is remarkable in the way the novel captures the readers' imagination. Shelley is successful in capturing the attention of the readers and the treatment of the plot is in sublime way that it fulfills the needs of a Gothic novel. Accordingly, we find the novel as highly terrifying which is the quality of a great Gothic novel. Through the behavior and state of mind of Victor, the novelist emphasizes the importance of the idea of a Gothic splendor. The theme and other features of the plot are masterfully carved in order to suit the purpose of the author. Frankenstein, in a masterly way meets all the main characteristics of a Gothic novel. Supernatural and the mysterious are carefully blended in the novel. Following the other writers of Gothic tradition, "Shelley uses rather mysterious circumstances to have Victor create the monster: the cloudy circumstances under which Victor gathers body parts for his experiments and the use of little known modern technologies for unnatural purposes. Shelley employs the supernatural elements of raising the dead and macabre research into unexplored fields of science unknown by most readers. She also causes us to question our views on Victor's use of the dead for scientific experimentation. Upon hearing the story for the first time, Lord Byron is said to have run screaming from the room, so the desired effect was achieved by Mary Shelley" (Critical essay. 2007). She also employs the supernatural rudiments of raising the dead and horrid exploration into the uncultivated scientific fields unknown by most readers. Frankenstein, set in the European continental background, also seeks to create the gloomy setting like old buildings, dungeons, mysterious circumstances, and the like which are the characteristic features of a Gothic novel. There are many examples for this Gothic setting. For example, "the incorporation of the chase scenes through the Arctic regions takes us even further from England into regions unexplored by most readers" (Critical essay. 2007). The scientific environment like the laboratory of Victor and the experiments that are not familiar to the readers also bring about Gothic environment. Another feature of the Gothic novel is that the characters appear to link the human world and the supernatural world. In the novel of Shelley, "the Frankenstein monster seems to have some sort of communication between himself and his creator, because the monster appears wherever Victor goes" (Critical essay. 2007). It also goes with incredible superhuman pace and Victor matching him in the chase towards the North Pole. Thus, we can very well understand that Mary Shelley succeeds in creating a memorable novel in the Gothic tradition by uniting several ingredients of Gothic convention. Along with Frankenstein, Bram Stocker's Dracula perhaps ranks as the best known horror novel which is set in the Gothic environment. Like Mary Shelley's work, it reflects the culture that produced it. The importance of the novel by Stocker is that it deals with the struggle between good and evil which is essentially the characteristic feature of human life and situation. The significance of the novel may be understood in that it deals among others, with the essential human struggle. "Dracula has appealed to readers for almost a century, at least in part because it deals with one of the great human conflicts: the struggle between good and evil. Stoker acknowledges the complexity of this conflict by showing good characters attracted to evil. For example, Jonathan Harker, the lawyer who journeys to Transylvania, is almost attacked at Dracula's castle by three young female vampires. In fact, he seems to be actually welcoming the attack before it is interrupted by the count. In this scene, as well as others, Stoker suggests that evil, represented by the vampires, is an almost irresistible force which requires great spiritual strength to overcome. It eventually takes the combined forces of a band of men, representing different countries, to defeat the vampiric count. Stoker's novel is a symbolic exploration of a conflict which has long troubled humankind" (First 1500 characters of Dracula. 2007). Like the other Gothic novels, Dracula deals with the environment of horror and the extra ordinary world of vampires. The description of the novel concerning the Gothic setting of old castles, horrifying situations, and the other such elements catches the particular attention of the readers. Dracula is set in Transylvania, a region in Romania near the Hungarian border and it is the right atmosphere that gives evidence to Gothic feeling. "Logically, we should look at every aspect of Dracula's monster characteristics. Firstly, he must have had long fangs, white skin, long white hair etc" (Dracula). From the very opening scene of the novel, the reader is provided with the atmosphere of horror and terror that are the characteristic conditions of the Gothic fiction. From the first to the fourth chapters of the novel, we can identify many Gothic elements and the coming of Dracula himself. In the novel, "Stoker combines traditional Gothic elements with adventure, horror, and the supernatural to create a monumental work that is still widely read today - while nearly all the rest of Stoker's copious output has faded into obscurity. Bram Stoker did not invent vampires, but his 1897 novel assured their immortality in literature and motion pictures" (Stocker 2007). Like the other Gothic novels that connect the ordinary with the extra ordinary or natural with the supernatural, the protagonist lives both as a normal person and a superhuman, moving easily between both worlds to carry out his endeavors. "Gothic fiction is a literature of nightmare. Among its conventions are found dream landscapes and figures of the subconscious imagination" (Gothic literature study guide). The creation of the supernatural figures is an inevitable element of a Gothic novel and in the novel by Stocker the monster is the important element of Gothic imagination. "As a historical person, Dracula II Tepesh was either a part of the Ottoman Empire and existed as their advisory for Romania. On the other hand, people say that Dracula was their helper, who destroyed the Turks by torturing them, we can find this in Dracula's castle" (Dracula). The analysis of the novels that is undertaken proves that the Gothic novels are termed so due to certain elements of the tradition that are shared irrespective of the writer or the period of happening. All the novels in this discussion share such peculiar characteristics that make them classified as originating in the Gothic traditional stream. Sedgwick is a writer who puts forward the right methods of analyzing a Gothic novel. Based on the criteria set by him, we can understand that the three novels under consideration are the best available examples of gothic fiction. Accordingly, we can make out that there are number of similarities among the works as there are certain dissimilarities. Mainly, all the three novels possess the characteristics of a Gothic novel, though in varying degree. In the same way, we can also identify the situations that make the novels treating the different aspects of the same story. The themes and ideas are carried over from one novel to another and Walpole's novel which is the first of its kind sets the right stage for the other works to develop upon. It does not mean that the three novels do not have dissimilarities on the criterion of Gothic fiction. The degree of their Gothic setting and the related elements vary tremendously. They also differ in the way of treatment and obviously the individual variations of the authors have affected the Gothic treatment of the novels which is, in fact, inevitable. In this attempt to make a comparative assessment of the novels by Horace Walpole, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stocker we are in a position to judge a novel in its Gothic elements. Gothic imagination, as we understand, blends supernaturalism with romanticism. There are many elements that go in the making of such Gothic environment and the analysis of the three novels confirms the obvious elements of Gothic fiction. The supernatural and the romantic aspects of the readers are stimulated by such novels and the natural world is united with the supernatural world, through the setting and treatment, so as to enable the readers appreciate the elements beyond their imagination. Thus, in the final outlook of the paper it may be mentioned that the three books The Castle of Otranto, Frankenstein, and Dracula, in their own peculiar way, treats the different elements of the Gothic elements, formulating in the minds of the readers the everlasting understanding of the Gothic imagination. Works Cited Gothic. All American. Glossary of Literary Terms. 06 Dec. 2007 . Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. The Coherence of Gothic Conventions. 2nd ed. New York: Methuen. 1986. Fairclough, Peter et al., Mario Praz, Introductory Essay. Three Gothic Novels. P. 7. Penguin Classics. 1968. Fairclough, Peter et al., Mario Praz, Introductory Essay. Three Gothic Novels. P. 10. Penguin Classics. 1968 Hume, Robert D. Gothic versus Romantic. A revolution of the Gothic novel. Abstract. p. 282-290. 1969. 06 Dec. 2007 . The romantic period. Horace Walpole, from the Castle of Otranto. The Norton anthology of English Literature. 2007. 06 Dec. 2007 . Critical Essays. The Gothic Novel. Cliffs notes. 2007. 06 Dec. 2007 . Young Frankenstein. Frankenstein is described as a Gothic novel. What are the ingredients, which define this type of work Book wolf. 2007. 06 Dec. 2007 . "Dracula." 123HelpMe.com. 2007. 06 Dec 2007 . Stoker, Bram. Dracula. SFReader.com. 2007. 06 Dec 2007 . Gothic literature study guide. Critical essay # 2. Gift a day give a way. 06 Dec 2007 . First 1500 characters of Dracula. Overview. 123helpme.com. 2007. 07 Dec. 2007 . Read More