GOTHIC NOVEL

 

 The term Gothic' originally referred to the Goths, an early medieval Germanic tribe they believed in the supernatural powers of the world. The Gothic novel is a type of romance (a prose narrative dealing with events remote from everyday life) that was popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It is a very distinct form with interesting features and has been a great influence upon fiction.

Features of a gothic novel

Gothic novels narrate tales of mystery and horror aimed at
shocking and disturbing the readers.

 

The setting usually includes haunted castles with secret passages, winding staircases, dungeons, and caves. American writers of Gothic fiction often set the story in a distant place and in a bygone age, such as medieval Europe.

The atmosphere is threatening or gloomy. The novelists create a mood of suspense and evoked the fear of the unknown.

It includes supernatural elements (such as ghosts) and strange, eerie happenings. Other common features are disturbing visions and frightening dreams.

The mode of narration is sentimental or melodramatic, and the characters often display strong emotions.

The feelings of pity and terror aroused by this novel with or without a cathartic effect, but are to be enjoyed for their own sake.

 

This type of fiction was made popular by Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto (1764). Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and Matthew Gregory Lewis's The Monk (1796) were important formative influences on the genre. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) is a popular example of the form. Edgar Allan Poe developed this style in the United States. Other famous Gothic novels include Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897).