The name gothic initially came from a style of architecture that dates as far back as medieval times. The menacing looks of gothic architecture make it well known. An example of gothic architecture is shown in many arches, as arches from the gothic period are known for their pointed peak.
In the middle of the eighteenth century the word gothic had a totally new meaning. Gothic was used to depict a type of literature, which as before, always has a sense of immorality and evil about it. In this day and age, gothic still has the same meaning, however it is also used in jargon for certain divisions of people.
The people during the enlightenment had a very basic perception on life, as people favoured writing about the tangible things in life. The enlightenment was a time in the eighteenth century and was just before the gothic era. So the more mysterious of things, the intangible was left out of literature and their lives. I think that the best perspective to have is to look at both tangible and intangible things in life. I find that if an author uses a decent balance of the two, good novels are made. This is because if without thinking about peoples opinions and emotions can make a story boring, but when stories are based around peoples thoughts and emotions, the story can get confusing.
The Gothic style has its own kind of trademark, this is the monologue. Many gothic stories contain monologues, and many popular gothic novels end with them. ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by R.L Stevenson is a perfect illustration of this. This story is one of the best and most popular gothic stories ever, and it contains lots of monologues. It also brings in the element of personality switching or maybe even schizophrenia.
Another style of literature which is in 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' by R.L Stevenson, is the epistolary style. This is written in the style of a letter. With this style, the reader is instantly able to see the intangible emotions of the characters in the story. Epistolary novels give the reader a sort of 'behind the scenes' view of the story, which can be very interesting.
The gothic genre drew many of its intense images from the graveyard poets Gray and Thompson, intermingling a landscape of vast dark forest with vegetation that bordered on excessive, concealed ruins with horrific rooms, monasteries, and a forlorn character who excels at the depressed. A fairy-tale spectre or perhaps a bleeding nun were images often sought after who fell victim to the supernatural influences of these books.
Although the gothic novel influenced many of the emerging genres, the outpouring of gothic novels started to ease by 1815 and with the publication of Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin, the genre began to fade. The gothic novel had come full circle, from rebellion to the Age of Reasons order, to its surrounding and incorporation of Reason derived from terror. The influence of the gothic novel is felt today in the portrayal of the alluring antagonist, whose evil characteristics appeal to ones sense of awe, or the melodramatic aspects of romance, or more specifically in the gothic novel is felt today in the portrayal of the alluring melodramatic aspects of romance, or more specifically in the gothic motif of a persecuted maiden forced apart from a true love.