Consider the Influence of Gothic Fiction upon pre 20th century and 20th century texts

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Consider the Influence of Gothic Fiction upon pre 20th century and 20th century texts

In this essay I aim to compare and discuss the influence of gothic elements in ‘The Red Room’ by H. G. Wells, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte and ‘I’m the King of the Castle’ by Susan Hill.

Gothic fiction is a type of fiction that predominated in English literature in the last third of the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th, the setting for which was usually a ruined gothic castle or abbey. The gothic novel emphasised mystery and horror and was filled with ghost haunted rooms, underground passages and secret stairways. The term Gothic is used to designate narrative prose or poetry of which the principal elements are violence, horror, and the supernatural.

Jane Eyre, written in 1846, isn’t a typical gothic novel, it is more subtle, which attracts the reader to Jane, she is mystifying, with deep feelings and emotions. Jane Eyre became the inspiration to many authors, including H. G. Wells and Susan Hill. After a difficult childhood as a ‘precocious’ and rebellious orphan, forced to accept and cope with the ill treatment and disgust of her aunt and cousins, Jane becomes an assertive, independent woman, who pursues her passions and finds her true love, Mr Rochester. As a child, she was eager to learn and explore the world, but her intelligence was frowned upon by her relatives in Gateshead Hall and she was locked away in the ‘Red Room’ as if she were a prisoner in her own house. Mrs Reed and Jane’s cousins saw her as an intruder, she did not belong at Gateshead, she was not worthy, she was only a poor  and plain orphan child who they disliked and bullied. Jane’s situation and depression was often reflected in the narration, she talked of books she engaged in, they reflected her mood in the house. ‘desolate coast’, ‘cold and ghastly moon’, ‘haunted and quite solitary churchyard’ all echo the atmosphere of Gateshead hall.

The Red Room is a key theme to the gothic fiction used in all three texts, in Jane Eyre it allows the reader to understand Jane’s thoughts and true identity, she is a superstitious and passionate child with ordinary fears like any normal child and her entrapment in the Red Room allowed Brontё to show this. The Red Room is a frightening and mysterious place, it’s associated with death, Mr Reed died in the self same chamber, this haunted her in the dark, chilling and silent atmosphere of the ‘seldom slept chamber’. The room was filled with mahogany and ‘crimson cloth’, the shades ‘glared white’ with a pale throne,  she felt trapped surrounded by death, doom and gloom. The dark reds brought depression and darkness to her stay in the room, she was terrified. In the first few chapters of Jane Eyre, the Red Room is practically the only element of gothic, it adds another dimension to her tale, Brontё has realised the importance of gothic elements in previous classics and modernised it to relate to Jane’s powerful and moving tale. She was influenced by the likes of Mary Shelley and Horace Walpole and this is evident in her descriptions of the ghostly aspects throughout Jane Eyre.

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Charlotte Brontё’s gothic elements inspired the eerie atmosphere of Warings and Well’s Red Room. The Red Room , written in        , followed closely to Brontё’s descriptive terror. Wells immediately enticed the reader with description of the ‘spiritual terrors’ of the ‘haunted room’ with words likes ‘decaying’, ‘withered’, ‘grotesque’, ‘monstrous’ and ‘ghostly’. In this ghostly tale, Wells uses fear to entice the reader, the unknown and unexplored is always exciting and thrilling, ‘the old people’ had only heard of the Red Room, it was mysterious and daunting. Nobody knew what it was really like, and of all times ...

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