The Gothic: A History

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The Gothic: A History

Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate! - Dante

Just over two hundred years ago, literature was developing at a fantastic rate. Books and magazines had become economically viable for mass-production; a gamut of influences was creating 'reading for leisure'. One of the most popular forms among the public who were reading these books were tales of the macabre. Their sources were many -- collections of folk tales and medieval romances, translations of Eastern legends such as The Arabian Nights, and experiments by contemporary authors such as Ann Radcliffe and Horace Walpole began to create something distinct and new. Even... "novel", because the medium for this type of fiction just had not existed before. This something is still with us, and we even use the name the first critics used to identify it -- gothic.

The structure of the gothic tale is simple. Nothing wrong with the formula -- just ask Doctor Jekyll. A character -- whose sensibilities will be sympathetically familiar and contemporary, no matter the actual setting -- is removed by circumstance from the familiar and 'normal' to another, darker realm. The castle; huge, decaying and surrounded by barriers that make escape near impossible, is the classic. An old house or a dark dungeon may replace it, but it is always unmistakable. Then let the terrors commence. This is another world, and it seeks to bring the protagonist under its sway. Supernatural manifestations, manifestations of the villain's usually quite natural designs, though in Dracula of course the two are one. Let the protagonist become intrigued, or desperate enough to voluntarily travel deeper into the castle's mysteries. Then comes the crux, the awful truth and then the escape, through fortuitous discovery or salvation from a romantic interest. Unless, of course, you are reading The Monk, in which case the villain recaptures the protagonist, rapes, murders her, and is captured by the Inquisition. On the other hand, if it is Lovecraft, everyone goes mad or dies.

What has just been mentioned may be a contentious statement. Saying that the works of Howard Philips Lovecraft, a century and a half after the original gothic boom, are still gothic. It is sometimes difficult to draw the lines between gothic and other kinds of literature, but it should be the spirit and style of a book, as well as the atmosphere it gives the reader that defines it, not merely when it came into being.

The first forming steps towards gothic literature were taken in the mid to late 1700s. Gothic architecture and art had been developing for years, giving some sharp criticisms and unflattering portrayals of the church and authority in general in the process. Through these art forms, people were learning to think more independently and become freer in their expressions.
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The first true "Gothic" novel was Harold Walpole's novel The Castle Of Otranto (1764). Coincidentally, it was published the same year that James Watt perfected the steam engine, providing the groundwork for the industrial revolution. This novel sets forth all the characteristic features of the gothic we see in all the years to come. A ruined castle, an endangered lady, an evil villain a hero, and treachery all mark this book and continue in one form or another through its lineage to modern day horror and will continue to remain a fixture for a long time to come. ...

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