With close reference to at least three texts compare and contrast four characteristics of Gothic Horror which you consider to be effective.

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With close reference to at least three texts compare and contrast four characteristics of Gothic Horror which you consider to be effective.

        In the Renaissance, art forms such as literature and paintings etc encompassed themselves around the need to learn, reason and understanding and philosophy. Gothic Horror became popular at the end of the Renaissance in the 1700’s, and the early 1800’s saw the rise of the gothic movement. There are many well-known pioneers, one of which is Horace Walpole who wrote ‘The Castle of Otranto in 1764; a novel which incorporates many of the characteristics associated with Gothic Horror even today. A gothic novel became known as a ‘romance of terror’ in this period, and maybe this obsolescent definition sheds light on how the ‘Romanticism’ period, which followed directly from Gothic Horror, came to be. Although short lived in the Literature circle, Gothic Horror is an important era as it was very influential and many filmmakers and authors today still try to re-create the ‘terror’ they introduced.

Throughout this assignment, I will refer to Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, Mary Cholmondeley’s ‘Let Loose’, W.W.Jacobs’ ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ and Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’.        

One characteristic that I found relevant to all Gothic Horror texts that I studied was isolated locations. All of the texts I studied were set in locations that were desolate, in one form or another. Both ‘Dracula’ and ‘Let Loose’ were set in towns that were cut off from normal society. I found that in all of the texts, this information was only given in passing, by unaware characters:

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        “I only had a vague idea as to where Wet Waste-on-the-Wolds was.”

This quote from ‘Let Loose’ highlights the unfamiliarity of the town and its unknown status. This may be considered as ‘frightening’ as the isolated location emphasises the vulnerability of characters and the potential dangers if a misfortune occurred in unfamiliar territory. In Dracula, the location is described as “one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe.” This again follows the Gothic Horror pattern of setting a scene of danger and mystery.

        The isolated locations are not only effective in setting the scene for a terrifying ...

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