What is a Gothic novel? Modern Gothic novels

The concept of "Gothic" in literature defines a genre that combines horror, romance, fantasy and adventure. The pioneer of the genre was the English writer Horace Walpole and his novel Otranto Castle.

Origin of the term

Today the term "gothic" is associated with many different trends in art, history and culture. It directly relates to architecture, literature, painting and music. However, the original meaning of the term occurs, of course, from the name of the German people - the Goths.

The Goths were one of many related but very militant Germanic tribes. They almost always were at war with their neighbors and united with them only to fight against the Romans. The height of their glory was the V century, when the tribes of the Western and Eastern ready conquered Rome and conquered much of Spain. After this, the history of the tribe was absorbed by the history of the countries conquered by them.

Many centuries passed before the term "gothic" began to designate anything else. During the Renaissance, when the classical culture got its second birth, the "architectural style of the Middle Ages" was called "Gothic". A few centuries later, a certain type of novels began to be called, most likely because the authors preferred the ancient buildings of the Gothic style with a mysterious history as a place of action.

History of the Gothic novel

Gothic novel appeared on the early wave of romanticism in the middle of the XVIII century and acquired extraordinary popularity in the XIX century. He was born in England as a reaction to the strict formal style of the novels of the time.

However, we should not take the Gothic novel as a child of Romanticism. Its roots go far deeper into history, affecting medieval horror stories, folk tales, beliefs and hints. These same old sources of inspiration also use modern Gothic novels, for example, this trend is clearly evident in the work of Stephen King or Anne Rice.

The first Gothic novel was the work of Horace Walpole, The Otranto Castle, first published in 1764. The author himself said that he was interested in both modern and medieval novels, but in both genres Walpole found flaws, which he tried to get rid of in the Otranto Castle. According to him, the traditional medieval novel is too bizarre, and modern - too realistic. However, critics took the novelty into bayonets, explaining that such a mixture of fiction, history and fictitious documents goes against acceptable literary principles.

Despite professional criticism, the Gothic novel in English literature acquired extraordinary popularity, which then influenced the appearance of such a genre in German (Schauerroman) and French literature (Georgia and Roman Noir).

The Gothic novel in Russia was called fantastic, and among the writers who enriched this genre included Pushkin (The Queen of Spades), Lermontov ("The Hero of Our Time") and Gogol ("Viy", "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka").

Elements of the Gothic novel

The main features of the Gothic novel at the time of its formation were emphasized by the boundaries of romanticism permitted in literature. Despite the desire of this cultural trend to stir feelings and excite emotions, romantic literature of the mid-eighteenth century was too strict from the point of view of the present.

The authors of the Gothic novels sought to shake the established structure of the literature of that time, paying attention to darker and more unexplored topics that could not be solved using acceptable and permissible methods. Fear, violence, mystery - all these are elements that require additional literary means. Gothic novel in English literature forced the reader to go beyond the boundaries of the known and explainable, he was built more on the mood, perception, on unconscious, but strong emotional impulses and hidden interests.

According to many critics, the Gothic novel was a description of the fallen world, and this world was shown to the reader with the help of the basic elements of the traditional novel, which, however, differ greatly in characteristics.

Scene

Almost all the novels in the Gothic style rely on the scene to ensure the emotional coloring of the work. Therefore, descriptions of places, landscapes, weather and other elements of the environment play a very important role in this genre.

The typical scene of the Gothic novel not only provokes a sense of fear and horror, but also describes the withering of the world as a whole. Old buildings, ruins, abandoned places say that once life here was a key, and now all that is left is only a shadow of the past, concealing its history and storing forgotten secrets.

main characters

Heroes of Gothic novels form a kind of archetype, and there is a pattern of their characteristics that is suitable for most works.

The protagonist is usually lonely, he is often in exile or imprisonment - on his own or against her. The anti-hero is the embodiment of evil - a state that he achieved through his own fault, as a result of a series of actions and decisions, or through the fault of others. The protagonist of the works of this genre is often a wanderer wandering around the Earth, being in eternal exile, which can be a kind of divine punishment.

Plot

Often the plot of the Gothic novel reflects the withering of the world. The protagonist, tired of loneliness / imprisonment / exile, encounters evil, often in the form of temptation or deception. Temptation prompts the hero to go against himself, commit a sin and end his fall. For example, in the novel "Ambrosio, or Monk" by MG Lewis, the protagonist is an exemplary monk of the Spanish order, tempted by Matilda, who in fact is a demon sent for the monk's soul.

Main Topics

Despite the fact that the main themes of the Gothic genre are the supernatural and unattainable, among them the main theme of all romanticism is clearly traced - the problem of the "superfluous man", a kind of Byronic hero, eaten by contradictions.

One has only to look beyond the veil of horror and the supernatural, as the hero becomes an understandable person, who, like everyone else, has fear and doubt. It's just Gothic literature that is peculiar to greatly exaggerate all those fears that a person meets daily.

Criticism of Gothic literature

During the time of his existence the Gothic novel was subjected to various criticisms. Literary figures often associated elements of the Gothic novel with the hidden feelings and desires of man. The new century and the development of psychoanalysis served as an excuse for drawing parallels between the Gothic elements and the human subconscious.

According to Davis Morris, this genre - the Gothic novel - provides an outlet for those emotions, desires and fears that a person usually seek to control, hide and ignore. The struggle of the protagonist with a supernatural evil is a metaphor for a very real struggle, which a man leads with disagreeable and secret thoughts.

Women's Gothic Literature

English Gothic romance with its castles, dungeons, dark forests and secret paths, served the birth of a unique phenomenon for English literature of the time. Women's Gothic literature, pioneered by Anne Radcliffe, Mary Shelley and Charlotte Bronte, allowed women writers to express their professional and social ambitions for the first time, as well as their sexual desires. The free style of the Gothic novel allowed women to raise issues such as sex hierarchy, patriarchal values and sexual repression of women in conservative English society.

It was women's novels that introduced such a literary device as "an explanation of the supernatural." This clever trick allowed the ladies to write novels similar in appearance, mood and often content to the Gothic, but they, however, described a very real life.

Gothic influence on romantic poets

The best Gothic novels had a tangible influence on English romantic poets. The famous works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - "The Tale of the Old Mariner" and "Christabel", as well as the mystical works of John Keats "The Eve of Saint Agnes" and "Isabella", have similar Gothic elements. The features of the Gothic novel, such as visions, ghosts, storms and horrific descriptions of gloomy landscapes, are borrowed by poets from the works of Anne Radcliffe.

The first published work of Percy Bysshe Shelley was the Gothic novel Zastrotsi about an exile obsessed with revenge to his father and stepbrother. A year later, the second novel "Saint Irvine" was published, the main character of which was an alchemist who wanted to reveal the secret of eternal life. Both works represented a rather rough and shallow version of the Gothic novel, but they influenced not only Shelley's career, but also his future wife, who became the author of "Frankenstein".

Not the least role in the development of the Gothic genre was played by the famous Lord Byron. His abandoned lover described the poet as a "crazy, evil and dangerous" person, which became the main features of Childe Harold's alter-ego, the prototype of the Byronic hero.

In addition, Byron often arranged competitions for the best mystical history among a circle of his friends-writers, including himself, the spouses Shelley and John Polidori. According to critics, it was these meetings that led to the creation of Frankenstein and Polidori's Vampire story.

The Victorian era and the rethinking of the Gothic genre

By the time of the reign of Queen Victoria, the popularity of the Gothic novel had been greatly reduced, in part because of negative criticism, in part because of the popularity of the historical novels of Walter Scott. However, Victorian literature was waiting for a rethinking of the Gothic genre.

The most important innovator in Gothic literature is considered to be Edgar Alan Poe. The writer paid as much attention to the psychology of his characters as to the traditional elements of the genre. Being an excellent literary critic, Poe perfectly understood both the advantages and disadvantages of Gothic, so he focused on the mental state of his characters. In his opinion, horror was a literary subject worthy of study.

Changes have occurred in the female Gothic novel. "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte has all the necessary elements: a dark place of action, ghosts and a Byronic hero in the person of Heathcliff. However, the main character of the novel is not only imprisoned, but feels the whole injustice of patriarchal society and sexual discrimination. The main characters of the Bronte sisters brought a social background to the female gothic novel.

The genre strongly influenced also on such characteristic for an epoch of writers, as Charles Dickens. He stood at the foundations of the verve of Gothic literature called "urban Gothic novel." On the pages of his works, the streets of London become that gothic depressing place of action, which casts horror and a desire to escape. Such works as "Oliver Twist", "Great Hopes" and "Cold House" moved the action of the Gothic novel to city avenues and alleys.

In the footsteps of Dickens went and writers of the late nineteenth century. The end of the Victorian era marked a new wave of popularity for the urban Gothic novel, which was reborn as a result of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson (The Strange History of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Henry James (The Turn of the Screw) and Oscar Wilde (Portrait of Dorian Gray).

The most famous antagonist of the Gothic genre - Count Dracula - appeared on the pages of the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. Stocker drew the attention of mystic writers to Transylvania and Eastern Europe as a whole, making the region a favorite place for Gothic novels.

Modern Gothic novels

Many modern science fiction writers and representatives of many other genres use gothic elements in their works. Gothic horror novels, exemplified by the works of Anne Rice, skillfully combine the traditions of the eighteenth century with the freedom of literary expression characteristic of contemporary literature. Gothic, to some extent, are some of Stephen King's novels and the work of Daphne du Maurier. A certain gothic charm is enjoyed by numerous rethinking of the stories about vampires. Also to the Gothic genre can be listed some works of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and even Dan Brown.