Features of Gothic Literature
The origins and conventions of Gothic literature, such as castles, extreme emotions and the supernatural. Other features include confinement, doubling, the hero-villain, metonymy, poor weather, unnatural desires, violence, wild nature and women in distress. The origins and social context of the Gothic are also examined. Examples from well-known Gothic novels are included to illustrate the features discussed.
SOURCE: LitCrit (2016), posted on YouTube, [11:34 mins], URL: https://youtu.be/fUNuFLHvVng
Instructions: Select the image above, then use the Up/Down arrow keys to move through slideshow.
| Ancient Prophecy: The foretelling or prediction of what is to come. The prophecy is usually partial, obscure or confusing, like a ghost. | Atmosphere: A feeling of mystery or suspense. The story is pervaded by a threatening feeling, a fear enhanced by the unknown. | Setting: The story is often set around a castle or old mansion. The building may be dark and mysterious, featured ruined sections and quirky features, like secret passages or rooms, trap doors, trick panels with hidden levers and ark or hidden staircases. |
| Omens, Portents or Visions: A character may have a disturbing dream vision, or some phenomenon may seem a portent (sign or warning) of coming events. The result could be good or bad. | Supernatural: attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. Dramatic, amazing events occur, such as ghosts or giants walking, or inanimate objects (such as a suit of armor or painting) coming to life. | High emotion: The narration may be highly sentimental, and the characters are often overcome by anger, sorrow, surprise, fear, and especially, terror. |
| Women threatened by a powerful tyrannical male: One or more male characters has the power, as king, lord of the manor, father, or guardian, to demand that one or more of the female characters do something intolerable. | The metonymy of gloom and horror: Metonymy is a subtype of metaphor, in which something (like rain) is used to stand for something else (like sorrow). | Women in distress: As an appeal to the pathos and sympathy of the reader, the female characters often face events that leave them fainting, terrified, screaming, and/or sobbing. |
An ancient curse or prophecy is connected with the castle or its inhabitants. The prophecy is usually obscure, partial, or confusing. Ancient, undecipherable messages or maps, showing the location of amazing treasure, are another variation of the ancient curse element.
In modern novels and filmmaking, the inexplicable events are often murders. The bodies are sometimes mutilated in ways that defy explanation - "What kind of monster could do this?" When the corpses start to mount, suspense is raised as to who will get killed next.
A character may have a disturbing dream vision, or some phenomenon may suggest coming events. Crying, screaming and emotional speeches are frequent. Breathlessness and panic are common.
Threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male. One or more male characters has the power, as king, lord of the manor, father, or guardian, to dictate the actions of the characters. The woman may be commanded to marry someone she does not love, or commit a crime.
Most stories contain an element that is originally unexplained but usually requires some type of gadget or mechanism to operate. This is particularly the case in Steampunk Gothic stories where the machines are an essential inclusion in the plot.
A common motif of early stories was the use of diaries or letters to explain unusual events. The narrator is not always in possession of all the facts and can therefore lead the reader astray.
Gothic stories often have a grim or ghastly atmosphere which emphasises the details and symbols of death.
The story evokes a threatening feeling, enhanced by the fear of the unknown. Often the plot is built around a mystery, such as unknown parentage, a disappearance, or some other inexplicable event. People disappear or show up dead, inexplicably.
Communicating with the dead is a common device for introducing information that only the deceased character may know. It is also sometimes used to deflect the readers attention.
Suspense can be created by setting the story on a deserted island or isolated location, with the characters arriving by accident or a mysterious invitation. Their way back to civilization has been cut off. They or their host may have a motive for revenge.
Events often occur at night when darkness, unusual sounds (creaking boards, animal noises etc) and strange behaviours can unnerve the characters.
Superstitions are an attempt to explain unusual occurrences and a way to react to them or as protection against them.
Dramatic, amazing events occur, such as ghosts or giants walking, or inanimate objects (e.g. a suit of armour or painting) coming to life. In some works, the events are ultimately given a natural explanation, while in others the events are truly supernatural.
Some stories involve an element of transformation where humans become vampires, werewolves or other monsters under certain conditions, often beyond their control. Everything is not always what it seems to be.
The action takes place at a castle, a large mansion, or the ruins of an old building. The castle often contains secret passages, trap doors, secret rooms, trick panels with hidden levers, dark or hidden staircases, and possibly ruined sections.
The setting may be a cemetery or caves, which bring their own mystery, darkness, claustrophobia and echoes of unusual sounds. And in horror-Gothic, caves are often home to terrifying creatures such as monsters, or deviant forms of humans: vampires, zombies, wolf-men.
The goal of the dark and mysterious setting is to create a sense of unease and foreboding, contributing toward the atmospheric element of fear and dread. These settings also enable those sudden and frightening appearances of people, animals, ghosts or monsters.
For example:
1. Powerful love. Heart stirring, often sudden, emotions create a life or death commitment. Many times this love is the first the character has felt with this overwhelming power.
2. Uncertainty of reciprocation. What is the beloved thinking? Is the lover's love returned or not?
3. Unreturned love. Someone loves in vain (at least temporarily). Later, the love may be returned.
4. Tension between true love and father's control, disapproval, or choice. Most often, the father of the woman disapproves of the man she loves.
5. Lovers parted. Some obstacle arises and separates the lovers, geographically or in some other way. One of the lovers is banished, arrested, forced to flee, locked in a dungeon, or sometimes, disappears without explanation. Or, an explanation may be given (by the person opposing the lovers' being together) that later turns out to be false.
6. Illicit love or lust threatens the virtuous one. The young woman becomes a target of some evil man's desires and schemes.
7. Rival lovers or multiple suitors. One of the lovers (or even both) can have more than one person vying for affection.
1. The metonymy of gloom and horror. Metonymy is a subtype of metaphor, in which something (like rain) is used to stand for something else (like sorrow). For example, the film industry likes to use metonymy as a quick shorthand, so we often notice that it is raining in funeral scenes. (This explains why they never oil the hinges on the doors in Gothic novels.) Note that the following metonymies for "doom and gloom" all suggest some element of mystery, danger, or the supernatural.
| wind, especially howling | rain, especially blowing |
| doors grating on rusty hinges | sighs, moans, howls, eerie sounds |
| footsteps approaching | clanking chains |
| lights in abandoned rooms | gusts of wind blowing out lights |
| characters trapped in a room | doors suddenly slamming shut |
| ruins of buildings | baying of distant dogs (or wolves?) |
| thunder and lightning | crazed laughter |
2. The vocabulary of the Gothic. The constant use of the appropriate vocabulary set creates an sustains the atmosphere of the Gothic. Using the right words maintains the dark-and-stimulated feel that defines the Gothic. Here as an example are some of the words (in several categories) that help make up the vocabulary of the Gothic in The Castle of Otranto:
| Mystery | diabolical, enchantment, ghost, goblins, haunted, infernal, magic, magician, miracle, necromancer, omens, ominous, portent, preternatural, prodigy, prophecy, secret, sorcerer, spectre, spirits, strangeness, talisman, vision |
| Fear, Terror, or Sorrow | afflicted, affliction, agony, anguish, apprehensions, apprehensive, commiseration, concern, despair, dismal, dismay, dread, dreaded, dreading, fearing, frantic, fright, frightened, grief, hopeless, horrid, horror, lamentable, melancholy, miserable, mournfully, panic, sadly, scared, shrieks, sorrow, sympathy, tears, terrible, terrified, terror, unhappy, wretched |
| Surprise | alarm, amazement, astonished, astonishment, shocking, staring, surprise, surprised, thunderstruck, wonder |
| Haste | anxious, breathless, flight, frantic, hastened, hastily, impatience, impatient, impatiently, impetuosity, precipitately, running, sudden, suddenly |
| Anger | anger, angrily, choler, enraged, furious, fury, incense, incensed, provoked, rage, raving, resentment, temper, wrath, wrathful, wrathfully |
| Largeness | enormous, gigantic, giant, large, tremendous, vast |
| Darkness | dark, darkness, dismal, shaded, black, night |
3. Hyperbolic Phrases. In the advertising business, it is sometimes said, "The lie is in the adjective." Adjectives control how we think of the nouns they modify: "mild curiosity" presents an attitude of relaxed interest, whereas "insatible curiosity" presents the attitude of a hungry mind. In the Gothic, adjectives are used to amplify nouns in order to (1) create phrases that increase the feeling of dread, horror, anxiety, or suspense, or (2) produce a substantially increased emphasis or sense of importance. Here are some examples from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein:
| Increased Dread | Increased Emphasis |
| deep grief | intense distaste |
| gigantic creature | inestimable benefit |
| bitterly feel | ardent curiosity |
| strange sight | unparalleled eloquence |
| dark gloom | astonishing degree |
| unparalleled misfortunes | burning ardor |
| intoxicating draught | strongly excited |
4. The Onomatopoeia of the Gothic. Onomatopoeic words resemble the sound they name. For example, "buzz" when spoken supposedly resembles the sound of a buzzer. Many onomatopoeias are not very close in actual sound, but they convey the meaning to the reader. Here are some onomatopoeias frequent in Gothic works, allowing appropriate fearful sound effects to arise from the printed word.
| creak | moan |
| squeak | sigh |
| groan | clank |
| slam | grind |
| whisper | whoosh |
| bam | bang |
| shriek | knock |
| howl | scream |
| blam | crash |
| growl | snarl |
| bark | hiss |
The 1943 Sherlock Holmes film, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (one of the classic Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce films), contains all the elements of the Gothic. Here is a brief rundown of the items above:
1. Setting. It's not quite a castle, but it is a huge mansion with several levels, including a basement and a hidden sub-basement. Dark and drafty. Ominous.
2. Atmosphere of Mystery. It's a multiple murder mystery, with cryptic notes, hidden passageways, wind, lightning, and everyone a suspect.
3. Ancient Prophecy. There is the Musgrave Ritual. Obscure, compelling, ancient.
4. Omens and portents. The crow at the tavern, the intrusive lightning strike, the taunting notes from the butler.
5. Supernatural or inexplicable events. How the victims died. The lightning seems to strike at just the right time.
6. Overwrought emotion. The female lead screams and panics a bit.
7. Women in distress and 8. Women threatened by a male. Toned down here, but the murderer had designs on the heroine.
9. The wind blows, signs bang into the wall, lightning, a few characters are trapped in various ways.
SOURCE: Harris, R. (2019, April 22). Elements of the Gothic Novel. Retrieved from https://www.virtualsalt.com/mla.htm
Elements of Gothic Activity: Using a large piece of paper and the information available on this page, create your own concept map of the different elements that can be found in Gothic stories.
You may use coloured pencils, pens or markers, and illustrations or text, to enhance your understanding.
WASLA Teacher Librarian of the Year- 2017: Jo-Anne Urquhart
- 2016: Lise Legg