AP+6.Classic+Gothic+Writing+Genre

Classical Gothic Writing Style

Historical Dylan Mercier



Gothic writing started out as a Romantic novel movement back in England. These books specialize in invoking feelings of horror and gloom. Gothic novels take normal things and turn them into darker more decayed versions of themselves. Classic Gothic Writing has many recurring motifs that create the base for what the ideas of Gothic are based upon. The protagonists are usually out isolated, the villain is usually someone who has committed great evil or they themselves had a falling out. One of the most common motifs in gothic writing is the idea of the wanderer who is the pure idea of isolation. (Domenic) However supernatural and fictitious the classic gothic writing genre might be it still covers realistic fears and topics that most people worry about, issues like rape, murder, sin, and ideas that most people see as scary and dark (Harris).

The gothic movement reflected the concerns of a changing time of uncertainty and fear. This gothic movement would begin to change the world of the time, in architecture, art, and writing. The classic gothic writing would start a movement that would change writing for the time. The Gothic movement would persist for years. One of the most famous and well known books in gothic literature was The Castle Ontanto (Domenic), this book is considered by some to be the founder of the gothic style and was one of the first major works of literature to use this style.

Work Cited Harris, Robert. "Elements of the Gothic Novel." //VirtualSalt//. 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 08 Nov. 2011.

De Vore, David, Anne Domenic, Alexandra Kwan, and Nicole Reidy. "The Gothic Novel." //Redirect to Teaching Writing with Computers//. Web. 08 Nov. 2011.

Audience (Sirtaj)



When it comes to Gothic writing, there is a sense of the real world that appeals to people that wish to read about reality through a different lens. According to Domenic and her colleagues, “… the Gothic Novel deals with the sublime and the supernatural, the underlying theme of the fallen hero applies to the real world as well… Furthermore, the prevalent fears of murder, rape, sin, and the unknown are fears that we face in life” (Domenic). Although the novels contain “sublime and supernatural” themes, the work can still “apply to the real world”. The readers can imagine themselves in a similar situation, however it would not be as problematic as the ones displayed in the novels. This may appeal to a wide range of audience that fears “murder, rape, and sin”. They can transcend those fears through the books, imagining themselves in the same situation as the protagonist in the story. Such a wide audience must also wish to see the horror in these stories, as many of them have frightening plots that would not appeal to some individuals. However, there is also a certain group of people that these novels appeared through: women. Women have been a common theme in many of the gothic novels of the twentieth century. Dr. Melani explains, “A commercially successful, mass Gothic novel, often called Modern Gothic or Gothic Romance, is particularly written for women by women… [the novels] reassure them of … the power of heterosexual romance and love, to allay their doubts about what it takes to be a desirable, beloved woman, and … [proved] their husbands are not dangerous.” (Melani). As professor Melani states, many gothic novels were written “for women”. This was done because the women enjoyed seeing the “power of love” and showed that their husbands, however evil they may seem, “are not dangerous”. Such a wide audience was actually easy to appeal to by simply making the heroine a winner in the story. She would win the man of her dreams by the end of the story and lived happily ever after with him. The women of the time enjoyed this sense of security and the thought that their lives would be just as amazing. There was no need to worry anymore about tomorrow when the book clearly showed that the next day would be a brighter, sunnier day. This fantasy was easy to digest for those women for those reasons, making them a large part of the audience of these books.

Works Cited Domenic, Anne, et al. “The Gothic Novel.” //cai.ucdavis.edu.// Web. 7 Nov. 2011. Melani, L. “Gothic Fiction in the Twentieth Century.” Gothic Experience. 26 Aug. 2011. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.

Classic Gothic Writing Style: Aim Michael Lagier



Classic Gothic Writing Style was a very popular type of writing when it originated. Authors used this style of writing for many different purposes, but all of them were trying to put their views of their culture into writings that people would read. Some authors would write about how they saw their society as crumbling and dead, shown through “The decaying, ruined scenery implies that at one time there was a thriving world. At one time the abbey, castle, or landscape was something treasured and appreciated. Now, all that lasts is the decaying shell of a once thriving dwelling” (Dominic). Many Classic Gothic writers thought that their society was “the decaying shell” of what it once was. Authors used the scenery to make the readers feel depressed at the world created in the story, however, the stories often reflected the culture in which the author lived. Another reason the authors wrote Classic Gothic works were because they thought their society was oppressive in some way, shown because "Many of the most famous gothic novelists (Radcliffe, Reeves, Lee, Dacre--and let's not forget Mary Shelley) were women, and many serious male critics were outraged by what they took as the shrill feminization of fiction" (Thomson). Many female writers of the time were trying to increase the role of people of their gender in the society that they lived in. Through their writing, they made women more important, which caused unrest among the people who wanted the social norm to stay the same. Many people were “outraged” at what some of the female writers put into their books because of the “feminization” that was prevalent throughout the writing. The aim of Classical Gothic writings were many, but all of them were directed at making people think about and question the status quo.

Works Cited Dominic, Anne. Kwan, Alexandra. Reidy, Nicole. Vore, David De. “The Gothic Novel.” Cai.ucdavis.edu. Web. 7 November 2011. Thomson, D.H. “Seminar in 19th-Century British Literature: Gothic Literature.” Personal.georgiasouthern.edu. Web. 7 November 2011

Classic Gothic Writing Style: Cultural Impact Denison Spencer



The classic Gothic writing style had much impact on culture as a reaction to the more common writing elements of the time. Specifically, while it held similar elements, this writing style allowed for freer writing than typical Romantic literature. Gothic writing also drew influence from horror writing of the Middle Ages. An especially influential novel is //The Gothic Novel 1790-1830 Plot Summaries and Index to Motifs// by Ann Tracy. This novel establishes Gothic ideas concerning elements of the story, such as use of a tragic hero for the protagonist, and the “atmosphere of horror and dread […] implying that at one time there was a thriving world,” (De Vore et al). Ultimately, the Gothic writing style sought to reflect different areas of human fear. The blending of these darker themes with the themes of the Romantic genre allowed for different interpretation and emphasis of the genre’s elements.

As it brought a change in the elements of literature, this style of writing influenced later authors and genres, such as Southern Gothic writing. Authors who helped define the genre such as Ann Radcliffe (//The Mysteries of Udolpho)// and Mary Shelley (//Frankenstein)// influenced literature enough for there to be a sort of revival of these themes, from the Victorian period onward. Among these authors are Edgar Allen Poe, who is renowned for depicting what he stated to be the “terrors of the soul.” Poe’s works perfectly reflected the elements of original Gothic works, but were unique in that they focused on the psychological decline of the character. Other notable authors who wrote based on these elements are Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Robert Bloch (Bajraktari). The influence of the Gothic writing style can still be seen today through more modern authors such as Steven King and Anne Rice, as well as metal music horror films.

Works Cited

Bajraktari, Ilda. “The Gothic Novel.” //users.wpi.edu//. Web. 8 Nov 2011.

De Vore, David, Anne Domenic, Alexandra Kwan, Nicole Reidy. “The Gothic Novel.” //cai.ucdavis.edu//. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.