The Romantic movement: the Gothic novel

Follow-up for the Romantic period lessons. The Gothic novel:

I. Introduction

"Gothic" has come to mean quite a number of things by this day and age. It could mean a particular style of art, be it in the form of novels, paintings, or architecture; it could mean "medieval" or "uncouth." It could even refer to a certain type of music and its fans (do you remember Tom, Sid, the Goth and the Ghost?). What it originally meant, of course, is "of, relating to, or resembling the Goths, their civilization, or their language" ("gothic").

A. Brief history of the Goths

The Goths, one of the many Germanic tribes, fought numerous battles with the Roman Empire for centuries. According to their own myths, the Goths originated in what is now southern Sweden. They separated into two groups, the Visigoths (the West Goths) and Ostrogoths (the East Goths), so named because of where they eventually settled. They reached the height of their power around 5th century A.D., when they sacked Rome and captured Spain.

B. Connection to the Gothic Novel

Centuries passed before the word "gothic" meant anything else again. During the Renaissance, Europeans rediscovered Greco-Roman culture and began to regard a particular type of architecture, mainly those built during the Middle Ages, as "gothic" - not because of any connection to the Goths, but because the “Renaissance man” considered these buildings barbaric. Centuries more passed before "gothic" came to describe a certain type of novels, so named because all these novels seem to take place in Gothic-styled architecture - mainly castles, mansions, and, of course, abbeys. The gothic novel was invented almost single-handedly by Horace Walpole, whose The Castle of Otranto (1764) contains essentially all the elements that constitute the genre. Walpole's novel was imitated not only in the eighteenth century and not only in the novel form, but it has influenced the novel, the short story, poetry, and even film making up to the present day.

II. Elements of the Gothic Novel

The Gothic novel took shape mostly in England from 1760 to 1830 and falls within the category of Romantic literature. It acts, however, as a reaction against the rigidity and formality of other forms of Romantic literature.

The Gothic novel could be seen as a description of a fallen world. We experience this fallen world though all aspects of the novel: plot, setting, characterization, and theme.

The setting is greatly influential in Gothic novels. It not only evokes the atmosphere of horror and dread, but also portrays the deterioration of its world. 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 ruin of a once thriving building.

The Gothic hero becomes a sort of archetype as we find that there is a pattern to their characterization. There is always the protagonist, usually isolated either voluntarily or involuntarily. Then there is the villain, who is the epitome of evil, either by his (usually a man) own fall from grace, or by some implicit malevolence. A lonely, pensive, and oppressed heroine, usually in distress, is often a central figure of the novel. The women suffer all the more because they are often abandoned, left alone (either on purpose or by accident), and have no protector at times.

The plot itself mirrors the ruined world in its dealings with a protagonist's fall from grace as she falls into temptation from a villain. In the end, the protagonist must be saved through a reunion with a loved one. 

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. 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, baying of distant dogs (or wolves), thunder and lightning…

In addition to the standard gothic machinery above, many gothic novels contain elements of romance as well. They include obviously powerful love; tension between true love and father's control, disapproval, or choice; lovers parted (some obstacle arises and separates the lovers, geographically or in some other way); illicit love or lust that threatens the virtuous one (the young woman becomes a target of some evil man's desires and schemes), etc.

Have a look at the trailer of a film based on another famous Gothic novel, The Monk (1795), by C.S. Lewis, set, by the way, in Madrid... 

(Adapted from several internet sources)