Characteristics of Gothic Literature Essay

The mediaeval In 1798 an anonymous author create a commentary that revealed incisively how somewhat writers received the gothic during this magazine TakeAn old castle, half of it ruinous A coarse g exclusivelyery, with a great galore(postnominal) doors, some secret ones. Three despatched bodies, kind of fresh. As some(prenominal) skeletons, in chests and presses. An old woman hanging by the neck with her throat cut. Assassins and desperadoes, quant. suff. Noises, whispers, and groans, threescore at least. (1-7) After reading many of the selections in the anthology, I found this poem on a Gothics recipe to be quite true (602).However, in the wooing of this anonymous writer, he argues all of these characteristics to be negative. I, on the some other hand, musical none it very intriguing that this type of sweet developed in a time ruled by writers whose main focus was politics and poetry. umteen influential writers including Coleridge and Wordsworth pingd the char acteristics, morality, purpose, and significance of these novels however, I believe many of the features they dis wantd very broadened the scope of lit. The Gothic novel was a lot attacked for organism likewise formulaic.Although the specifics of the mend changed from novel to novel, the characteristics were often similar, which is something that is pointed out repeatedly by the Gothics critics. The similarities merginged in the characteristics of these novels include the setting, mystery, and characters to name a few. The setting of this type of novel is usually in a castle of sorts, or in some other mysterious place that produces suspense and terror at heart the reader. Although these settings were often alike, they exist to convey the atmosphere and be used for ends that ar basically psychological (Hume 286).This characteristic is one that set up the entire touching of the novel, one of suspense, horror, and mystery. The setting of various novels was not uniform becaus e it was the easy or obvious choice like many critics believed, scarcely because it created a veritable atmosphere that was needed for the plot. If the story had been set on a jolly beach, the atmosphere would have been much different and the reader would not pose the selfsame(prenominal) affect. Like the settings, the mysteries that develop within Gothic novels are usually somewhat similar.From what I have come across, many include a murder or deep, dark secret that is unraveled by an ordinary person. enchantment this whitethorn support Wordsworths claim that these novels are sickly and ridiculous German tragedies because of their straight prior plot, I find them to be quite fire (266). These mysteries create suspense, and were the first page-turners that were ever written. Readers no womb-to-tomb had to decipher long and conglomerate meanings from pieces such as the Lucy Gray poems instead, they could sit back, relax, and enjoy these novels that created an endure into a mysterious world.Another piece of the formula that was important to the writing style were the characters that were used finishedout the novels. The characters were often simple people who were thrown into a situation that required extraordinary actions. While the simplicity of the characters was often criticized by writers who considered themselves to be high cultivation, these characters had the ability to involve the reader in surplus circumstances (Hume 286). Unlike the pieces that came before them, the Gothic novel had the capacity to reap the reader in, and put them in the shoes of the main character.For me, it was very overweight to feel for the personas in earlier poems that we came across. I think the main flat coat for this is that the characters tended to be somewhat generic, but elicit. They allowed for anyone to understand the character and immerse themselves within the characters thoughts. They also allowed for people to sink in to a particular character and fe el the terror that they were feeling. Another aspect of the Gothic that was often called into question was the morality of the characters and authors.There are many instances in which these novels incorporated grotesque scenes that included rape and murder among many other things. In The monastic by Matthew Lewis the main character, Ambrosia, is a virtuous and honourable man who seduced by the demon Matilda. In one scene his desires were raised(a) to that frantic height by which brutes are agitated and he hastily proceeded to bourgeon off those garments which impeded the gratification of his lust (598). Ambrosia is obviously an nefarious character, and he is criticized for not being so.To me, it seems like critics were getting to the point where they were severe to find anything and everything to criticize about the Gothic novel. While this genre may involve some unseemly characters, they are needed in revise to create an interesting plot. Having some sort of villain is nece ssary in any type of writing that has a mystery or murder involved. Without villains, we cannot have heroes, and both are very important aspects of literature. Coleridge, for example, not simply attacked The Monk as a novel but also attacked Lewis as a person for having the ability to create such an immoral character.He believed that the merit of a novelist is in proportion to the pleasurable effect which he produces (604). I highly disagree with this statement because I believe fray affects change, and change is needed in order to forward society. Novelists and poets were no longer writing poems that had the sole purpose of making a person feel good or empowered instead, they were writing for entertainment. Also, many of the writers before The Monk comprehended political issues that were not considered pleasurable, but controversial and hard to confront.Coleridges statement seems to contradict everything that literature stands for. Authors and the literature they create are vir ulent at times, and that is not wrongit is merely a necessity for the forward movement of society and evolution of literature. Another important issue to address when it comes to these novels is their specific purpose. It seems that every literary movement in history had some sort of motive or impulsive force behind them. For the Gothic, this driving force or purpose seems to be to induce terror term entertaining.Before this movement, we never really take chancesed works of literature that were straightforward, suspenseful, and enjoyable all at the same time. In an essay by Aikin and Aikin, they claimed that people would instead chuse to suffer the smart pang of a violent emotion than the offensive craving of an unsatisfied desire (584). By this, they mean that terror is pleasurable, and that is exactly what these novels delivered to their readers. It was not an emotion that was regularly produced when readers came into contact with the typical works of this time. For a piece o f literature to induce such error was something novel and interesting that affected many of their readers. Because terror is an emotion that is hard to come by, these novels were, like I said, an escape for readers. Terror is not something that a person wants to encounter in their real life, but is something they can enjoy and acquire through reading these novels. Their purpose was not to confuse the reader with complicated meanings broad(a) of allusions. Instead, these terrifying novels have the ability to render the poorest and most insipid register interesting when once we get fairly into it (584).Although many of the authors of Gothic novels may not have been the best composers compared to standards during this time, they were still able to draw in a huge audience because they gave the people what they wanted. I would not consider the narratives insipid, but compared to the works that came before them, they were much simpler and used language that was not considered to be as a rticulate. This simplicity that is encountered when reading a piece of Gothic work, though criticized, says much about how society was changing during this time.These novels significantly change the way in which literature was composed and whom it was available to. Instead of being read by the elite few, it was accessible to pretty much anyone who could read. During this time, the portion of literate people was rising rapidly, especially in the middle class. These books appealed to these people, and exchange millions upon millions of copies because of this. I think that much of the distaste that so-called high culture writers had for these novels is because of their success.They were passing popular, more than(prenominal) so than the most popular of the poets during this time. For example, Wordsworth was said to be a commercialized version of real poetry because it was easier to understand than many other pieces out during this time. However, he never even came close to sell as many copies of Lyrical Ballads as the Gothic writers did with their own works. For Wordsworth to criticize a genre that feeds off of the readers ability to comprehend seems to be extremely hypocritical of him. Also, I think that when something appeals to the masses, it is a good thing.Change cannot pass on unless everyone is on the same page, and that is what the Gothic provided to the people. Finally, I would like to confront adept how significant this movement is to the literature we have immediately. This was the first time we encounter a genre that is similar to the types of genres we see today. The Gothic genre was criticized because the novels were too alikebut that is exactly what a genre is, according to todays standards. One could argue that the novels that are published today are not of the same caliber as novels published 50, 100, or two hundred years ago.And maybe that is true, but is it necessarily bad? In my opinion, having novels that are more accessible to mor e people makes for a better, more structured society. Having works of literature that are too complicated, wordy, or abstract leads to more ambiguity, and eventually creates a divide among social classes. I am not saying that all written works should be easy to understand, but I do think that the Gothic novel was the first in a wave of works of literature that helped society grow more literate.Finally, scholars and everyday people were able to read and talk about the same kinds of things. Although scholars who thought they were better writers were constantly criticizing it, they could not appeal to the masses. Gothic literature had the ability to do this, and you can still see its influence in novels on shelves today. It has a definite place in literary history, and should not be overlooked. It may not have had the deepest plots or the most complicated characters, but the genre had an impact during the 18th century, and continues to have an impact today.