19th Century American Gothic

- A sub-genre of Gothic fiction

Key Historical Context (AO3):

 The British settled in America in the early 17th century.
 American Independence (1776)
 Native American Wars occurred from the early 17th century all the way up to the 20th century.

Key Religious Context (AO3) – Puritanism

 In modern usage, the word "puritan" is often used to describe someone
who adheres to strict, joyless moral or religious principles.
 The Puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th
centuries who sought to "purify" the Church of England from its
"Catholic" practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only
partially reformed. They wanted to cleanse the culture of what they
regarded as corrupt, sinful practices.

Some Puritans Beliefs

 The government should strictly enforce public morality by prohibiting vices like drunkenness,
gambling, ostentatious dress, swearing, and Sabbath-breaking.
 Churches should be purged of every vestige of Roman Catholic ritual and practice
 Puritans believed in the active existence of demonic forces, as did almost all Christians of this
period. Puritan pastors undertook exorcisms for demonic possession in some high-profile
cases, and believed in some allegations of witchcraft.
 Original Sin and Predestination:
- Human beings are innately sinful—utterly depraved by inheriting the original sin of Adam
and Eve, the biblical parents of the human race.
- However, God, in his infinite mercy, will spare a small number of “elect” individuals from
the fate of eternal hellfire that all mankind, owing to their corrupt natures, justly
deserves.

Some arguably negative consequences of Puritanism:

 Anti-pleasure attitudes resulted from literal belief in the Bible. Puritans and other Christians
often viewed laughter, happiness, and pleasure as suspect and undesirable.
 Prohibition of dancing, drinking, gambling, card playing, ribaldry, fashionable clothes, and other
amusements. Theaters were closed and attempts were made to drive taverns from the city.
 When the Puritans temporarily gained control in England, they banned entertainments, closed
theaters, opposed festivals, and prescribed the death penalty for sex outside of marriage.
 Puritan rulers were violent: religious nonconformers were hanged, decapitated, or burned at
the stake.
 Puritans were responsible for the Salem witch trials. Those proceedings led to 20 people being
executed and 150 imprisoned after confessing, under torture, to such acts as flying through the
air to attend witch gatherings, partaking of witch sacraments, signing a book presented by the
devil, and receiving Satanic baptism.

Key features of 19th century American Gothic Key authors

 Features of regular 19th century Gothic, plus  Edgar Allan Poe
potentially, a particular focus on…  Natathiel Hawthorne
 The rational vs. the irrational  Charles Brockden Brown
 Madness  Charlotte Perkins Gilman
 Puritanism/guilt/religious imagery (AO3 – Puritanism)  Washington Irving
 The uncanny
 Abhumans (link to AO3 – Darwinism)
 Ghosts
 Monsters
 The domestic sphere (family and secrets)
 Fear of the unknown stemming from environmental
factors/unexplored regions; frontier and wilderness
anxiety (AO3 – settler’s fear of unexplored territory).