Gothic Literature

Learning Objectives:
To gain an introduction to the
key aspects of Gothic
Literature (focus: Wuthering
Heights)
 a castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not,
 ruined buildings which are sinister or which arouse a pleasing
melancholy,
 dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in
modern houses, become spooky basements or attics,
 labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs,
 shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or
the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or an electric
failure),
 extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy
wastes, and extreme weather,
 omens and ancestral curses,
 magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the
supernatural,
 a passion-driven, wilful villain-hero or villain,
 a curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued–
frequently,
 a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel,
 horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings,
 a fascination for the past,
 psychological insights, especially into sexuality,
 fear, horror, terror, the macabre, the sinister,
 focus on emotional, rather than rational,
Key Facts
Elements of horror and romance
1764 English novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story” by
Horace Walpole. His declared aim was to combine elements of the
medieval romance, which he deemed too fanciful, and the modern novel,
which he considered to be too confined to strict realism. The basic plot
created many other Gothic staples, including a threatening mystery and
an ancestral curse, as well as countless trappings such as hidden passages
and oft-fainting heroines
The name Gothic refers to the medieval buildings in which many of these
stories take place
Key works Mary Shelley Frankenstein (18thC) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula
(19th C) Wuthering Heights (19 th c)
Goths originated in Scandinavia moved to Eastern Europe, pivotal in
collapse of Roman Empire – start of the 3 rd and 4th centuries. Medieval
period.
 Ruin, decay, terror and chaos
 Privileged irrationality and passion, over rationality
and reason
 The dark side of human nature and the chaos of
irrationality
 Synonymous with the Middle Ages: chaotic,
unenlightened and superstitious
 1750-1850 – A time of revolution and reason,
madness and sanity… the stuff of dreams and
nightmares

Key elements of the Gothic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EceNo1LJj4
Out On the wiley, windy moors
We'd roll and fall in green
You had a temper, like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
How could you leave me
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you too
Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy, I've come home
I'm so cold, let me in in-a-your-window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy, I've come home
I'm so cold, let me in in-a-your-window
Oh it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine a lot, I find the lot
Falls through without you
I'm coming back love, cruel Heathcliff
My one dream, my only master
Too long I roam in the night
I'm coming back to his side to put it right
I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy, I've come home
I'm so cold, let me in in-a-your-window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy, I've come home
I'm so cold, let me in in-a-your-window
Ooh let me have it, let me grab your soul away
Ooh let me have it, let me grab your soul away
You know it's me, Cathy
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy come home
I'm so cold, let me in in-a-your-window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy come home
I'm so cold, let me in in-a-your-window
Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy come home
I'm so cold
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFnwc29NY
Eg
Gothic elements in the
opening of the novel