Overview of the Gothic

When many think of Gothic literature, it is assumed that it is a horror story taking place in an antique space. However, that is not always the case. Although its key characteristics are of mystery, terror, and death, Gothic literature does not exist solely to scare its audience. It is more so an aesthetic that categorizes varying arts, whether that is literature, paintings, or architecture (Hogle, 2002, pp. 1, 16).

In fact, the term ‘Gothic’ originates from the same namesake of medieval architectural style (Editors of Britannica, 2020; Hogle, 2002, p. 16). Evident in European castles and monasteries, these buildings later become notable settings and motifs within Gothic literature (Editors of Britannica, 2020). At the same time, the Gothic novel coincides with the Romantic era, that of which opposed the values and aesthetics of Neoclassic order and rationality (Editors of Britannica, 2020; 2021).

Well-known Gothic literature includes Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” However, many attribute the first Gothic novel to Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto where an introduction by Henry Morley (2021) quotes Walpole who states his inspiration as “‘a very natural dream for a head like [Walpole’s], filled with Gothic story’” (Editors of Britannica, 2020; para. 5). Regardless of however old this literary aesthetic may be, Gothic works are still loved as are its themes and elements that continue to be prevalent in today’s literature.

What Makes Literature “Gothic?”

Defining Gothic as an aesthetic is an important step to understanding the literature associated with it because the genres that afterwards define them are distinctly different. The elements previously mentioned are some—but not all—of the qualities that will lead to literature being called Gothic. It is the implementation and purpose of these elements and the direction of the narrative that defines the genre(s) of that literary work. However, this will be further explained in the subsequent section. To begin, the literary characteristics and elements of Gothic literature must be outlined.

To reiterate, Gothic literature is defined by mystery and fear where there are often themes of death (sometimes macabre), the supernatural, confinement, and isolation (“What is the Gothic?”, 2021). Due to the overlap with Romanticism, Gothic literature places significance on the irrational and emotional where the former manifests itself in the supernatural, fantastic, and uncanny, or “othered beings” (Editors of Britannica, 2021; “Gothic,” n.d.; Hogle, 2002, p. 6). Common examples of this include ghosts, demons, monsters, and even madwomen or men (Hogle, 2002, p. 2; “Gothic,” n.d.). “Otherness” or “othered” beings are not a concept isolated to Gothic literature, but they can be related to the Gothic concept of the “sublime.” Hogle (2002) explains this—with the help of Horace Walpole’s (1996) preface of the original Otranto, and Edmund Burke (1990) as cited in Gothic Documents—as a dichotomy between “constrain[ed] reactions and behaviour” against a “threat of ‘death’ and the dissolution of the self” from the “sublime” or its implication (p. 14–15). By this definition, Gothic literature is indicated as not equal to horror because the purpose is not to frighten the reader.

Many of these stories take place in antique spaces such as castles or large houses; however, the suggestion of space being antique also applies (Hogle, 2002, p. 2). Hogle (2002) notes that “some new recreation of an older venue, such as an office with old filing cabinets, an overworked spaceship, or a computer memory” can also be considered Gothic settings (p. 2). Beyond establishing world-building, mood, and atmosphere, these places all hold a commonality in being a motif. The foreboding and often decaying settings are themselves links to the past or what is repressed (“Gothic,” n.d.; Hogle, 2002, pp. 2–3). Ergo, they allow for the opportunity of an intimate experience with the irrational originating from the familiar. The aforementioned “sublime” then allows for the past to “haunt characters, psychologically, physically, or otherwise” (Hogle, 2002, p. 2).

An example of this can be found in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which not only takes place in a castle but its titular character is a supernatural disguised as ‘natural.’ Dracula is described as a seemingly normal man until Jonathan Harker notices his “rather cruel-looking” mouth “with peculiarly sharp white teeth” (Stoker, Chapter II, para. 20). Dracula thereby crosses a boundary between a ‘natural’ human into the “sublime.” Hogel (2002) describes this crossing as the “terror Gothic” that establishes an “anxious suspense” through “threats […] kept largely out of sight” (p. 3). Interestingly, the way the “terror Gothic” is employed within Dracula leads to Hogel’s (2002) description of what else can occur when the boundary is crossed: the “horror Gothic”—this term is different from horror as a genre— “confronts characters with the gross violence of physical or psychological dissolution, explicitly shattering the assumed norms” (including the repressions) of everyday life” (p. 3). It is, again, suspense created by the implication that there is abnormality or irrationality in what should be familiar.

“The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner!” — Bram Stoker, Dracula, Chapter II, para. 58.

Being aware of these varying elements and literary devices ultimately allows a reader to identify if literature is of Gothic nature. Ultimately, what makes literature Gothic perhaps points towards how there is an overarching intention and potential for “imagination that [goes] beyond rational causes” (Clery, 2002, p. 23).