"In contrast to the realist novel, set in modern society, amongst ordinary folk in small towns or cities, the Gothic novel is most often set in a foreign country (usually Italy or Spain), in a barbarous medieval past . . . populated by virtuous heroes and heroines and unspeakably evil villains . . .
Its plots . . . characteristically involve evil ecclesiastics, beautiful heroines, handsome heroes, separation, imprisonment in dungeons and convents, mazes of passages, the evil older woman, wild scenery, castles, and ruins . . . stories within stories, multiple plots, and flights from imprisonment to reimprisonment . . .
One Gothic convention that seems to fly in the face of the habits of the reading of character that we expect in the realist novel is the technique of paralleling or doubling, where character is conveyed through the use of doubles and correspondences."
-Emma McEvoy, "Introduction." 1995. In Lewis, Matthew G. The Monk. 1796. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Also of interest: The Literary Gothic, a web resource discussing all kinds of Gothic, neoGothic, and protoGothic authors and books and poems and stories.
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I found it interesting that she said gothic novels usually take place in places like Spain or Italy. I don't know much when it comes to what different places are like in the world so I was wondering what makes them barbarous?
ReplyDelete- Carisa
I also found the statement about gothic novels taking place in Spain or Italy, and I could not help but recall the cathedral in Seville, Spain. I've seen the Catedral de Sevilla, and it definitely depicts a typical "gothic" atmosphere with huge coloumns, intricate pointy arches, a huge bell tower that over looks the city, and many carved scenes of Christ (mostly of him dead and everyone around him gasping). It is easy to imagine why stories filled with things such as ghosts, evil villains, and dungeons were prevalent at this time when the churches, such as that in Seville, had a dark, cold side to them.
ReplyDeleteWonderful image, Rachel. These places are going to feel old and chilly compared to what Americans and even British are accustomed to. The other big issue is anxiety about the Catholic Church and the European nobility. The British and Americans had more democratic systems and more tolerance than most of the Mediterranean countries, and were legitimately troubled by the activities of the Inquisition and absolutist kings; but there was a lot of irrational fear and prejudice concerning the exotic Catholic world.
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