gothic literature research task

Over the last decade, an increasing number of handbooks and critical studies have been published on the Gothic. In 2010-2015, Routledge published more than 40 studies centered on the genre; in the last five years, 183 titles have been added to this list. Although the increasing interest in hitherto marginalized Gothic works is in itself a remarkable cultural phenomenon, most of the published handbooks focus on the English-speaking world, leaving out manifold cultural and linguistic traditions with rich contributions to the genre. This Unit seeks to conduct research on the Gothic from a transnational, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary perspective. We see the genre as comprising multifold traditions whose contributions to LGBTQIA+ studies, cultural theory, political economy, bio-ethics, and techno-science, remain underexplored. By looking at the world from the peripheralized standpoints of the “monstrous,” the abject, the uncanny, and the tumultuous, the Gothic offers unique though often overlooked critical insights into modern societies.   In order to approach the wide variety of Gothic pieces and their specific critical approaches to modernity, our group activities are divided into two sections: 1.1 Research & Discussion Group: monthly meetings comprising reading discussions, graduate students’ presentations, and guest faculty talks. 1.2 Gothic Encyclopedia Task Force: quarterly meetings oriented to the development of a multicultural and multilingual scholarly encyclopedia of the Gothic.   For more information, please contact rwain [at] stanford.edu (rwain[at]stanford[dot]edu) , cynthia.vialle-giancotti [at] stanford.edu (cynthia[dot]vialle-giancotti[at]stanford[dot]edu) , or crfsoler [at] stanford.edu (crfsoler[at]stanford[dot]edu) .   If you would like to follow our upcoming events and be informed of the other activities of the group, please contact Cynthia Vialle-Giancotti ( cinziag [at] stanford.edu (cinziag[at]stanford[dot]edu) ) to be added to our gothic mailing list: thegothic [at] stanford.edu (thegothic[at]stanford[dot]edu) .

COGNATE COURSE (you can now enroll in the group for 1 unit!):

ENGLISH 1G: The Gothic: Transcultural, Multilingual, and Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Genre This course is a research platform for the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural study of the Gothic literary and cinematic genres. We consider the Gothic to have rich traditions whose contributions to Queer and LGBTQ+ studies, cultural theory, political economy, bio-ethics, and techno-science, remain under-explored. By looking at the world from the peripheralized standpoints of the ¿monstrous,¿ the abject, the dark, the uncanny, and the tumultuous, the Gothic offers unique though often overlooked critical insights into modern societies. Students enrolled in this course will participate in research activities and reading discussions oriented towards crafting interdisciplinary Gothic syllabi for the future and a cross-cultural Encyclopedia of the Gothic. Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable for credit

Faculty PIs

Dan Edelstein

Margaret Cohen

Graduate coordinators.

Cristian Felipe Soler Reyes

Cynthia Laura Vialle-Giancotti

Romina Wainberg

Resources you can trust

A mansion of Gothic activities

This comprehensive resource is a great starting point for anyone teaching the Gothic as a topic or a specific Gothic text. It includes ten different teaching ideas along with differentiated or flipped versions of the activities.

The resource takes the metaphor of exploring a Gothic mansion to provide a number of teaching ideas. These include some introductory activities such as Gothic snap where students identify common tropes, a research task, analysing a monster, Gothic story consequences, writing Gothic settings, exploring Gothic music, designing Gothic games, writing parodies of Gothic characters, exam preparation activities and creating a display.

The accompanying PowerPoint presentation includes a selection of images to use alongside the teaching activities.

You can find out more about the approach, by reading Victoria Walker's CPD article on teaching Gothic  fiction. 

If you are looking for more exciting ideas for teaching Gothic fiction with KS3 students, download Victoria Walker's complete scheme of learning and teaching pack .  

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The Rise of Gothic Fiction in England & the United States

• About the Rise of Gothic Fiction

Gothic Trends and Topics

Gothic fiction in historical context.

• English Gothic Fiction: 1764-1832
• American Gothic Fiction: 1764-1832
• English Gothic Fiction: 1833-1901
• American Gothic Fiction: 1833-1901
• English Gothic Fiction: 1902-1927
• American Gothic Fiction: 1902-1927
• English Gothic Writers from the 18th Century to the Romantics
• American Gothic Writers from the 18th Century to the Romantics
• English Gothic Writers of the Victorian Era
• American Gothic Writers of the Victorian Era
• English Gothic Writers, 1902-1927
• American Gothic Writers, 1902-1927
• Gothic Trends: 1760-2010 This graph charts the use of the word Gothic in English and American literature from 1760 to 2010, with peak usage of the term in 1858!
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• Last Updated: Sep 14, 2023 10:58 AM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.tufts.edu/GothicFiction

Embracing the Darkness: The Importance of Gothic in the Teaching of Literature

Nov 26, 2020 | 0 comments

Zoe Enser was an English Teacher in Essex and East Sussex, with over 20 years’ experience in the classroom. Over this time, she was also a middle leader, leading her subject, and a senior leader exploring pedagogy and staff development across the whole school. Zoe is currently working as an English Advisor across Kent with The Education People. She is also the holder of an MA in English Literature from the Open University, specialising in Shakespeare in her thesis, and has just embarked on her second masters course focusing on the Victorian Gothic, a subject she is passionately interested in. 

It [. . .] belongs to all that is terrible—to all that arouses dread and creeping horror; it is equally certain, too, that the word is not always used in a clearly definable sense, so that it tends to coincide with whatever excites dread.

Family secrets, ghosts, castles, dungeons, villains and terror. These are some of the most recognisable elements of the Gothic genre, a genre which has been influential and pervasive throughout our literary history. It is also a genre likely to be with us for many years to come, with the success The Woman in Black, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The House on the Haunted Hill continuing to reinvigorate the genre for new audiences. The genre has an almost unique ability to integrate into some of the most unexpected places, once again ensuring its indomitability. It has also provided a vehicle for writers to explore considerations of sexuality, repression, politics, race and a myriad of other anxieties of their society.  The gothic, quite literally, haunts the pages of many of the texts we consume. But what is the gothic and how can we teach it effectively in our classrooms?  

What is ‘the gothic’?

The origins of the literary gothic form are often attributed to something of an elaborate joke-Horace Walpole’s sensational novel The Castle of Otranto . Subsequently it has often been dismissed as insubstantial, compounded by the idea it was written and read by, women. Austen mocks the genre in her novel Northanger Abbey and pulp classics like Vardy the Vampire added to its less than serious reputation. But the origins of gothic reside in a place deeper than in the pages of a novel or the lines of a poem.

Gothic architecture, with its archetypical structures and grotesque gargoyles, loom above the streets of some of our major cities and stalk the canvas on the walls of some of our most eminent art galleries. It is impossible to escape because it is enmeshed within our very psyches. 

It is characterised, as Freud says above in his paper on the Uncanny , by a ‘creeping horror’ and that which ‘excites dread’ within our hearts and minds. It is the combination of childhood nightmares and adult pleasures. The phrase ‘excites dread’ is particularly interesting and in it resonates the duality which exists within us, the theme of much of our literature.  It is this conflict of emotions which calls on us to fascinate over gothic idea repeatedly, unable to resist the very things we fear or are repulsed by. If we consider Edmund Burke’s idea of the Sublime, we again see this connection between awe, terror, beauty and wonder, captured so beautifully in Worsdworth’s Extract from the Prologue . We love the sensation of our pulse racing as we marvel and tremble at our deepest terrors and wonders.

The sensation the gothic excites is where I begin my exploration of the genre in the classroom, encouraging students to reflect on those sensations and why so many of us seek this out. The universality of this experience is an effective hook. André Breton , when speaking of Ann Radcliffe’s gothic work, saw her writing as a ‘work of art’ which ‘gives us back the freshness of the emotions of childhood.’ The fear which enraptures us as we are hiding beneath the duvet, imagining all sorts of secrets and horrors lurking within the darkness, is a once terrible, thrilling and familiar.

The gothic elicits this in many ways, drawing on familiar tropes in order to tap into our deepest terrors. They utilize mysterious and often labyrinthine settings, the supernatural, including strange omens and portents, heightening the sense of unreality, while villains stalk innocent victims through these dark chasms. There are usually familial secrets and mysteries, sometimes of the sexual kind, with illegitimacy, wanton desire and incest inciting both repulsion and excitement. Madness and imprisonment are also reoccurring themes in the texts. 

Often the language is the language of dreamscapes. It breathes sinister life into the most ordinary and everyday objects and locations as in The Yellow Wallpaper :

I used to lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy-store. I remember what a kindly wink the knobs of our big old bureau used to have, and there was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend.

This is a device Dickens also uses. In Great Expectations it is used to almost comical effect near the start as Pip sees his own guilt reflected in the landscape as he stumbles through the fog:

The mist was heavier yet when I got out upon the marshes, so that instead of my running at everything, everything seemed to run at me.

Place is perhaps the most significant aspect of the genre. Susan Hill captures this perfectly in The Woman in Black :

They told of dripping stone walls in uninhabited castles and of ivy-clad monastery ruins by moonlight, of locked inner rooms and secret dungeons, dank charnel houses and overgrown graveyards, of footsteps creaking upon staircases and fingers tapping at casements, of howlings and shriekings, groanings and scuttlings and the clanking of chains, of hooded monks and headless horseman, swirling mists and sudden winds, insubstantial spectres and sheeted creatures, vampires and bloodhounds, bats and rats and spiders, of men found at dawn and women turned white-haired and raving lunatic, and of vanished corpses and curses upon heirs. 

The essence of the gothic and all the fears and thrills it brings.

Why teach it?

I teach the gothic as I feel I have no choice; we can’t escape it. Before students even arrive to Year 7 they will have encountered the gothic in some of their texts. Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard book is a popular text with Year 6 students and schools, and Lemony Snickett’s tales of evil uncles and disinherited orphans, will be adorning many a bookshelf. Darren Shan is another popular choice with audiences at both Key Stage 2 and 3, with vampires, werewolves and other strange creatures of the night adding to the excitement. Even Roald Dahl understood the power to thrill and terrify with some of his grotesque creations. Children and adults alike love it.

The texts that appear on the GCSE syllabus highlight the influence of the gothic too. Despite predating Walpole’s seminal work, Macbeth is a text immersed in the supernatural, nightmares, paranoia and madness. Jane Eyre, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Jekyl l and Hyde , Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes are all bejewelled with elements of the genre, despite not necessarily being ‘gothic’ texts. However, writers, especially those with the Victorian passion for the sensational tales, were quick to employ the features of the gothic to enrich their stories and thrill their readers. 

If some of our most well-know and well-loved writers have embraced or parodied the gothic, what might our students be missing out on if we don’t teach it? Much as with the arguments for the inclusion of classical and biblical allusion in our curriculum, a good understanding of the gothic can enrich students’ appreciation of authorial intent and audience reception. Even more importantly perhaps, they are exciting and compelling tales which students will love to explore. We want students to enjoy what they are studying.

How to teach it well

The very nature of the gothic makes it a difficult genre to teach effectively. On the one hand the genre has some clearly definable elements, as identified above, and it is highly prevalent. However, the form itself is ephemeral, shifting and transient much like Dickens’ description of the ghost of Christmas Past. Julian Wolfrey in his preface to Victorian Gothic, argues that the very form is one which aims to evade limitations and ‘the gothic becomes truly haunting in that it can never be pinned down by a single identity’, whilst at the same time it ‘returns through various apparitions and manifestations, seemingly everywhere. To return again to the Freud, the familiarity of the genre, a key aspect at the heart of the Uncanny, can lead students to believing they have grasped the fundamentals of the gothic but are instead harbouring misconceptions and false understanding. 

Whilst there are elements of ‘horror’ in the genre, the gothic is not simply horror and vice versa. Students can easily mistake the creeping unease of the uncanny, with use the quick shock horror present in the latest slasher flick.  It is important for them to understand fully this distinction in order to understand the genre and it is not easy when the gothic insists on resisting definitions as it reinvents itself. This elusive and intangible quality makes it not only hard for students to grasp, but for teachers too.

To combat this, I begin my teaching sequence by exposing students to as many texts as possible which exemplify the conventions most clearly. I concentrate on extracts from Walpole and Anne Radcliffe, which purely capture the ideas, prior to examining more complex examples where multiple genres are at play, as illustrated by Conan Doyle. I also use texts like H.G. Wells’ ‘The Red Room’, which, despite its unconventional ending, give us the distorted characters, labyrinthine passageways and sentient shadows, which are indicative of the genre. I delve deeper with extracts from Dracula , The Woman and White and Jekyll and Hyde to consider how these writers are working both within and alongside elements of the genre. 

With so many complexities it is essential to look at ‘non-examples’ too in order clarify what we really mean by the gothic. Provide students extracts and summaries from other genres and identify why these do not fulfil the requirements of a gothic text, even if they do embrace certain elements. This is also effective in developing students’ knowledge of the wider literary world and encouraging them to make comparisons between key works. No genre exists in a vacuum.

Letting Imaginations run wild

Despite its complexities, the gothic can be a wonderful vehicle for exploring creativity too. With its clichéd settings and heightened language, the gothic is a genre which can be fun to emulate and provides rich opportunities to explore the effects of language. What do we enjoy more than seeing a real reaction from an audience that can’t hide their feelings of fear or dread? Again, focusing on both examples and non-examples is useful here, allowing students to craft their writing to align as closely as possible to the traditional style and experimenting to create something new. Reflect together on what works well in the work and what doesn’t work, modelling and sharing a range of their creations. Then sit back watch as they thrill each other with their tales of mystery and imagination. Darkened classrooms add an exciting nuance for the final readings, reminiscent of the infamous Villa Diodati of Shelley fame.

With a genre which is so oft parodied and ‘pastiched’ by some of the greatest names in Literature, the gothic can provide a wonderfully indulgent opportunity to explore our imagination as both reader and writer. Now it is time to see what will make that tantalising feeling of dread and excitement come creeping up your own veins, as you delve deeper into this genre.

• The gothic is pervasive and hard to ignore, so don’t
• Get familiar with main features, but don’t be surprised to find some elements are omitted
• It can resist definitions so look at lots of examples of what it is and what it is not 
• It can be great fun to write. Have fun exploring it.

Further Reading

Freud, Sigmund ‘ The Uncanny’

Burke, Edmund ‘ A Philosophical Exploration in the Sublime and the Beautiful’ 

Ed. Catherine Spooner and Emma McEvoy ‘ The Routledge Companion to The Gothic’

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A Brief Introduction to Gothic Literature

Elements, Themes, and Examples from the Gothic Style

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• Ph.D., English Language and Literature, Northern Illinois University
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• B.A., English, Northern Illinois University

The term Gothic originates with the architecture created by the Germanic Goth tribes that was later expanded to include most medieval architecture. Ornate, intricate, and heavy-handed, this style of architecture proved to be the ideal backdrop for both the physical and the psychological settings in a new literary genre, one that concerned itself with elaborate tales of mystery, suspense, and superstition. While there are several notable precursors, the height of the Gothic period, which was closely aligned with Romanticism , is usually considered to have been the years 1764 to about 1840, however, its influence extends to 20th-century authors such as V.C. Andrews, Iain Banks, and Anne Rice.

Plot and Examples

Gothic plotlines typically involve an unsuspecting person (or persons)—usually an innocent, naive, somewhat helpless heroine—who becomes embroiled in complex and oftentimes evil paranormal scheme. An example of this trope is young Emily St. Aubert in Anne Radcliffe’s classic Gothic 1794 novel, "The Mysteries of Udolpho," which would later inspire a parody in form of Jane Austen ’s 1817 "Northanger Abbey."

The benchmark for pure Gothic fiction is perhaps the first example of the genre, Horace Walpole’s "The Castle of Otranto" (1764). Although not a long tale in the telling, the dark, its oppressive setting combined with elements of terror and medievalism set the bar for an entirely new, thrilling form of literature.

Key Elements

Most Gothic literature contains certain key elements that include:

• Atmosphere : The atmosphere in a Gothic novel is one characterized by mystery, suspense, and fear, which is usually heightened by elements of the unknown or unexplained.
• Setting : The setting of a Gothic novel can often rightly be considered a character in its own right. As Gothic architecture plays an important role, many of the stories are set in a castle or large manor, which is typically abandoned or at least run-down, and far removed from civilization (so no one can hear you should you call for help). Other settings may include caves or wilderness locales, such as a moor or heath.
• Clergy: Often, as in "The Monk" and "The Castle of Otranto," the clergy play important secondary roles in Gothic fare. These (mostly) men of the cloth are often portrayed as being weak and sometimes outrageously evil.
• The paranormal : Gothic fiction almost always contains elements of the supernatural or paranormal, such as ghosts or vampires. In some works, these supernatural features are later explained in perfectly reasonable terms, however, in other instances, they remain completely beyond the realm of rational explanation.
• Melodrama : Also called “high emotion,” melodrama is created through highly sentimental language and instances of overwrought emotion. The panic, terror, and other feelings characters experience is often expressed in a way that's overblown and exaggerated in order to make them seem out of control and at the mercy of the increasingly malevolent influences that surround them.
• Omens : Typical of the genre, omens—or portents and visions—often foreshadow events to come. They can take many forms, such as dreams, spiritual visitations, or tarot card readings.
• Virgin in distress : With the exception of a few novels, such as Sheridan Le Fanu’s "Carmilla" (1872), most Gothic villains are powerful males who prey on young, virginal women (think Dracula). This dynamic creates tension and appeals deeply to the reader's sense of pathos, particularly as these heroines typically tend to be orphaned, abandoned, or somehow severed from the world, without guardianship.

Modern Critiques

Modern readers and critics have begun to think of Gothic literature as referring to any story that uses an elaborate setting, combined with supernatural or super-evil forces against an innocent protagonist. The contemporary understanding is similar but has widened to include a variety of genres, such as paranormal and horror. 

Selected Bibliography

In addition to "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and "The Castle of Otranto," there are a number of classic novels that those interested in Gothic literature will want to pick up. Here's a list of 10 titles that are not to be missed:

• "The History of the Caliph Vathek" (1786) by William Thomas Beckford
• "The Monk" (1796) by Mathew Lewis
• "Frankenstein" (1818) by Mary Shelley
• "Melmoth the Wanderer" (1820) by Charles Maturin
• "Salathiel the Immortal" (1828) by George Croly
• " The Hunchback of Notre-Dame " (1831) by Victor Hugo
• "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe
• "Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood" (1847) by James Malcolm Rymer
• "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
• " Dracula " (1897) by Bram Stoker
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• Escape Literature
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• The Haunted House (1859) by Charles Dickens
• "Dracula" - Based on the Novel by Bram Stoker
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• Genres in Literature
• The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) by Victor Hugo
• Castles of Japan
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Gothic Literature in Special Collections

• Clara Reeve and Horace Walpole
• Mary Shelley
• Matthew Gregory Lewis
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Charles Brockden Brown
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• John William Polidori
• William Faulkner
• Flannery O'Connor
• Truman Capote
• Edgar Allen Poe
• Historical Influences
• Gothic Adjacent Authors
• Sci-Fi and Folklore Literature
• Search the UMD Catalog

Welcome to the Guide to Gothic Literature!

Welcome to the guide to gothic literature in special collections at the university of maryland.

This guide provides an overview of holdings in  Special Collections and University Archives  at the University of Maryland relating to Gothic Literature. This guide highlights material influential to the Gothic genre that are available in the  Literature and Rare Book collections in Hornbake Library, as well as additional resources on the genre available at the University of Maryland.

For questions about our collections and how to access these materials,  contact us .  

What is Gothic Literature?

The Gothic genre began in 1764 with the publication of Horace Walpole's novel The Castle of Otranto , which is generally considered the first gothic novel. Many elements found in Horace's novel became the standard elements of the Gothic genre. Within Gothic literature there are themes of romance, horror, and a prevailing atmosphere of mystery and terror. The term Gothic is a reference to the architecture of medieval buildings and ruins, which often serve as inspiration and backdrop in gothic novels with dark and mysterious castles/manors with subterranean passages, dark battlements, hidden panels, and trapdoors. Gothic literature generally challenged Enlightenment principles; giving voice to irrational, horrific, and transgressive thoughts, desires, and impulses. The golden age of Gothic literature is roughly defined as beginning in the late 18th century up to the end of the 19th century, although its imprint can clearly be seen long past that timeframe leading into the modern horror genre in film, literature, comics, and more.

A subset of Gothic literature is Southern Gothic literature. Starting in the early 19th century, Southern Gothic literature evolved from the gothic literature of England and Northeast America. The United States did not have old castles to set Gothic stories in, but after the Civil War, the many ruined or decaying plantations and mansions in the South became locations for Gothic stories about sins and secrets. A founding figure of Southern Gothic literature is Edgar Allen Poe, whose work influenced Southern Gothic writers of the 20th century. Common themes of Southern Gothic include flawed or disturbed characters, grotesque situations, often stemming from poverty, crime, violence or alienation.

What are Special Collections?

Special Collections house collections of rare books and historic documents, including materials pertaining to the history of Maryland and The University of Maryland. Within the literature and rare books collection there are first editions, illustrated editions, as well as special editions and artists' books. 

“And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.”-'The Masque of the Red Death', Edgar Allen Poe'

Related guides.

• 19th Century Literature
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
• Victorian Literature
• Literary research in Special Collections
• Literary and Cultural Studies
• Next: Gothic Authors and Themes >>
• Last Updated: Jun 16, 2023 1:41 PM
• URL: https://lib.guides.umd.edu/gothicliterature

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1 Theories of the Gothic

• Published: April 1994
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This chapter first states the usefulness of Bakhtin's theory of dialogism for an understanding of the structure of the Gothic, which is often considered to be an inferior genre because of its lack of structural and/or thematic unity. This is followed by a consideration of the main issues or problems in recent discussions of the Gothic's thematic and structural dimensions. In the process, it takes up suggestions by Marxist critics that 18th-century Gothic narratives can be read as part of a process of cultural mythmaking and that ‘fantasy’ elements provide the Gothic's potential for subversion. With reference to the work of Tzvetan Todorov, Rosemary Jackson, and Gerhard Hoffmann, it discusses how we are to theorize the literary fantastic and its place in Gothic fiction. The final section of the chapter outlines Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism, heteroglossia, stylization, and intentionality as presented in The Dialogic Imagination , in order to suggest an approach to reading Gothic texts which foregrounds their hybrid nature and enables us to reconstruct some of their semantic potential for the readers to whom they were addressed.

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Gothic Literature

• History and Key Elements
• Books & eBooks
• Expanding on Central Gothic Novels
• Journals and Databases
• Videos and Podcasts
• Modern Adaptations and Examples

Free Online Resources

• Romancing the Gothic
• Gothic Archive
• Glossary of the Gothic
• BBC: A Timeline of Gothic Fiction

Journals and Databases:

• Gothic Studies. Ran from May 1, 2006 - November 1, 2017. Covers the field of Gothic studies from the eighteenth century onward.
• Review of English Studies The Review of English Studies is the leading scholarly journal in the field of English literature and the English language from the earliest period up to today. Emphasis is on historical scholarship rather than interpretive criticism, though fresh evaluation of writers and their work are also offered in the light of newly discovered or existing material.
• Academic Complete (ProQuest E-Books) This link opens in a new window Academic Complete provides authoritative, full-text e-books in a wide range of subject areas along with powerful tools to find, use, and manage the information. (From the publisher.)

• Literary Sources This link opens in a new window An integrated research experience, Gale Literary Sources brings together Gale's premier literary databases in a new digital environment that allows researchers, faculty and students to search across these resources to discover and analyze content in entirely new ways. Includes Dictionary of Literary Biography, Literature Criticism Online, Literature Resource Center, Scribner, Something About the Author and Twayne Author Series.

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Gothic Literature Homework Booklet

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Gothic literature

Part of English Critical reading

What do you know?

Which famous Gothic novel was first written as an entry for a ghost story writing competition?

A. Dracula B. The Woman in Black C. Frankenstein

Show answer Hide answer

The answer is C. Frankenstein .

Mary Shelley was stuck inside due to bad weather whilst staying in Geneva with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and their friends Lord Byron and John Polidori. They decided to pass the time by writing and telling ghost stories and Frankenstein was created!

Introduction to Gothic literature

Key learning points.

In order to fully understand Gothic literature, it is important to know where it came from and why it became such a popular fiction genre close genre A type or category of fiction. .

When analysing gothic texts it's important to understand the context and conventions close conventions Features of a genre of writing. of Gothic literature so you can apply them to the text you're reading.

Video about gothic literature

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A video about the conventions in theme and character found in gothic literature

Video Transcript Video Transcript

Gothic literature evokes an atmosphere of mystery, fear or terror.

The gothic genre was really popular during the 1800s with Frankenstein , Wuthering Heights and Dracula . But there were stories with Gothic elements before and there have been plenty since. So could you survive the dark world of a gothic novel?

First up, you’ll need to wrap up warm. There aren’t many tropical beaches in gothic fiction. Expect wind, rain and thunderstorms and things that go bump in the night. Night time settings appeal to reader’s instinctive fear of the dark - and under the cover of darkness things often aren’t quite as they seem.

Writers typically set their stories in abandoned or isolated locations like crumbling castles, windswept moors, places of decay and death. Places with seemingly no escape. But where there are also plenty of secrets with underground passages and hidden doors. This all adds to the sense of mystery and danger.

Typical gothic themes are the supernatural, science, revenge, religion, breaking societal norms and the battle between good and evil. These themes and impending bad fortune are often hinted at in the gothic novels through ominous warnings or symbolic omens, such as a full moon or a raven.

Gothic literature often contrasts different types of characters: victims and predators, good and evil. They are full of strange and often supernatural characters like ghosts, vampires and werewolves. Or sometimes it’s humans that seem to have something different about them, they might have special senses or abilities.

These settings, themes and characters combine to create creepy worlds and nasty narratives that send a shiver down the reader’s spine.

Eek! Good luck.

What is Gothic literature?

Gothic literature is a genre of fiction which first became popular during the 18th century.

Although many of the most famous Gothic novels were written during the Victorian times, conventions of the Gothic genre are still featured in popular culture today.

The term ‘Gothic’ originates from the name of an ancient Germanic tribe (The Goths) who are thought to have contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. They had a reputation for being barbaric and later a form of architecture close architecture The particular design and structure of buildings - Gothic architecture is decorative and ornate with height and grandeur, gargoyles, pointed arches and vaulted ceilings. was named after them as sort of insult.

The term Gothic first became linked to literature with Horace Walpole's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto , later subtitled A Gothic Story . This term was probably given because of the book's medieval Gothic architecture and setting.

Gothic literature timeline

1764 - The Castle of Otranto: The first Gothic novel

Horace Walpole created what is considered to be the first Gothic novel. The Castle of Otranto introduced Gothic themes, locations and characters such as supernatural beings, an unfamiliar location, a dark and isolated castle and an innocent young woman fleeing from an evil man.

1794 - The Mysteries of Udolpho

Ann Radcliffe introduced ‘the explained supernatural’, a technique by which terrifying, apparently supernatural incidents have a logical explanation. An innocent woman goes to live with her aunt, who marries a suspicious nobleman. They are taken to live in his remote castle whilst the husband and his friend plot to gain control of the women’s wealth.

1818 - Frankenstein: Raising the dead

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein features many Gothic elements, including raising the dead. Due to the fact that a creature is brought to life, it is also considered to be in the science fiction genre. The use of electricity and playing with death means that it could be interpreted as a warning about the dangers of science.

1860 - The Woman in White

This novel by Wilkie Collins includes the themes of mistaken identity, apparent insanity and that things are not always as they seem. It plays on the fear of women being locked in asylums if they were ‘in the way’ – a commonplace occurrence in the 1800s. The characters include a broken hero, an innocent female and an evil villain.

1886 - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson explored the nature of good and evil. The novella has the Gothic theme of the double: the contrast between good and evil in people or places. It tells the story of the ‘good’ Doctor Jekyll and the ‘evil’ Mr Hyde and the mystery of a strange transformation.

1897 - Dracula: The iconic vampire

Bram Stoker’s famous vampire is introduced. The tale of the Transylvanian count transferred well to screen and was made into many different films, dominating our idea of how vampires look and behave. This Gothic novel includes a remote castle, supernatural beings, innocent victims and the theme of good v evil.

1938 - Rebecca

The novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is told by an unnamed narrator who is the new wife of a wealthy widower. Rebecca is the name of his first wife and it becomes clear that she was loved by the staff in the house, so much so, that they try to belittle and push the narrator away. Gothic motifs include an innocent woman, an isolated mansion and dark hidden truths.

1976 - Interview with the Vampire

Writer Anne Rice (pictured) establishes the idea of the ‘sympathetic vampire'. The guilt-ridden vampire narrator Louis doesn’t like killing humans and initially only feeds on animals. The charismatic anti-hero Lestat is scared of being alone and turns a young girl into a vampire for company. Louis tells his sad tale of loneliness and immortality to a reporter who misses the point and decides that it sounds like a great lifestyle which angers Louis.

1983 - The Woman in Black

This novel by Susan Hill is narrated by a solicitor who was sent to a secluded house to settle the will of an elderly lady. At high tide, the house is cut off from the mainland and the man experiences strange sightings of a woman dressed in black and searches for the truth behind these appearances. It features the unknown, the supernatural, a haunting, an innocent victim and is based in an isolated setting.

2005 - The Twilight Saga

The Twilight Saga is a series of novels and one novella by the author Stephenie Meyer. This series covers many of the traditional Gothic elements together with a love story, supernatural beings, such as shapeshifters and vampires, and the theme of good v evil.

Features of the Gothic genre

Gothic literature can be recognised by its use of particular features, settings and characters.

Common conventions of the Gothic genre include the following:

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Tasks: Gothic Literature

Understanding the text:.

Read the text carefully before you answer the questions.

What literary period do the first works of Gothic literature belong to?

Is Gothic literature limited to just one literary period?

What literary period was the Romantic Period a reaction to?

What characterises Gothic literature?

Which of the examples of Gothic literature from the text had you heard of before? Have you read or watched adaptations of any of the works?

Why do people enjoy scary stories? Do you enjoy scary stories?

What are the main differences between the Gothic genre and the horror genre?

What are the main difference between the Gothic genre and the fantasy genre?

Work in pairs or in groups. Make a presentation to be held before another group, or in class.

Find out more about an author who writes Gothic literature, and introduce at least one of their works.

Watch an adaptation of a classic work of Gothic literature, and present an analysis of it, where you focus on genre traits.

The Goth subculture emerged in the 1980s. The subculture got its name from Gothic rock. Find out more about the subculture, and discuss what, if any, relation Gothic rock and the Goth subculture has to Gothic literature.

Choose one of the tasks and write a longer text.

Write a text where you discuss why Gothic literature remains a popular genre to this day.

Compare a classic work of Gothic literature with a modern work of Gothic literature.

Write an analysis of the painting The Nightmare by John Henry Fuseli, seen in the box below. What are the Gothic elements in this painting?

Pick one of the tasks.

Write your own short story, using the Gothic genre.

Make an adaptation of a Gothic work. Make a film or perform your adaptation before class.

Work together as a class.

Host a Gothic evening at school. (Make sure you get permission from the headmaster.)

Invite students to enjoy a screening of a film in the Gothic genre. Encourage the use of relevant costumes. Serve Gothic-inspired cakes or other simple dishes. Have a Gothic-themed quiz, etc.

Relatert innhold

Article that explores the historic context of Gothic Literature.

Excerpts from the novel Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley.

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