Romantic Gothic Literature Every once in a while, a certain movement will have such a profound influence on the world that it changes the way people think and act. Sometimes, it involves human rights. Other kinds of movements, the whole world changes because art and literature change in drastic ways. The Romantic Gothic Literature movement is one such important movement. Romanticism Despite the name, Romanticism has little connection with word “romantic” as it is used today. Instead, it’s actually the term for a literary movement that began in the 18th century that was basically a revolt against the aristocratic society that governed Western Europe. It placed special emphasis on the aesthetic experience and in particular, focused on such sensations like awe, trepidation, horror, and terror. Folk art became something to be respected and ancient customs became noble and desirable. It was an expression of wanting to return to a more natural time. Gothicism Gothicism thrived in the 19th century. It’s categorized by an emphasis on the macabre and the mysterious. Concepts such as magic, hidden passages, ghosts, and other supernatural entities and activities were all mainstays in the Gothic literary movement. The movement saw a revival in the 1740s when Horace Walpole purchased a grand estate and remodeled it in the “Gothick” style. He added towers, arched windows, and turrets, turning the building into quite a frightening place. Many houses in the surrounding areas followed suit, creating a sort of movement. Walpole published a novel, The Castle of Otranto, in 1764, which truly got the Gothic movement moving. Edgar Allen Poe was inspired by this style of writing and it resonates in his stories. Romantic Gothic Literature What do you get when you combine these two things? Novels like The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and La Belle Dame sans Merci. These were all horror stories that expressed the darker side of human nature and terrified their readers. Lord Byron was one of the most infamous writers of the period but the most infamous tale came from his wife, Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein. Another well-known story includes Bram Stoker’s Dracula. These stories were written to both terrify and entrance the world.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 17:28:35 +0000