Gothic Lit Notes

Gothic Lit: characterized by grotesque characters, bizarre situations, and violent events. Came from Europe in the 19 century.
Authors: Poe & Hawthorne

Romantic Writers:
-limitation of reason
-celebrate the individual reason
-emotions
-imagination
-splendors of nature-puritans led by the fear of God
exist as/work as typical romantic preoccupation with atmosphere, sentiment, and optism.

Transcendentalism: was based on a belief that "transcendent forms" of truth exist beyond reason and experience.

Every individual is capable of discovering this higher truth on his or her own, through intuition/ opposite of what puritans would believe.

Gothic Architecture: cavernous Gothic cathedrals with their irregularly placed towers, high-stained glass windows were to inspire awe and fear.

Gargoyles are mascots of Gothic literature.
Imaginative distortion of reality.

Threshold of the unknown: shadowy region where the fantastic, demonic, and the insane reside.
Dark side of the individualism is Gothic.
When romantics see hope, Gothic thinks of potential evil.
Poe: Dark mid evil castles, decaying ancient estates setting or weird and terrifying events.
Male: Insane.
Female: Beautiful or dead or dying
Plots include extreme situation, not just murder but live burials, physical and mental torture, and retribution from beyond the grave.
Hawthorne looked at fear, greed, vanity, mistrust, and betrayal.