18C - Gothic Literature in the Eighteenth Century Lesson

Similar to poetry, towards the later part of the 18^th century, authors of prose also turned to the past and welcomed new themes in their writings. Imagination, passion, emotion, and the supernatural started surfacing, and the Gothic Romance was born. Gothic fiction is a type of imitation medievalism that includes many elements from Medieval literature including knights, castles, and supernatural elements.

As the 18^th century drew to a close, the continued debate raged on over whether literature should represent real life or imagination (the natural vs. the romantic). Gothic literature combines the natural and the romantic in order to create a genre set apart from other works of literature that grew into what society sees today as the "horror" genre in film and literature.

Review of the Medieval Romance

In order to understand how the Gothic Romance is a reflection of the Medieval Romance; let's familiarize ourselves once again with the Medieval Romance genre.

Review this information about the Medieval Romance. Links to an external site.

The Gothic Literary Genre

However, Gothic literature adds another layer by combining horror, death, and romance and features terrifying experiences in ancient castles by incorporating Gothic elements such as ghosts, dungeons, screams, moans, and bloody hands among others. The goal of the Gothic romance was to be pleasurably terrifying to the reader and evoke a new emotion through literature. Many popular forms of Gothic literature (both poetry and prose) appear in the 19^th century, but the start of Gothic fiction began with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto in 1764.

Gothic Poetry

A group of poets in the late 18^th century called the "Graveyard Poets", also known as "Churchyard Poets" or "Boneyard Boys" wrote various poems highlighting gloomy meditations on mortality featuring skulls, coffins, and epitaphs inspired by the presence of the graveyard. Themes of the poetry focused on mortality and the relation to the divine. Due to the Gothic and Romantic elements present in their poetry, the "Graveyard Poets" often appear classified as both Gothic poets and Pre-Romantics. Thomas Gray, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas Parnell, Robert Blair, and Edward Young are popular "Graveyard Poets".

Thomas Gray, born in 1716, was an educated man who found school dull. However, he became friends with Horace Walpole, known for writing the first Gothic novel, and he became known as one of the "Graveyard Poets" in the late 18^th century.

Gray finished writing his poetic masterpiece "Elegy Written in a Country Courtyard" in 1751. "Elegy Written in a Country Courtyard" falls under the classification of Gothic literature and features themes such as death and afterlife. Remember from our previous studies that an elegy is a poem of serious contemplation or lament for the dead.

When reading Gray, notice the Gothic and Romantic elements that classify Thomas Gray as a Gothic and Pre-Romantic writer. Links to an external site.

The novel details a series of supernatural circumstances and unfortunate decisions as Manfred, the lord of the castle, tries to avoid the fulfillment of a prophecy that will end his lordship.   The Castle of Otranto takes the supernatural elements or fantastic situations from the Medieval Romance and creates eerie events that reveal the reactions of "real" humans experiencing the horror—which incites a true feeling of terror (a new feeling) for the reader.

When reading this work, notice how Walpole blends the fantastic with the realistic to create an unnerving feeling, such as mysterious sounds or doors opening without a person, within readers. Links to an external site.

Also, notice how Walpole uses elements from the Medieval Romance as inspiration for his writing.

Ann Radcliffe

Very little has surfaced about Ann Radcliffe's life. She was an English author, and along with Walpole, one of the original pioneers of the Gothic novel. Radcliffe's style contains elements of Romanticism with brilliant descriptions of landscapes and nature, but she incorporates Gothic elements by including the supernatural. Radcliffe remains known for including supernatural elements but then providing rational explanations for the supernatural which helped the Gothic novel achieve respectability in the late 18^th century.

The Supernatural Explained

Ann Radcliffe's style of explaining the supernatural became coined as "the supernatural explained" and was prominent in many Gothic novels after Radcliffe's success in gaining respect for the genre.

"The supernatural explained" allows the incorporation of fantastic, eerie situations but provides a reason as to why the events occur. For example, a reader will still experience ghost-like scenes, such as doors opening by themselves or disturbing noises, but the author reveals that the cause of these seemingly supernatural occurrences is another protagonist in the story.

The Mysteries of Udolpho

The Mysteries of Udolpho represents a typical Gothic romance by including a remote castle as the setting, elements of physical and psychological terror, various supernatural events, a Gothic villain, and a heroine in distress. The novel details the story of a young French woman, Emily, who becomes imprisoned in the castle of Udolpho by Signor Montoni—an Italian gangster. Emily falls in love with a man named Valancourt and discovers several secrets about her family and their connection to Udolpho. 

When reading this work, notice how Radcliffe incorporates several elements from the Gothic romance genre. Also, notice how Radcliffe uses "the supernatural explained" to create reason in her writing. Links to an external site.

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