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Themes in gothic literature12/18/2023 Also, short sentences in this extract highlights Catherine’s determination to create her own destiny and this indicates at a strength to her character that has been conspicuously absent in recent chapters. The use of the dash, also seen after the first statement, indicates a more hurried, rushed tone with the possibility of a pause hinting the struggle to draw breath. Her subsequent ‘He does not love me at all – he would never miss me’ adds to the idea of her ever-present fear of death. Catherine Earnshaw in Brontë’s Wuthering Heights exhibits this fundamental idea as she proclaims, ‘No, I’ll not die.’ Her certainty that, should she so wish, she could prevent her demise could be an indicating factor of her denial or terror at this actually happening. The first stage, aptly termed ‘Denial’, functions as a ‘buffer’ and a ‘temporary defence’ before partial acceptance can be reached. In her novel, On Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross examines the five stages experienced by a person after the devastating news of an impending death has been given. Was the lure of the terrified heroine and the tall, dark Byronic hero impossible to resist? Or does the obsession with the Gothic stem deeper, into the very heart of the human mind? The characters within Wuthering Heights, Dracula and Poe’s poetry experience internal conflict through the Gothic portrayal of themes in both European and American Literature.ĭeath within Gothic writings appears to be generally connected to the female characters, possibly implying a stereotype from 19th Century society of the frailty of women. Many have attempted to seek full understanding of why the human mind is so fascinated by these tales of madness and chaos, why Gothic has gripped readers since the beginning of recorded history. This play, along with many others of its time, embraced the Expressionist ideas and created a focus on the psyche of the human mind and all its inherent horrors. German playwright, Georg Büchner’s, most famous and influential drama, Woyzeck, portrays the ‘psychological deterioration of a lower-class soldier’ due to the oppression by the upper classes. Expressionism in theatre, as an example, attempted to demonstrate the ‘inner workings of the human mind’ and sought to embody some elements of the Gothic whilst doing so. This can also be seen even today in the writings of novelists such as Angela Carter in her novel, The Bloody Chamber, and this can aid us in exploring the importance and profundity of the Gothic genre today. Macbeth, exploiting both manipulative witches and clandestine murder, embodies many elements of this particular genre. However, the Gothic genre itself has a ‘clear Shakespearian imprint’. The Castle of Otranto, written in 1764 by Horace Walpole, ‘is generally regarded as the first Gothic novel’. The presentation of the Gothic has spanned the centuries, gripping each and every reader with its dastardly plot and unsuspecting victims.
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