Gothic Literature Essay Examples and Research Papers

Gothic literature became prominent in the latter half of the 18th century and grew more popular throughout the 19th century. Gothic novels consist of multiple themes and tropes mostly dealing with vice, and decay. However, there are novels like Lady Caroline Lamb’s, Glenarvon, that employs the femme fatal character, death, supernaturalism, melodrama and many other…

In Gothic literature the importance of setting and place is greatly influential. This investigation compares two gothic narratives, “The Castle of Otranto” (1764) by Horace Walpole and “Dracula” (1897) by Bram Stoker. This research essay considers how setting and place are established, how they are applicable to the gothic genre and how they contribute to…

Forever I will have the introduction “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,” (Poe, The Raven) engrained into my mind. Such an iconic writer that introduced a style of writing in which only gained fame upon his death. Edgar Allan Poe writing fiction based; Southern Gothic literature established a path for…

In 1764 Horace Walpole released The Castle of Otranto. The story was the world’s first gothic novel; it combined elements of the supernatural, horror, and romance to terrify readers. Audiences found Walpole’s book to be thrilling and were captivated by the originality of its overblown and dramatic storyline. The book was so widely popular that…

The Gothic was a mode of writing that sprung from the Romantic period as a reaction to the Enlightenment. It uses the same Romantic concepts such as subjectivity, emotion, and human psychology, however, it adds dark and mysterious undertones. Though the genre originally came from Great Britain in the 18th century, American writers adjusted the…

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, families are a very important part of the structure of the novel. Frankenstein’s family is critical because the reason why the monster was created lies within the family. Almost every family mentioned in the novel was either incomplete or troubled. Frankenstein’s family in particular was missing a female role. The Frankenstein…

Introduction Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a cautionary tale which follows an inquisitive scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who becomes fascinated by the prospect of reanimating the inanimate and seeks to fabricate artificial life. He pieces together a man-like creature, 8 feet tall, whose ghastly appearance labels it an abomination to all mankind. Deemed loathsome by its creator,…

The Victorian Era was a period characterized by strict standards on how people were supposed to behave and this was heavily evident in the aristocracy of London. Throughout the gothic novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the protagonist Dr. Jekyll struggles to contain his alternative personality,…

The aim of the essay is to discover if the different Gothic conventions are present in the novel and how they are featured, as well as the expoloration of different topics of importance for the analysis of the novel. Despite the large number of Gothic novels, novellas, short stories, and sometimes plays that appeared in…

There are several elements of Gothic fiction that are both similar, and different between “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and “A Rose for Emily”. “The Fall of the House of Usher” has incest, burials of live people, and some elements of decay. Likewise, “A Rose for Emily” also has many elements of Gothic…