This sense of there being no way out contributes to the claustrophobic psychology of Gothic space. Claustrophobia / Entrapment & Imprisonment: A favourite horror device of the Gothic finds a person confined or trapped, such as being shackled to a floor or hidden away in some dark cell or cloister. The atmosphere may also be seen acting upon the protagonists in texts, influencing them by exciting their curiosity or fear.Д¤. This serves to captivate the reader and encourage further reading. It is usually obscure, partial or confusing. There may be an ancient prophecy connected with the castle or its inhabitants. Ghosts walking or a painting coming to life. Often the plot itself is built around a mystery, such as unknown parentage, a disappearance, or some other inexplicable event eg. The work is pervaded by a threatening feeling, a fear enhanced by the unknown.

Sunlight вЂ“ represents goodness and pleasure it also has the power to bestow these upon characters.ДЈ. Thunder and downpours prefigure the appearance of a character or the beginning of a significant event (eg thunder precedes the entrance of the witches in вЂMacbeth? Flashes of lightning accompany revelation

Storms вЂ“ These frequently accompany important events. Mist вЂ“ This convention in Gothic Literature is often used to obscure objects (this can be related to the sublime) by reducing visibility or to prelude the insertion of a terrifying person or thing The Weather is used in a number of ways and forms, some of these being: Catacombs are especially evocative Gothic spaces because they enable the living to enter below ground a dark labyrinth resonating with the presences and mysteries of the dead.Дў. Cemeteries are widely used in Gothic Literature as oftentimes frightening places where revenance can occur. A cemetery defines a place which is used for the burial of the dead. The castle is the main setting of the story and the centre of activity. WalpoleвЂ™s novel first introduced to gothic literature its single most influential convention, the haunted castle. ) It is usually a dwelling that is inhabited by or visited regularly by a ghost or other supposedly supernatural being.Д®xample: Horace WalpoleвЂ™s The Castle of Otranto. (Translated into modern filmmaking, the setting might be in an old house or mansionвЂ“or even a new houseвЂ“where unusual camera angles, sustained close ups during movement, and darkness or shadows create the same sense of claustrophobia and entrapment. The castle may be near or connected to caves, which lend their own haunting flavour with their branchings, claustrophobia, and mystery. The castle often contains secret passages, trap doors, secret rooms, dark or hidden staircases, and possibly ruined sections. The action takes place in and around an old castle, sometimes seemingly abandoned, sometimes occupied. Here is a list of some common elements of gothic literature: Elements of the Gothic in TextsДЎ. Gothic novels combine elements of horror and romanticism. Generally speaking, gothic literature delves into the macabre nature of humanity in its quest to satisfy mankindвЂ™s intrinsic desire to plumb the depths of terror. The Gothic genre (in both literature and architecture) is therefore associated with savagery and barbarism.

Gothic literature derives its name from its similarities to the Gothic medieval cathedrals, which feature a majestic, unrestrained architectural style with often savage or grotesque ornamentation (the word вЂњGothicвЂќ derives from вЂњGoth,вЂќ the name of one of the barbaric Germanic tribes that invaded the Roman Empire). These forces often represent the вЂњdark sideвЂќ of human nature- irrational or destructive desires. (Note particularly вЂMacbeth? and вЂDr Faustus?) Gothic literature is devoted primarily to stories of horror, the fantastic, and the вЂњdarkerвЂќ supernatural forces. The focus on the grotesque in the medieval period (visible especially in the paintings and architecture of the period) provides a key backdrop against which Gothic must be read, as do the violent and often grotesque tragedies written for the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, with their detailed, almost surgical exploration of the supernatural, vice, corruption, imprisonment, brutality and sexuality, all of which were to provide the very substance of the Gothic authors.

Gothic literature elements