‘It has been suggested that the Gothic is a particular way in thinking, feeling and expressing rather than a specific genre limited to a certain place and time’. Compare at least 2 appropriate works to say how far you would support this view. As the quote above indicates the Gothic unlike many types of writing is thought to surpass the chains of bygone eras. It is now as popular in the 21st Century with writers such as Steven King as it was in the 18th Century when authors like Walpole and Lewis were bringing Gothic literature to the forefront of popular culture.
In comparison to novels written in the 19th Century by authors such as Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens and George Elliot which were predominantly Victorian novels, it is thought that novels such as ‘The Italian’ ‘The Castle of Otranto’ and ‘The Monk’ amongst others were firstly recognised as a Gothic novel and then perhaps considered from the time it was written. Botting claimed (1996) “Gothic can perhaps be called the only true literary tradition. Or its stain”. This can be evident by observing novels written since the beginning of the 19th Century, in particular ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ to texts written within the last thirty years such as ‘The Woman in Black’.
The Gothic Tradition has been there to push the boundaries and limitations of society. This is particularly evident within Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. Victor Frankenstein shows thorough fascination with trying to change the world by trying to create life in scientific techniques. During the period of transition into the enlightenment, elements such as this were sure to cause controversy within the public and a whole new idea was implemented into the structure of the Gothic in religious terms. Previous to the publication of ‘Frankenstein’, Lewis published ‘The Monk’ showing the utter corruption of those in a religious vocation.
However, in the case of ‘Frankenstein’ he usurped the role of God by taking the power and using it in a negligent manner. Victor had decided to “lift up the veil concealing the wonderful phenomena of living nature”, and alter this to dangerous effects. ‘Frankenstein’ also brings about religious connotations such as references such as the ‘fallen angel’ in relation to Paradise Lost. The importance of this is that by Frankenstein creating life in a scientific manner without religion or females is doing it falsely, and has much in relation to the controversial matter of cloning which is on-going in today’s society which shows in a sense that elements of Frankenstein are not limited to a certain place or time.
Another aspect concerning the conflict between the creature and Victor in ‘Frankenstein’ is that in this specific tale, gothic elements turn the power struggle between the protagonist and antagonist onto its head. In many Gothic texts old and new such as Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Jamaica Inn’ or ‘The Castle of Otranto’ has a character labelled inherently evil who chases the innocent victim. However in ‘Frankenstein’, the creature is automatically labelled as the malevolent antagonist which is not the case. He is described as disfigured, “His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness;…with his watery eyes…his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips” creating a terrifyingly gothic description of his appearance creating a sense of uncannyness.
But the truth is that without societal pressures, the creature would not have committed the crimes he did, as he was the purest being which links in with theories submitted by William Godwin who thought that individuals could only learn to be good and virtuous if they were integrated into society. So, overall, it is the actions of other people that have forced the creature to murder people such as William, Elizabeth and Clerval. This is much like in ‘Wuthering Heights’, where the actions of characters such as Hindley and Edgar has helped turn Heathcliff into a ‘monster’, and also in ‘The Woman In Black’ Jennet was forced to give her child up in traditional Victorian value system and then suffer grieving over the death of her son. So, in the main texts I have studied regarding the Gothic tradition all show that the villains are placed there due to circumstance rather than to choice.
Psychological Gothic, I believe, is another element that cannot be constricted to a certain time and place. For instance, the uncanny is present within Frankenstein, which can be backed up by a quote by Jentsch, “doubts whether an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate” relating to the uncanny effects created by Shelley concerning the creature. I say that it surpasses time and space because Frankenstein was written in 1818, and Freud came up with his approach on the unheimlich over a hundred years later in 1919. This therefore shows us how the idea of the uncanny (and other psychological areas on which I will be focusing on later in my essay) was not merely structured into Shelley’s time but was still evident a century later.
Also within Frankenstein, the Oedipus complex is evident in the framework of a dream which has incestuous overtones regarding Elizabeth but also demonstrates Victor’s fear of sexuality and sexual repression is a key idea within the Gothic tradition. While Victor is afraid of his sexuality, it might be worth considering that Justine could represent uncontrolled feminine sexuality by linking her situation with that of the governess in ‘The Turn of The Screw’. It is also possible to consider ‘Wuthering Heights’ to have incestuous tones within Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship as the two of them were brought up together as brother and sister, and some critics have claimed even further that Heathcliff may have been the late Mr Earnshaw’s illegitimate child.
Another form of psychological gothic present is that of ‘the double’ or ‘doppelganger’ within Frankenstein, the creature is Victor. This idea of shared or multiple personalities can be closely linked to Stevenson’s ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Gothic texts have implications on characters to disturb them such as psychological illnesses in tales such as ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ and to a certain extent, ‘The Woman In Black’ whose grief over the loss of a child drove her to revenge and mental instability. So no matter whether the novel was published in 1818 or 1983 psychology plays a major part in the role of gothic themes.
However, saying this, ‘The Woman In Black’ is essentially a Victorian novel even though it was written in 1983, only 22 years ago. I think this may be important because even though in realist terms Gothic isn’t necessarily ‘limited to a certain place and time’ it may be most affective set within a certain place and time. As the setting of ‘The Woman In Black’ has an isolated, damp and eerie surrounding created to add tension most effectively. This is a replication of setting from ‘Great Expectations’, ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ as they all have elements of the sublime concerning nature.
Another element of ‘The Woman in Black’ is the fight between good and evil. Arthur Kipps is structured as fighting for the side of good, a Christian crusader if you like, trying to solve the mystery of the Woman in black, while she, Jennet, fights for the side of evil. Her actions are shown to be malicious and detrimental to those undeserving, as she represents an embodiment of evil. This can be related to ‘Frankenstein’ where in chapter 10; there is a confrontation between Frankenstein and the Creature which exemplifies a typical religious battle between creator (i.e. God) and creation (Adam) from ‘Paradise Lost’. But as well within the text there is the internal battle for the creature that despite all his misery is desperate to be Adam, but cannot help but to be the fallen angel Satan.
There are so many differences between the two texts that I have concentrated on, especially when illustrating supernatural elements. Kipps experiences a supernatural incident which cannot be explained by sceptics as easily as it can be in the case of ‘Frankenstein’. In ‘Frankenstein’ it is fair to say that nothing supernatural occurs, however it is not acceptable to state that it is not out of the ordinary – because it certainly is. But the creature is a living human being who just is driven to revenge through lack of belonging. ‘The Woman In Black’ however involves ghosts and curses and many key gothic themes which add to the supernatural themes enhancing a gothic element. So it is fair to say that Gothic does express a particular way of thinking, feeling and expressing.
To conclude, I agree with the quote ‘It has been suggested that the Gothic is a particular way in thinking, feeling and expressing rather than a specific genre limited to a certain place and time’ because from my essay there are notions that exceed certain eras and still exist in literature to this very day. ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘The Woman In Black’ are both classed as Gothic novels but have very different elements which make them Gothic. Steven Mallatrat commented on ‘The Woman In Black’ saying that “the way it had worked on my imagination” made it stand out, while critics have commented on Frankenstein, “If, however, the gothic imagination is enlisted not as a mechanistic technique but as an aesthetic to help convey other sensations or philosophies, then it may deserve lasting attention” demonstrates my point as in Frankenstein, gothic is just within the text while in ‘The Woman in Black’ Hill employs many gothic techniques. But all texts have had impacts on later texts.
For ‘The Woman In Black’ Hill had been inspired by Dickens as a writer, but also ‘The Woman In White’ by Wilkie Collins, ‘The Turn of The Screw’ by Henry James and ‘I’ll Whistle and I’ll Come to You my Lord’ by M R James. ‘Frankenstein’ was inspired by Romantics of the time, as well as scientists such as Humphrey Davy. But the quintessential inspiration for gothic novel has to be Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’ as “The Spirit of enquiry which Walpole introduced was rather frivolous though pleasing. The spawn is in every novel shop”.
