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Irish Gothic Literature, 2007.
This paper is an overview of Irish Gothic literature, featuring many writers including Charles Maturin and Maria Edgeworth.
1,160 words (approx. 4.6 pages), 3 sources, MLA, AU$ 57.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that Irish Gothic literature is similar to standard Gothic genre in its regular themes of usurpation, unnatural happenings and the elements of terror; however, Irish Gothic literature seems to take on more readily political and religious colors. The author points out that a frequent motif is the abandoned and decaying "big house", which refers to the big houses of the Protestant upper classes of the ascendancy; the absentee landlord as a recurrent evil character such as Charles Maturin's "Melmoth the Wanderer" (1820) and Maria Edgeworth's "Castle Rackrent" (1800) and "The Absentee" (1812). The paper relates that critics do not agree on the relationship between Irish Gothic literature and politics because Irish authors diverge on the degree to which the political situation impacted the Irish writers of this period.
From the Paper
"Maria Edgeworth's "Castle Rackrent" gave birth to the so called "regional novel" and attracted the attention of the English public essentially for its romantic vision. However, Edgeworth belongs to the more "realistic" tradition and differs somewhat from James MacPherson whose "Temora" (1763) had been very well-accepted too. Edgeworth's novel was the first one of its genre. An old steward relates the eccentricities of three generations of Rackrents (Irish landlords) whose original name was O'Shaughlin and is related to the kings of Ireland."
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Gothic Literature, 2002.
A discussion of the origins of gothic literature from the philosophies of Plato.
2,008 words (approx. 8.0 pages), 5 sources, MLA, AU$ 91.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how Plato's understanding of the form and function of art can help us to situate the epistemological stance of Gothic Victorian literature - a set of literary endeavors that was also deeply committed to the mimetic, although not precisely in the way that Plato outlined. It looks at how the world of Victorian writers and readers was one whose epistemological and physical borders were each day being pushed further back.
From the Paper
"We may now turn to the ways in which the world of the 19th-century Gothic novel confirmed (even if in many cases unknowingly) to the precepts laid down by Plato. The world of 19th England was one in flux, in which a number of traditional certainties had been cast aside. Society was becoming once and forever unhinged from its traditional agrarian base, and in this process people were losing the compass points that had guided their ancestors for generations. The world for the resident of the Victorian era was at once vaster and more frightening, more full of discoveries to be made than it had been since the Age of Exploration."
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The Vampire and Gothic Literature, 2004.
An analysis of the changing representations of the vampire in Gothic literature.
2,215 words (approx. 8.9 pages), 5 sources, APA, AU$ 99.95
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Abstract
This paper examines vampire literature and its preoccupation with polymorphous sexuality, homosexuality, gender, compulsory heterosexuality and Christianity. It primarily focuses on Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" ("Interview with a Vampire") and Bram Stoker's "Dracula".
From the Paper
"Anne Rice's debut novel, Interview with the Vampire, presented the moral agony of Louis de Pointe du Lac, the young American French Catholic vampire from New Orleans who had been created by an older and more cynical French vampire, Lestat de Lioncourt. His life story, as told to a young journalist, not only describes life with his maker and especially Lestat's other creature, the six-year-old Claudia, but does so from the perspective of an anguished person who experiences typical vampire blood lust, but cannot bear to take human life. While other vampires in literature, including Lestat, have embraced their evil and murderous natures without conscience, Anne Rice was the first to show the moral ambivalence a fledgling vampire might feel."
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Monstrosity in Literature, 2005.
This paper explores the theme of monstrosity in literature, as presented in Charlotte Bronte's novel "Jane Eyre" and its prequel Jean Rhys novel "Wide Sargasso Sea".
1,435 words (approx. 5.7 pages), 8 sources, MLA, AU$ 68.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that Charlotte Bronte in her novel "Jane Eyre" and Jean Rhys in her novel "Wide Sargasso Sea" tell the same story of humanity and monstrosity, sanity and madness, but the monsters are different. The author points out that Bronte comes from romanticism and Gothicism movements in literature; whereas, Rhys, generations later, reflexes modernism and surrealism. The paper relates that Bronte's madwoman, "beastly Bertha Mason", imprisoned in the attic, is described as unfeminine and inhumane, and example of how a Victorian lady ought not to behave. The author highlights that Jean Rhys tells a more complete story of "Bertha Mason" who in this story is really Antoinette, the first Mrs. Rochester. The paper states that, in this version, this character is not regarded as being a monster but rather is pitied. The author concludes that, in Rhys' novel, Mr. Rochester is the monstrosity because of his lack of humanity and compassion.
From the Paper
"It shouldn't go without saying, however, that some critics believe "Jane Eyre" was before it's time in its view of the humane and inhumane. It is believed that perhaps Charlotte Bronte, despite a Victorian upbringing, was making a statement about her society's expectation and marginalization of women. In "Jane Eyre", Bertha Mason, despite being described as physically frightening, ghastly and intimidating, is not described as being cruel to the protagonist, nor is she described as having inhumane personal qualities. In fact, it is quite the opposite."
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Cooper and Brown: Early American Literature, 2002.
This paper discusses in detail James Fenimore Cooper?s ?The Last of the Mohicans? and Charles Brockden Brown?s ?Wieland? and their contributions to the development of American literature.
1,690 words (approx. 6.8 pages), 2 sources, MLA, AU$ 78.95
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Abstract
The author reviews in detail the ?The Last of the Mohicans? and ?Wieland?. She concludes that they are different in style and genre. Both Cooper and Brown contributed greatly to the development of a distinctly American literature. Cooper adapted the Romance; Charles Brockden Brown adapted the European Gothic novel to the American context. Cooper's influence is seen in frontier fiction; Brown's influence, in the works of Poe and Hawthorne.
From the Paper
"James Fenimore Cooper wrote in the vein of European Romantic writers like Walter Scott, while Charles Brockden Brown recreated the new form of the Gothic novel. Both adapted the original forms to the American experience, which meant not only embedding them in the land but also shifting the focus from aristocratic European characters to the common man in the democratic social order in America. Both Cooper and Brown elevated the common man over any ideas about the superiority of the aristocracy and did so in the American setting."
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Monsters in Literature, 2006.
This in-depth paper analyzes various works of Western literature in which the authors utilize monsters or images of evil to symbolically represent the dark side of humanity.
4,151 words (approx. 16.6 pages), 11 sources, MLA, AU$ 161.95
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Abstract
The writer of this well-researched paper contends and explains the manner in which the theme of monsters in classic Western literature originates from religious, cultural and linguistic sources. This paper focuses primarily on Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," both classic romantic novels which clearly depict dark and gothic images. This paper explores Shelley's writing style which illustrates how evil can emerge from the human psyche literally as well as symbolically. The writer discusses and details the similarities in both novels. This paper analyzes Hugo's intention when describing Quasimodo who is slightly more appealing than Frankenstein, albeit Quasimodo's appearance does convey a certain amount of fear. This paper contains several selected portions of text from both novels which are relevant to the specific topic detailed in this paper. The writer also discusses how this particular style of dark writing has evolved in more contemporary and up-to-date works by authors such as Stephen King as well as in films such as "Fatal Attraction" and "Silence of the Lambs."
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Frankenstein: Who Was the Real Monster?
Victor Hugo's Hunchback: An Illustrative Device
Allegory or Entertainment?
Modern Monsters: The Theme Continued
Conclusions
Works Cited
From the Paper
"There is little question that Hugo fully intended Quasimodo to evoke horror in his readers. He creates Quasimodo as a grotesquely deformed, almost non-verbal, and deaf. Interestingly, Hugo assigns the character a friend, if not a creator as in Frankenstein, but as a protector--one who supposedly has the best interests of the monster at heart. This friend, Dom Claude Frollo, ironically on some levels represents the "best" of humanity as is exemplified by his devotion to the Church and a life of God. However, the reader soon sees the irony, as well as the inherent evil of the human heart not in the monster, but in the supposedly "good" human man. This, the reader sees most clearly in the following passage, perhaps one of the most striking in the novel, when Frollo, a supposed beacon of hope and mercy, passes by Quasimodo being tortured by a terrible mob."
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Gothic Literature, 2002.
A discussion of the theory of excess within Gothic Literature and the differences between male and female Gothic with a focus on Matthew Lewis?s "The Monk" and Ann Radcliffe?s "The Italian".
2,440 words (approx. 9.8 pages), 10 sources, MLA, AU$ 107.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how Gothic Literature pushed the boundaries of the romance narrative to create stories that were fuelled with fantasy and desire which expanded the realm of the imagination by exciting mystery and intrigue, bringing to the foreground an animated spectacle of terrific apparitions and horrifying spectres. In particular, it demonstrates how within the novels "The Italian" and "The Monk", both Lewis and Radcliffe contrive to produce emotions and passions from an animated and mysterious literary fiction. It looks at how Radcliffe?s use of excess is to create suspense and mystery, fear and anticipation, in a more passive manner that evokes reader empathy while Lewis theatrically uses excess to heighten the realism and wickedly expose the precarious features of Gothicism. It shows how both undeniably use it to create excitement and passion at a socially transgressive time.
From the Paper
"It is the Monk Schedoni in The Italian who warps the Marchesa?s already vicious mind into acts of iniquitous behaviour. Although the Marchesa?s aristocratic values concerning ?bad blood? between Vivaldi and Ellena start the cogs turning in the wheel of evil towards Ellena, it is the Monk who systematically perverts the thoughts of the Marchesa from wrong to evil: ?He wished to prepare her for measures, which might hereafter be necessary to accomplish the revenge he meditated, and he knew that by flattering her vanity, he was most likely to succeed.? (Italian 130) However Schedoni uses the Marchesa for his profane revenge on the consequences of primogeniture and seeks to repair the damages caused from his exclusion of his family on that of the Marchese di Vivaldi."
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Gothic Revival Architecture, 2002.
This paper discusses that the Gothic style was used by the Ecclesiologists in their Gothic Revival church architecture.
2,525 words (approx. 10.1 pages), 4 sources, AU$ 135.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that the Gothic style was more or less successfully translated to the construction of the Christ Church Cathedral of Montreal. The author points out that, originally, this style was developed in England in the early part of the nineteenth century and became a defining style in Canadian architecture from the 1840's to the early twentieth century.
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Gothic Architecture, 2007.
This paper explores the rise of Gothic architecture in the Romantic Period.
815 words (approx. 3.3 pages), 3 sources, MLA, AU$ 42.95
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Abstract
The paper discusses the movement away from classical designs in the Romantic Period. The paper describes the new taste for Gothic architecture that was a response to science and technology that challenged old views and ideas of reality. The paper looks at John Vanbrugh's Blenheim Palace, Horace Walpole's magnificent Strawberry Hill residence and Hagley Park's Gothic ruin as examples of the Gothic style in the 18th century.
Outline:
Introduction
Blenheim Palace
Walpole's Strawberry Hill
Stuart's Sham Gothic Ruin
From the Paper
"Between 1750 and 1850 in Europe, a new artistic style arose and prospered in Europe, one which is now referred to as the Romantic Period. This period originated toward the end of the 18th century in Germany, where critics wished to distinguish between "modern" traits and "classical" traits, such as those found in ancient Greek and Roman art forms. At this time, many artisans and supporters of the arts in Europe, particularly in England where Romanticism in literature began, revolted against the observable regularity of classical art and moved instead toward a style that had its beginnings some four hundred years before during the Medieval Era."
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Gothic Elements in "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights", 2002.
Examines the similar gothic settings and themes in both Bronte sisters novels.
2,435 words (approx. 9.7 pages), 2 sources, AU$ 107.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at the many similarities in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights", and Charlotte Bronte's novel, "Jane Eyre". The author discusses the gothic elements present in both books: the dark, the hidden, the secrets, and the brooding characters like Heathcliff and Mr. Rochester. The paper examines the element of the occult in both novels: ghosts, visions, the dead Catharine, and insane Bertha Mason Rochester.
From the Paper:
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Traditionally, Gothic elements were constituted by the ambiguous, the chaotic, the unenlightened, the supposedly irrational, the dark, the hidden, and the secret. According to literary handbooks, Gothic is a matter of d?cor and mood, of an obscurely pleasurable terror, of the nostalgic melancholy of ruins and of remote times and places. Conventions familiar in Gothic narratives include a vulnerable/curious heroine, a wealthy/enigmatic hero/villain, and a grand, mysterious dwelling concealing violent secrets."
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Gothic Design, 2006.
A review of the history of Gothic architecture and interior design.
2,475 words (approx. 9.9 pages), 2 sources, AU$ 141.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses interior design during and after the Gothic revival of the late eighteenth century, noting that True Gothic architecture originally developed from the Romanesque style, emerging in the twelfth century. According to the paper, this style dominated until the beginning of the Renaissance in the fifteenth century. Gothic architecture is noted for size and elaborate decoration. However, Gothic architecture is first defined in terms of a change in Romanesque church architecture when diagonal ribs were added to the groin-vault, as is first seen at the Abbey Church of St. Denis near Paris.
From the Paper
"Gothic architecture developed in the twelfth century and was revived several times, notably with a major revival beginning in the eighteenth century and spreading throughout Europe and to America. Gothic interior design was included, though it changed over this time and was often more an evocation of the Gothic rather than an actual copy of the original style. From the mid-eighteenth century until the rise of Fascism in this century was a long era in Italian history during which certain trends cold be observed that linked the decades together. At the beginning of this era, Italy as a country did not exist. "
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The Symbolism of Gothic Architecture, 2005.
An analysis of the development of Gothic architecture, considering symbolism, imagery and technical innovations.
1,970 words (approx. 7.9 pages), 5 sources, APA, AU$ 90.95
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Abstract
This paper begins with the symbolic spacial layout of Gothic architecture and relates it to medieval society in general. Also discussed is the cruciform shape of Gothic cathedrals and the symbolism of the cross. The paper also catalogues the main imagery found in Gothic churches and how it relates to the architecture, including windows and light symbolism. Finally, historical interpretations in churches are discussed such as the "New Jerusalem" and the "Garden of Paradise".
From the Paper
"Despite the romantic observations of Schlegel and Laugier, seeing a forest in the cathedral, Frankl again makes the sober comment that "as far as we know, the architect of Durham did not ask himself how he could give a vault the form of a tree-top, so that it should represent paradise: it was only after the Gothic style had logically developed within the terms of the 'law according to which it had been born' . . . that the house of God became vegetal in form." In an essay on the symbolism of Gothic architecture, it is important to point out, lest we get carried away, that technological innovations were the impetus for a good deal of what came to constitute the style as such. "
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American Gothic Conventions, 2008.
This paper analyzes the use and development of American gothic in John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Richard Wright's "Native Son" and the Charles Laughton directed film, "The Night of the Hunter."
1,922 words (approx. 7.7 pages), 5 sources, MLA, AU$ 88.95
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Abstract
The paper looks at the use of American Gothic in three works, John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Richard Wright's "Native Son" and the Charles Laughton directed film, "The Night of the Hunter". The paper shows how gothic elements such as terror, heightened emotionalism, foreboding, dreamscapes and the supernatural are all used to broaden the reading or viewing experience of the audience. The paper also explains the underlying concept of "inescapability". The paper concludes that these works are all among the finest of the American Gothic tradition.
From the Paper
"In Pilgrim's Progress, at least three elements of American Gothic - the use of foreshadowing, emotional tension, and the use of the supernatural ("Typical Elements of American Gothic Fiction," no.5 and no.8) - are immediately apparent. For one thing, the opening scene of the text depicts the narrator in a dream-like state wherein he envisions a man, clothed in rags with a "great burden" upon his shoulders, reading what is (ostensibly) the Bible and weeping with trepidation; it is shortly thereafter that we discover the man's city is about to be destroyed by heavenly fire and that he sees no escape for his family and for himself (Bunyan, "Part I," para.1-2). Not long thereafter, the spectral Evangelist appears to the distraught Pilgrim and tells him to proceed towards a spot of light (the pilgrim is standing in a great field) which will guide him to a wicket-gate at which he will find all the answers he seeks (Bunyan, "Part I," para.8). The dramatic introduction of this inscrutable figure is wholly in keeping with the supernaturalist elements of the gothic tradition ("Typical Elements of American Gothic Fiction," no.6) and it helps also to make Bunyan's protagonist likeable inasmuch as it emphasizes how the pilgrim is at the inescapable mercy of forces beyond his control."
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Gothic in "The Yellow Wallpaper", 2008.
An analysis of 19th century Gothic literary theory in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
2,028 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 4 sources, MLA, AU$ 93.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses how the premise of the "gothic" in Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" reveals the social, domestic, and psychological factors that imprison and terrify the story's narrator. It looks at how the gothic sensibility of this story is revealed through the way that psychology is used through a patriarchal construct in order to control housewives in a male-dominated 19th century gothic household. The paper also examines how the domestic sphere of the narrator's house severely limited her ability to find broader social spheres in which she might find liberation from this patriarchy.
From the Paper
"The gothic tradition in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the deeply embedded in the psychological interior of the narrator's mind, as she must face the gothic patriarchy of her husband. "The narrator's complex vision of the horrors of patriarchy in the "The Yellow Wallpaper" is only matched by the final complex and horrific vision of the senseless and crawling, infantile narrator in a posture that literalizes what she has implied is woman's position in America" (Davison 66). Indeed the climax of the tale depicts John's misdiagnosis of his wife's "minor" problem and disproves his authority in a subversion conclusion when he who "never was nervous in his life" reacts by fainting, thus assuming the traditional role of frail femme (Davison 66)."
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Gothic Churches, 2002.
An essay comparing two Gothic churches in Italy, the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and the Church of S. Maria del Fiore in Florence.
1,572 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 9 sources, MLA, AU$ 74.95
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Abstract
This paper examines two particular Gothic churches ? Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and the Church of S. Maria del Fiore in Florence. Each church is examined for the combination of specific historical forces and styles, the building materials and techniques available to those who constructed them. It also looks at emblems that were used as meaningful symbols and the ways in which Gothic churches connect people to the divine within the Catholic Church in a way that helped people to transcend their daily lives.
From the Paper
"The church of Santa Maria Maggiore is no exception, for it is combination of specific historical forces and styles, the building materials and techniques available to those who constructed it and emblems that have been used as meaningful symbols of the ways in which churches connect people to the divine within the Catholic Church, as Kulterman (p. 12) argues."
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Gothic Architecture and Renaissance Architecture, 2005.
A comparative analysis of Gothic and Renaissance architecture.
675 words (approx. 2.7 pages), 3 sources, AU$ 38.95
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Abstract
This paper compares Gothic architecture and Renaissance architecture, showing the change that came over architecture with the shift from the more massive and decorated style of the Gothic to the cleaner classical lines of the Renaissance, a period which also borrowed from the Moslem style to make new use of the dome, as in religious buildings by Brunelleschi.
From the Paper
"Gothic architecture developed from the Romanesque style and emerged in the twelfth century. It prevailed until the Renaissance beginning in the fifteenth century. Gothic architecture was marked by size and elaborate decorations. However, Gothic architecture was first defined in terms of a change in Romanesque church architecture diagonal ribs were added to the groin-vault, as was first seen at the Abbey Church of St. Denis near Paris (Frankl 1). In part because of its origins, Gothic architecture has long been associated with France and is considered a French style, though in fact, others used it as well. Gothic architecture is probably represented for many people by Notre-Dame de Paris, a facade known from countless stories and other representations as well as for itself. "
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