Gothic Literature and Romantic Literature - 2607 Words

Novels, written in various styles, maintain their value because each one presents the reader with a new thought to consider. Sometimes however, rather than expanding on an entirely new style to â€Å"suggest a thought† authors borrow characteristics from other novels to express themselves. These borrowed traits are then molded into a new shape. Authors from the Romanticism era did just that. They borrowed traits from Gothic literature to express their thoughts. Although the novels are unique and valued for their distinctiveness, the borrowed traits remain a parallel between the two genres. Traits such as deterioration of characters, love combating sin, return to animalistic priorities, and alienation of human emotion are all depicted in†¦show more content†¦As his soul â€Å"undergoes†¦psychic disorder† (Monsman), his fascination with the grotesqueness of his picture also grows. Watching his picture Gray â€Å"would sit†¦filled†¦with that prideà ¢â‚¬ ¦that is half the fascination of sin†¦smiling with secret pleasure as the misshapen shadow†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wilde 133). Gray becomes interested in seeing his sin come alive on canvas. This in itself represents a man who is unstable mentally, as he derives pleasure from his own image’s ruin. Eventually Dorian’s downward spiral of mental ruin leads to his death. In Romantic literature characters also fall into their own personally created ruin. Miss. Havisham is one example of a character that causes her own destruction. Miss. Havisham stops her life at the precise moment when she was left at the altar (Dickens 179-180), and lets her surroundings fall into ruin to symbolize the deterioration of her body and soul. Miss. Havisham depreciates mentally with personal guilt when she sees the heartless person that her daughter has become. Miss. Havisham becomes no more than â€Å"waxwork and skeleton [with] dark eyes that move† (Dickens 56). Miss. Havisham eventually kills herself as a result of her realization that her actions created a scenario that was the same as hers in Pip. With guilt she ends her life, and ends her spiral into ruin. Characters from Romantic literature exhibit similar characteristics to their Gothic literature counterparts, showcasing the influence that GothicShow MoreRelatedRomantic and Gothic Literature1659 Words   |  7 PagesRomantic and Gothic Literature The gothic literary movement is a part of the larger Romantic Movement. Gothic literature shares many of the traits of romanticism, such as the emphasis on emotions and the imagination. 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Romanticism was an era where the individual becameRead MoreGothic Literature : A Dark Atmosphere967 Words   |  4 PagesSchroder English IV Honors 8 December 2016 Gothic Literature Gothic literature has been popular since the 19th century and has given readers the opportunity to look at romantic movement that focuses on a darker horror like imagination. Some of these involve a combination of extreme landscapes, icy wastes, and extreme weather, horrifying events or the threat of such happenings, as well as supernatural manifestations, and presenting evil. Gothic literature gives us a way of looking more depth intoRead MoreDark Romanticism By Edgar Allen Poe1625 Words   |  7 PagesOne of the biggest literary of all times was known as dark romanticism. This kind of literature comes from the darkness inside of a person. Many people who like this style are know to be obsessed with gothic nature. Dark Romanticism is also know to come from darkness in the human soul, original sin, and a dark outlook on society. Dark Romanticism is the complete opposite of romanticism. According to what is dark romanticism â€Å" Dark Romanticism is. A sort of genre threat combines traditional love objectsRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography On The Novel Frankenstein 764 Words   |  4 Pagesthat the creature went through and how it had affected him later on. Carlson, Katherine L. Childhood and Romantic Literature. Encyclopedia of Literary Romanticism. Infobase Publishing: New York, 2010. Bloom s Literary Reference Online [Facts On File News Services]. Web. 8 May 2015. This source is an overview of Romantic novels that involve childhood in them. One example of the Romantic stories with childhood is Frankenstein. It observes that the creature is like a child of Doctor Frankenstein