Origins of Gothic

18th century Gothic fiction actually begins with art & architecture – a look back to the medieval world. England began to find itself in the midst of a societal unraveling throughout the 18th century. The philosophies of Shaftsbury, Adam Smith and David Hume – which for most of the century had provided the intellectual and upper classes with theories of action and motivation that justified their self-interested behavior – began to reveal themselves as insupportable.

The contradiction between the English ideology in which individual desires and collective needs “participated in perfect reciprocity” and the actual economic and political conditions began to surface. It is out of this social climate that the look back to medievalism grew.

Gothic castles were built as symbols of enduring power. They were uncompromising declarations of dynastic ambition that rested on their owner’s control of others. Intended to evoke feudal powers, they were images of force, hierarchy, stability and command.

How does this connect to a literature that by contrast provides reminders that power is ephemeral, that controls fail, and hierarchies totter? The connection is the emphasis on emo

. . .
Manfred’s surviving child – Matilda – releases Theodore and he falls in love with her. He was determined to “build a little Gothic castle” and spent 44 years improving the house. During all these complications, a young friar named Jerome appears, who is discovered to be Theodore’s father.

The notably unerotic romantic passages in Walpole’s tale serve his preoccupation with confused paternity and usurpation of power houses.

Walpole deployed all the theatrical scenery and stereotypes that were to characterize gothic stories for a generation. Eventually, Manfred – who is distracted by supernatural menaces and inflamed with alcohol, surprises Theodore who is talking to a woman at Alfonso’s tomb and stabs her before he realizes that she is his daughter – Matilda. Later a courtly knight arrives, whom Theodore wounds in combat before it is realized that he is Frederic – Isabella’s long lost father. One critic argued that Walpole liked to express what was serious in his life in terms of artifice, elegance and mocking laughter. In the 1740’s Walpole purchased Strawberry Hill – “a little plaything house” overlooking the Thames. This combined with the paraphernalia of graveyard poetry written by 18th century melancholics like Beattie, Gray & Thompson – which emphasize the themes of human mortality, the cultivation of the sublime and chivalric imagery – became the groundwork and staples for Gothic literature.

With this begins a hectic story of supernatural relics, gigantic ghosts, dark prophecies, usurpation, dynastic pride, sacrilegious murder, foul lust, spectral visions, swooning humans, and slammed doors. Inspired, as he claims, by a dream, Walpole transformed Strawberry Hill into the setting for what has been generally agreed to be the first Gothic novel – The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764. The gigantic ghost of Alfonso then destroys the castle, and Manfred confesses to his family’s usurpation before abdicating in favor of Theodore.

Repeatedly Manfred’s domestics step in or out at inopportune times, officiously revealing information Manfred has tried to keep hidden or insisting with stupid persistence on a fact that immediately reveals Manfred’s dark designs – thus heightening a ridiculousness to the scenes.

Common topics in this essay:
David Hume, Marquis Vincenzas, Eventually Manfred, Strawberry Hill, Elizabeth Napier, Deffand Presque, Castle Otranto, Repeatedly Manfreds, Theodore Isabella, Gothic Literature, 18th century, castle otranto, strawberry hill, gothic novel, gothic novels, medieval world, daughter –, conrads death, art architecture, – isabella,

Approximate Word count = 1260
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Already a member? Click here