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CHAPTER 1
THE ENGLISH GOTHIC NOVEL
This chapter focuses on the Gothic mode, in particular its origins and
meanings and how it spread in various fields, above all that of literature.
Moreover, I focus on how, the Gothic, has evolved over the course of
centuries till the present day. The publication of Castle of Otranto by
Horace Walpole
4
in 1764 marked its beginning; this genre is distinguished
by its own features: it has a dark and grotesque atmosphere and outlandish
characters. Obviously, during centuries it branched out in other different
subgenres, among them, for instance, the ‘Female Gothic’, developed
thanks to the publication of The Romance in the Forest written by Ann
Radcliffe
5
- who is considered the mother of 'Female Gothic'- in 1791. I
should be noted that, on one hand, Ann Radcliffe kept in her works some
features belonging to Walpole such as the settings and the supernatural
phenomena. On the other hand, she introduced a new element: in her works
the main characters are all women, fighting to overcome obstacles and
dangers and acquire their place in the world.
If Radcliffe is considered the mother of “Female Gothic”, Lewis is set the
pattern of the “masculine” form, which, as Alison Milbank observes,
features “plots of transgression of social taboos by an excessive male
will”
6
. However, in the course of time the Gothic atmospheres affected
writers, such as Edgar Allan Poe
7
who found in this genre a place to
4
Horatio Walpole (September 24, 1717- March 2, 1797) better known as Horace Walpole,
was an English writer. He revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian
successors. He wrote Castle of Otranto, which is considered the first Gothic novel.
5
Ann Radcliffe (July 9, 1764-February 7, 1823) was an English author and pioneer of
Gothic novels. She brought new elements in Gothic genre, indeed, she became the founder
of the Female Gothic.
6
Alison Milbank, Female Gothic, in Romanticism: An Oxford Guide, ed. Nicholas Roe.
(Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 2005),495.
7
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809-October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet,
editor, and literary critic. Poe is known for his poetry and his short macabre short stories;
He is also considered a central figure of Romanticism in the United States.
8
explore psychological trauma, the evils of man and mental illness. Indeed,
all the books, TV series and movies of our days which involve zombie and
creepy castles would not exist were it not for Poe and Mary Shelley.
1.1 Why we are living in Gothic times
'We are living in gothic times' reflected the English writer Angela Carter in
1974 and this idea has been resumed by Carlos Ruiz Zafòn who states
“Ours is a time with a dark heart, ripe for the noir, the gothic and the
baroque”
8
. Indeed, the Gothic does not concern only stories of
women/heroines in Victorian pyjamas who are segregate in their inherited
castles, but it, along with the supernatural, faces deep dynamics, digs in the
human soul and analyses the evils of the world. But just as Angela Carter
said, already in the 1970s people lived in Gothic times: indeed, during this
period a series of tragic events (such as the oil crisis or Watergate) had led
readers to become accustomed to these kinds of topics, but never did we
expect that this decade would be far surpassed, in terms of horror and
anguish, by a series of tragic events that happened at the beginning of the
21
th
century (for instance the 9/11 or the intensified fear of climate
apocalypse) and due to Covid -19 pandemic Gothic elements have become
more and more noticeable. As it obvious, the Covid-19 pandemic has
imprisoned all the global population in their own houses for a long and, in
my opinion, endless time; unfortunately, this situation has led to the
accentuation of several negative moods in the individual that could be
named ' Gothic moods'. The individual, forced into isolation, developed
several ills, such as claustrophobia and, in this juncture to escape from
madness, has had to relearn to socialize through any electronic device.
Even now, two years later, it is hard to leave behind these sensations that
could be identified as part of the phenomenon known as ‘Long Covid’.
Precisely for this reason I think that this is the best moment to deal with
themes that are gloomy and distressing. As Stephen King says: “We make
8
Carlos R. Zafòn, quoted in Hephizibah Anderson, “Why are we living in ‘Gothic times’”,
BBC Culture, 15
th
March, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210311-the-
books-that-are-channelling-our-fears
9
up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”
9
Indeed, it is possible to
notice how the bookstore shelves are full of books with Gothic inspiration,
sure some of them were written before the Covid-19 period but, however,
they represent the present.
However, many volumes published in this period are defined by their
publishers 'Gothic'; and due to this situation several subgenres emerged
like Southern Gothic
10
or Gothic Romance which help to contrast the
generality of a word that seem used to identify every genre: 'dark', because
it is known that today every author is 'Gothic', and it is for this reason that
it is important to underline how this genre include not only novels, but also
film, fashion, videogames, music and so on. The interesting thing of the
Gothic mode is that it is always fashionable and reacts to fear; it is always
linked to the metaphor of terror and anguish, which is personified by
monsters. For instance, Frankenstein’s depiction of scientific hubris,
Dracula’s immigrant vampire or the corrupted masculinity of both Dorian
Gray and Mr. Hyde: each of these icons is considered the embodiment of
social anxiety. But now, a question has to be made: If the Gothic genre
gave birth to this monsters that are the outcome of the issues of their time,
what kind of horrors will emerge with our current issues? Speaking of
this, the last decade has been characterized by a common anxiety: fear
about the 'Other'. This fear has always been fed and spread by right-wing
politicians who have decided to impose their thinking. An Italian example
is Matteo Salvini
11
, federal secretary of the Lega per Salvini, a figure that
may be easily placed in the Gothic. In him it is possible to notice the same
features found in the classic Gothic character, the tyrant prince, who is
completely overpowered by power, flouts all moral, sexual and political
9
Stephen King quoted in Lauren Reagh, “We make up horrors to help us to cope real
ones”, Google, 5
th
September, 2011. https://laurenreagh.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/we-
make-up-horrors-to-help-us
10
Southern gothic, is a subgenres of Gothic practiced by many writers of American South.
These stories are characterized by macabre of fantastic incidents.
https://www.britannica.com/art/Southern-Gothic
11
Matteo Salvini is an Italian politician of the right wing. In Italy, he is known for his
controversial statements against immigrants LGBQT+ community.
10
norms in order to achieve his goal; an example could be Manfred, the main
character in Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole's novel. In our divided
society monstrosity depends on one's personal point of view and according
to Salvini and his supporters 'the Other' is scary. Moreover, in today's
society, feeding these unwarranted fears is a way of spreading fake news,
which, in turn, spread the seed of fear. So, we still living in a world in
which the Gothic is still part of our social and cultural sphere.
1.2 The term ‘Gothic’ and its meanings
Gothic, as a term, has evolved over the centuries, but to better understand
its characteristics and origins, it is necessary to start from the beginning.
Originally, the term Gothic was coined by Giorgio Vasari
12
in XVI century
as a synonym of Nordic and barbaric; indeed, it was used to refer to tribes
of Goths, which came from Germany or Scandinavia. these tribes invaded
central and Southern Europe, particularly Britain and Rome (indeed, they
were considered as English), and, in addition, they contributed to the fall
of the Roman Empire
13
. For this reason, Renaissance scholars denoted by
the term Gothic everything that was pre-Roman. Previously, the ancient
Greeks regarded the Goths as Scythians, a term used by the ancient
historian Herodotus
14
in order to describe the barbarians who lived at
North of the Black Sea. However, there are no reliable sources stating that
those tribes corresponded to the Goths, indeed, according to Michael
12
Giorgio Vasari (July 30, 1511-June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter, architect, engineer,
writer, and historian. He is considered the first modern art historian of evolution. Also, he
wrote several biographies of Renaissance artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo.
13
N.S Gill, “The Hisstory and Origins of the Goths”,ThoughtCo, August 04, 2018.
https://www.thoughtco.com/where-did-thegoths-come-from-119330
14
Herodotus (484-425 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer, lived in the
Greek city of Halicarnassus. Herotodus was the first writer to write about historical
events, indeed, he wrote the Histories, a detailed account of Greco-Perisian Wars.
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Kulikowski
15
the first 'confirmed' Gothic invasion dates back to 238 A.D,
when Goths sacked Istria. From that point on there were a series of
invasions and sackings made, in particular, in Balkan areas. In the end, at
the end of 260 A.D the Roman Empire was defeated by Goths.
16
During the 18
th
century, the term Gothic was used to identify everything
was medieval and, due to this association, became a sort of swear word.
However, this term had a dual function: on one hand, it indicated
everything was primitive and wild. On the other hand, it designated a
specific historical period: “the dark ages”. Because of this dual function
this term represent an era full of ignorance and superstition, but at the
same time, a period of great belief.
As noted above, the Goths invaded Britain and crack down the Roman
Empire, therefore, these events caused them to become the source of the
laws and institutions of England and it is precisely for this reason that the
term acquired another connotation: a nationalist connotation of patriotism
and freedom. Later these connotations were absorbed in both cultural and
literal fields.
The explosion of the Gothic literature match with what is called in
architecture the ‘Gothic Revival’, thus a sort of revival of the medieval
gothic architecture, started in 1740s during the 17
th
century. Some of the
earliest evidence of this revival come from Scotland, for instance, the
castle of Inveraray, built in 1764. During the 19
th
and the beginning of the
20
th
century, the Gothic Revival was used all over the Europe and in the
British Empire to build houses for those who could afford that, obviously,
even though the Gothic architecture was commonly used to build
churches. So, it cannot be denied that there is a correlation between Gothic
novel and architecture; indeed Gothic writers associated medieval
buildings with what they considered a dark and terrifying period,
15
Michael Kulikowski is an American historian. He is Professor of History and Classics
and Head of the History Department at Pennsylvania University. Kulikowski is
specialized in the history of the western Mediterranean world of late antiquity.
16
N.S Gill. “The History and Origins of the Goths”. https://www.thoughtco.com/where-
did-thegoths-come-from-119330
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