Gothic novel

The gothic novel is an English literary genre, which can be said to have been born with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. It is the predecessor to modern horror fiction and it above all has led to the common definition of gothic as being connected to the dark and horrific.

Later developments

In England, the gothic novel as a genre had largely played itself out by 1840. This was largely helped by the over-saturation of the genre by cheap 'pulp' writers - works that would later morph into cheap horror fiction in the form of Penny dreadfuls as well as a reduction in the genres respectability since the turn of the century caused by the publication of works, such as Matthew Gregory Lewis' The Monk in 1796, a shocking (particularly at the time) tale of sex, violence and debauchery that almost bordered on the pornographic. However it had a lasting effect on the development of literary form in the Victorian period. It led to the Victorian craze for short ghost stories and the short shocking macabre tale mastered by Edgar Allan Poe. It also was a heavy influence on Charles Dickens who read gothic novels as a teenager and incorporated their gloomy atmosphere and melodrama into his own works, but shifting them to a more modern period. The mood and themes of the gothic novel held a particular fascination for the Victorians, with their morbid obsession with mourning rituals, Mementos, and mortality in general, which led to them becoming a widespread literary influence.

Related Topics:
England - 1840 - Penny dreadful - Matthew Gregory Lewis - The Monk - 1796 - Ghost stories - Edgar Allan Poe - Charles Dickens - Mourning rituals - Memento

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