LITR 4328: American Renaissance

Model Assignments Final Exam Essays 2016 assignment Sample answers for C1. Variations on Gothic

Laura Elizabeth Wilson        

December 7, 2016

The Gothic: American Tragedies

There has always been an element of human nature drawn to darkness and the macabre, which is one of the many reasons Gothic literature is so popular. Gothic themes, and the authors synonymous with it, are found in most popular and classic literature, one of the reasons those stories last. When we read Gothic stories, our mind is allowed to indulge those repressed fears and desires we normally don’t acknowledge, and indulging our darker side is a time-honored tradition, a thread that can be traced back as long as there have been written records of literature.

Most of the success and enjoyment of Gothic literature comes from its ability to draw correspondence between a haunted space and the haunted mind of its characters. Poe was a master of this, and it’s impossible to talk about Gothic narratives without discussing him. One of the most popular Gothic writers, Poe was skilled at instilling a sense of the foreboding in the readers mind early in his stories through use of superlative language as a dark Romantic rhetoric, and vivid descriptions of Gothic settings that correspond to the torment of his protagonist’s mind. In his short story William Wilson, the first paragraph contains many example of this, “a cloud, dense, dismal, and limitless, does it not hang eternally between thy hopes and heaven?” (Poe). This line immediately invokes the morose, haunted nature of the narrator, and draws the reader in.

   The Gothic setting in British Gothic literature is usually an old house or castle, with dark corridors and sinister rooms, but that is substituted in the American Gothic with the unexplored vastness of nature. This is called the wilderness Gothic. In James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, the wilderness Gothic is employed with great effect to imply the dangers of an untamed land. Unseen peril lurks in the vast forest, described as “numberless trunks of trees, that rose, in dark lines, in the intermediate space” (Cooper). A familiar Gothic motif is the dark lady/fair lady which is used by Cooper to describe Cora and Alice. This is a similar motif to twinning, which can often be found in Gothic literature, such as the aforementioned William Wilson. The dark haired Cora is described as being wild and impetuous, while fair Alice is mild and therefore more attractive. Cora also shows much more strength on their journey, drawing correspondence between the wild at heart, and the wild, dark setting.

Nathanial Hawthorne also employs the wilderness Gothic in his short story Young Goodman Brown. Like Cooper, he paints the forest as a sinister place of danger and uncertainty, a place with “deepening gloom” (Hawthorne), but where he especially captures the imagination is in employing religious and Gothic symbolism in what is called the Puritan Gothic. Hawthorne utilizes the color code of black, white, and red typically used in the Gothic, but turns the implications of the light and dark on their heads. While the main story of the terrible events Goodman Brown witnesses take place in the dark forest, it is in the light of day that his true horror begins. Back in his village he’s unable to let go of the dark vision, letting it twist him into a “Sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful” (Hawthorne) man. Hawthorne does this with great effect to illustrate the realities of morality, that things aren’t black and white but thinking of them can be damaging. In a certain way, using the Puritan Gothic in this way, Hawthorne is able to create a more realistic atmosphere than many other Gothic authors by tapping into our conscience and asking what does right or wrong mean to us.

Though Hawthorne inspires a measure of realism in the reader, Rebecca Harding Davis provides a stark look at society in her use of Gothic Realism. In Life in the Iron Mills, Davis combines Gothic imagery with realistic detail when describing Hugh’s death with “Nothing that moved, save the black, nauseous stream of blood dripping slowly from the pallet to the floor”, creating a chilling and graphic scene in the readers mind. This use of the Gothic is a kind of dark escapism. By reading something so real, but elevated to a horrific standard we can experience our based emotions and purge negative feelings through reading about the problems of others, which is called catharsis.

Indulging in the elements of a Gothic narrative can be a very cathartic experience, a tradition that could draw parallels to the tragedies of Ancient Greece, as defined by Aristotle. According the philosopher, a tragedy must have a tragic hero, which could show correspondence to the Byronic Hero motif of the Gothic. Consider the similarities between Achilles as portrayed by Homer, and Magua in The Last of the Mohicans. Both could be classified as attractive, dark, compelling, and dangerous to know. Another similar theme is the story holding societal value, or a having a lesson to be learned. This would be most applicable to the works of Irving and Hawthorne. I was reminded of this idea when I read Matt Chavez’s essay from 2010. In it he states “The works of Washington Irving, a notable writer of the wilderness gothic, exist today because of the impact they had on American psychology, securing them as essential American lore” (Chavez). This description of them as lore would also make them a parable, that is, an analogy for a moral lesson or principle, and according to Aristotle, the inclusion of a moral value to the story is an essential component of a tragedy. Of course, not all the comparisons hold true. Most classic Greek tragedies get to that moral component through some kind of external adventure or events, while the majority of Gothic narratives invoke a much more psychological response by dealing with mental anguish, rather than physical. This emphasis on the psychological effects makes the literature of the American Renaissance much easier to identify with, which is likely the reason it is much more widely read than the Ancient classics.

There is something immensely satisfying about reveling in grim, sinister atmospheres. It lets us experience the thrill of indulging fears we normal don’t acknowledge. This is seen in a great many avenues, from movies and tv shows, to fashion and stores like Hot Topic, and of course literature. Reading tales of the Gothic gives us an outlet to purge and experience negative emotions like fear, or explore the darker parts of our mind. The need for catharsis is one of our most human habits, and for that reason I can’t imagine any reason the Gothic will stop being relevant.