Sample Student Research Project 2010
Journal
LITR
4232 American Renaissance
Sample Student Research Project 2010
Journal
28 November 2010
Crazy is as Crazy Does
Introduction: Psychological
Gothic Style
The Gothic style
is one used to evoke feelings of repressed fears or longing haunted desires.
Haunted settings or the shades of light and dark are used to convey these
repressed feelings. When the word repressed is used here it is referring to the
psychological aspect of the mind. Dreams and fantasies that are locked deep
within the mind that can sometimes seem psychologically disturbing are Gothic.
In Linda Bayer-Berenbaum’s book, The
Gothic Imagination, she writes that “Dream states, drug states, and states
of intoxication have always been prevalent in the Gothic novel because repressed
thoughts can surface in them; under their influence inhibitions are minimized,
and thus the scope of consciousness is widened” (25). Repressed thoughts are
part of the Gothic psychological style. Authors use haunting language to
describe the deterioration of the human mind and expose dark corners that
usually remain unexplored.
Often when one
thinks of the words psychological and Gothic, one reverts to the famous haunted
author, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe indeed has created literature of psychological
labyrinths in the human mind that are twisted and winding in such texts as
“William Wilson” and “Fall of the House of Usher.”
Poe creates an interior maze inside the mind for a Gothic metaphor into
psychology. While Poe has successfully done this so have other authors. For
instance, Washington Irving’s The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow and Mary Shelly’s
Frankenstein are examples that
have dealt with the psychological Gothic Style. Entertainment such as movies and
TV have also explored the psychological Gothic Style through such hit movies as
Walt Disney’s classic remake of Alice and
Wonderland, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter
Island, and Showtime’s big bloody series
Dexter.
In the book A Companion
to the Gothic Michelle A. Masse writes in her piece “Psychoanalysis and the
Gothic” that “The connection between literature and psychoanalysis is as old as
psychoanalysis itself. For the psychoanalytic critic, the elements, structures,
and themes that constitute the ‘make-believe’ world of the literary text speak
to the desires and fears of both authors and readers” (229). The psychological
Gothic style lends itself to repression of dark desires and fears that become
too overwhelming to stay inside thus creating the style.
In all of these
examples there are twists and turns that obviously relate to the psychology and
dark corners of the human mind. Images are personified in these examples so that
the psychology of the mind is illustrated and can be considered in different
ways from repressed desires to doubling of one’s self.
The Psychology of Repression
Repression is key
to the Gothic psychological style. The intentionally or sub-consciously
forgotten memory is what unlocks the hidden mind. When a memory or desire is
repressed it is usually because it is not wanted or allowed in certain
“accepted” regards of the mind. The mind is supposed to function in an orderly
and civilized manner so when a thought creeps up that is disturbing they are
deemed to be forgotten. In the book The
Return of the Repressed Valdine Clemens writes that:
This ‘return of the repressed,’ or emergence of whatever has
been previously rejected by consciousness, is a fundamental dynamism of Gothic
narratives. Something—some entity, knowledge, emotion, or feeling—which has been
submerged or held at bay because it threatens the established order of things,
develops a cumulative energy that demands its release and forces it to the realm
of visibility where it must be acknowledged. (4)
The psychological Gothic style deals with this repression in
literature and film throughout time. Repression is a key ingredient for creating
the Gothic psychology of the mind.
Many texts and authors deal with repression and dream states
that become a vicarious window for readers to see the psychological Gothic at
its finest. The obvious Gothic of haunting, blood, and dark colors enhance the
actual acts of the repressed mind in these texts. Enter at your own risk!
“William Wilson”
In Edgar Allan
Poe’s “William Wilson” the narrator is struggling with his twin alter ego. The
narrator does not seem to realize that this twin is inside of his head and
ultimately is going to war with himself. He struggles throughout the story to
cope with his twin and runs from his double until he finally decides to murder
him. The Gothic psychology surrounds this text because William Wilson is
fighting himself inside his own mind. He is driving himself into madness by not
being able to accept certain sides of himself and creating an alter image to
hate for it. Although the image is supposed to embody the “evil other,” it is
actually embodying himself.
In Yonjae Jung’s
article “The Imaginary Double in Poe’s ‘William Wilson’” he states that “ From a
Lacanian perspective, the second Wilson can be seen as the first Wilson’s
Imaginary double of the self or specular
imago reflected in the mirror” (386).
The psychological
Gothic style is seen in the language Poe uses inside the text to convey that
The question of
existence of the twin Wilson hangs in the air.
“Fall of The House of Usher”
In Poe’s “Fall of
The House of Usher” the character of Roderick Usher is in a complete state of
corrosion. His sister, Madeline, has passed and he is the last of the blood
line. This sole fact has eaten Usher from the inside out and he is completely
terrified that the Usher line is done for. The Gothic psychology is seen in the
thoughts of Roderick Usher himself. The Usher house is collapsing around him and
so is his mind. The deterioration of both is overwhelming and Roderick is slowly
dying. The narrator says at the beginning of the story that “. . . view of the
melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was-but, with the first glimpse of
the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say
insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable,
because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the
sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.” Even the narrator is
struck deeply by the first impression of the House so Roderick must be
completely demolished inside of his mind if the first glimpse of the House fills
gloom at this extent to an outsider.
In Peter Garret’s book
Gothic Reflections, he states that “. . . the Gothic scene of concentrated
attention also typically displays a protagonist losing his grip; the tale of
terror is centrally concerned with both control and the loss of control, and it
is through this fundamental generic preoccupation that Poe’s tales probe the
power relations of reading and writing narrative” (40). Poe not only gives us
grotesque and dark images to handle through his texts but a more underlying and
deeply hypnotic Gothic psychology of the mind. The loss of control in ‘Fall of
the House of Usher” becomes so maddening for Roderick that he begins to collapse
along with the house. The house is an image of what is taking place inside of
his mind.
The unknown is
always scarier and this concept rings very true for Poe’s work. The secret that
is haunting Roderick Usher has to do with the anxiety that there is no other
heir to pass the Usher name onto after he dies. The unknown of Roderick’s blood
line dying terrifies him so badly that his mind has started to deteriorate and
give out. In John H. Timmerman’s article “House of Mirrors: Edgar Allan Poe’s
‘The Fall of the House of Usher’” he refers to G. R. Thompson’s analysis in his
work Poe’s Fiction:
Thompson addresses the variations Poe creates with the Gothic
tale by structuring a conflict between reason and irrationality. Particularly
successful in his analysis of the decayed House mirroring Usher’s mind so that
‘The sinking of the house into reflecting pool dramatizes the sinking of the
rational part of the mind, which has unsuccessfully attempted to maintain some
contact with stable structure of reality outside the self, into the nothingness
within (229).
Roderick’s slow melt into a mental breakdown is served with
the rational thought of worry over his family line but it steps over the line
into irrationality and insanity. Poe creates an illustration of the
psychological Gothic by using the House as a metaphor for what is really
happening in Usher’s mind. The disintegration of Roderick’s mind has taken on
the persona of the House because he fails to maintain his sanity as well as the
House.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Washington
Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
is definitely titled appropriately. Its compelling, Gothic, mysterious nature
serves the purpose of making it a worthwhile read. The text is not only haunted
by the headless horsemen but psychological traits as well. Washington Irving
portrays the civilians of Sleepy Hollow as being stuck in time, unchanging and
unmoving. The people of Sleepy Hollow are not ready to accept modernization or
change. They seem to cling to ghostly tales and legends in order to hold onto
tradition. The Gothic psychology lies in the town’s people unwillingness to
change because they cannot or will not see past their ways for new ones.
In David Anthony’s
article “Gone Distracted” he writes:
. . . Ichabod provides a map for a new identifiably ‘gothic'
male subject emerging in early national America: haunted by apparitional nature
of a paper company that has made self-possession an increasingly elusive dream,
but similarly haunted by anxieties at the levels of gender and sexuality, he is
in his various states of panic and hysteria a figure for whom postures terror
and humiliation are becoming the norm (116).
Ichabod
represents change of a new
In Finn Pollard’s
article “From Beyond the Grave and Across the Ocean: Washington Irving and the
Problem of Being a Questioning American” he states that “Ichabod can only
achieve success by remaining away from the village, just as Irving can only
achieve equilibrium through exile in Europe. The darker side whether in
Jeffersonian rhetoric, or seen in revolutionary ghosts, remained present to them
both” (95).
Frankenstein
Mary Shelly’s
Frankenstein is a timeless tale about a monster that walks through the night
aimlessly searching. The tale has been around for many Halloweens and will be
for time to come. The psychological Gothic lies within the definition of who the
monster in the text really is. One frequently comes to the conclusion of the
stitched huge Frankenstein as being the monster but Victor seems to have played
a “huge” hand in creating Frankenstein. The real monster is Victor and the
Gothic psychology is in the doubling of Victor and Frankenstein.
In the book
American Gothic, Maggie Kilgour
writes in her exert “Dr. Frankenstein Meets Dr. Freud” that “Like Victor and his
creation, good and evil, innocence and guilt, pursuer and pursued are thus
complex doubles of each other, locked together in a complex identity” (42).
Frankenstein is just an inner part of the monster that is lurking in his
creator, Victor. The true monster lies within Victor and is repressed so much
that he creates an actual monster because of this inner desire.
In the book
A Companion to the Gothic, Nora Crook
writes in her section “Mary Shelly, Author of
Frankenstein” that “It is Victor who
has made the Creature ugly and programmed him for a life of wretchedness; the
scientist’s remorse and blaming of destiny are suspects as mere rhetorical
devices to win over his auditor” (61). Victor does not show real remorse because
he would have realized what a huge mistake it was in creating Frankenstein but
instead his selfish inner desires take over. Victor is the real monster and he
shares a connection with Frankenstein because Frankenstein is actually his
creation of his repressed desire.
Walt Disney’s version of
Alice in Wonderland
Walt Disney’s
version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in
Wonderland is psychologically Gothic in its cinematic portrayal. It is
supposed to be a children’s classic and it definitely is but inside the
portrayal, there is definitely something that is creepy when viewing it.
The movie
continues with absurd scenes of colors and characters. Examples range from
The Gothic
psychology of this portrayal is that we as viewers may be trapped within
Another good
cinematic depiction of the psychological Gothic is Martin Scorsese’s,
Throughout the
movie we see scenes of Teddy investigating doctors and patients to uncover the
real truth behind
The psychological
Gothic is portrayed well in this film adaptation. We see dark corners of the
asylum and stormy rainy nights but as an audience we do not recognize the extent
of repression that is taking place before our eyes. The film illustrates the
depth of how far repression can take place due to trauma. The character played
by Leo is so plagued by the background of his life that he creates a new one and
even lives it to escape the horrifying reality of what he has done.
Dexter
The final
cinematic example of Gothic psychology is Showtime’s series,
Dexter. The main character, Dexter
Morgan, is a forensics cop for Miami Police Department and is actually a serial
killer. He was adopted by a cop named Henry Morgan at a very young age and
showed signs of a killer. Henry trained and mentored Dexter to channel his urges
in killing animals and acting normal for society around him. As Dexter became
older the urges became harder to control and Henry gave him a code to follow;
only bad people deserve to die to save innocent lives.
As wild and crazy
as the premise of the show is, the psychology of it definitely covers the
Gothic. Dexter becomes a dark defender of innocent people and almost a tortured
Byronic Hero to the people of
The Gothic
psychology of the show is seen in Dexter’s Byronic double self. Past the obvious
Gothic blood of a cop’s job and the blood that Dexter intentionally sheds on his
own time, we see a repressed human being. Dexter starts to unwrap his past of
watching his mother’s grotesque decapitation to being left to sit in her blood
for three days. The audience finds this out by the end of season one. The
repressed memories are deeply dark, haunted, and extremely bloody. Dexter is
obviously a huge case for the psychological Gothic.
Conclusion
The psychological
Gothic can be seen throughout literature and film in the repressed mind. We all
seem to have inner secrets and desires that we do not want open for all to see.
Some of these memories or inner desires are not supposed to be seen and these
examples vogue for just that. The psychological Gothic style has been around for
some time and will continue to exist long after because we will always have
secrets that the mind will lock away.
Works Cited
Anthony, David. “Gone Distracted: ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ Gothic
Masculinity, and the Panic of
Bayer-Berenbaum, Linda.
The Gothic Imagination: Expansion in Gothic Literature and Art.
Clemens,
Valdine. The Return of the Repressed:
Gothic Horror from ‘The
Crook, Nora. “Mary Shelley, Author of
Frankstein.” Punter 58-69.
Dexter.
Perf. Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, and Lauren Velez. Showtime.
Television.
Garrett, Peter K.
Gothic Reflection: Narrative Force in Nineteenth-Century Fiction.
Jung,
Yonjae. “The Imaginary Double in Poe’s ‘William Wilson’.”
Literature Interpretation
Theory
11.4 (2001): 385-401.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 22
Nov. 2010.
Kilgour,
Maggie. “Dr. Frankenstein Meets Dr. Freud.”
American Gothic: New Intervention in a
National Narrative.
Ed. Robert K. Martin and Eric Savoy.
Masse, Michelle A. “Psychoanalysis and the Gothic.” Punter
229-241.
Pollard,
Finn. “From Beyond the Grave and Across the Ocean:
Punter, David, ed. A
Companion to the Gothic.
Shelley, Mary.
Frankenstein.
Timmerman, John H. “House of Mirrors: Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The
Fall of the House of Usher’.”
