LITR 4232 American Renaissance

Sample Student Research Project 2012
Journal

Shellie Saenz

The Mysteries and Confusion of Supernatural Gothic

Introduction

This semester has taught me a lot about the different writing styles that were used during the American Renaissance period. One style in particular that really fascinated me was the use of gothic themes throughout the different texts. Almost all the authors we have read up to this point have incorporated gothic themes into their writings, but in very different ways. One element of the gothic styles that really interest me is the supernatural gothic. I have always loved reading books that incorporated supernatural gothic themes throughout, but never really gave much thought to gothic as a whole. I never wondered how it came about being so popular, or even when it was first introduced to literature, or what made the text I was reading gothic in the first place.

In this research journal I am hoping to gather information that relates directly to the supernatural gothic, such as what constitutes supernatural gothic and when it was first presented in an author’s text. I also want to explore different ways in which it was used. I am curious whether or not it has always been about one particular subject, such as ghosts and haunted dwellings, or has it always incorporated other evil demonic beings as well. Lastly, since supernatural gothic is usually seen as dark elements, I want to explore its use alongside elements that represent light or the divine, such as angels and Heaven itself. There are many different texts that represent the struggle between the light and the dark, but for the most part, the dark evil elements are at the center of the text, while the light elements are seen, but they are more of an afterthought it many ways.

That being said, I am going to include three texts from class that we have read that fully incorporate supernatural gothic texts, which are Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil. I will also be looking at several books that are primarily about supernatural gothic, as well as incorporate some articles that discuss supernatural gothic elements as well. Since supernatural gothic elements are still very popular today, I also want to include a text from outside our classroom readings, which I feel embodies the supernatural gothic themes perfectly by playing both sides of the evil and divine evenly with one another.

Supernatural Gothic: A Brief Overview

          Supernatural gothic refers to a writing style that includes elements of supernatural beings and occurrences, while at the same time incorporating gothic elements, such as darkness, forests, and eerie sounds. According to Glen Cavaliero: “the word ‘supernatural’ denotes that which is above nature; it refers to an order of being superior to that of nature in its physical form” (19). Much like the gothic elements that were discussed in class, supernatural gothic consists of elements, such as light and dark, which interplay with one another, but it seems the dark elements take on a more dominant role than that of light and are sometimes revealed as evil or demonic against heavenly or divine and these elements seem to be at war with one another continuously, with the evil or demonic elements that take center stage.  The settings and surroundings of supernatural gothic vary widely including dark woods, or cemeteries, but the difference is not so much the location as it is what occurs within these locations that make it supernatural in nature. In G. R. Thompson’s essay, “A Dark Romanticism: In Quest of a Gothic Monomyth”, he identifies some of the more common elements that are used in gothic style writing: “the demons, gods, mythic heroes, and other human icons, along with castle, cathedral, manor house, temple, graveyard, churchyard, charnel house, dungeon, labyrinth, cave, icebound seas, high mountain crags, lightning, storms” and that “all are, simultaneously, emblems of supernatural power external to the human mind, and of the agony within the human mind and spirit” (39). The way Thompson identifies these elements make me think that it is a cohesive relationship between the location and the other elements, such as the demons or the gods or ghosts that specify a supernatural gothic occurrence

          Thompson states that “in literature, the word [supernatural gothic] refers to the kind of work, usually fiction, that developed during the later eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries out of the sentimental romance into the Dark Romantic tale of terror…and when the word Gothic is applied to literature, it merely evokes images of ghosts, demons, trapdoors, castles” (31). In Tzvetan Todorov’s essay “The Uncanny and the Marvelous” he states: “In works that belong to this genre, events are related which may be readily accounted for by the laws of reason, but which are, in one way or another, incredible, extraordinary, shocking, singular, disturbing or unexpected, and which thereby provoke in the character and in the reader a reaction similar to that which works of the fantastic have made familiar” (21).  Supernatural gothic, therefore, is meant to be thrilling and captivating and the fear element found within the gothic style of writing is what readers look for.  S.L. Varnado wrote, in his book Haunted Presence: The Numinous in Gothic Fiction, that “in [supernatural gothic] stories we have a distinct element of feeling which is not drawn from ordinary, or ‘natural’ experience but which nevertheless evokes an echo from the reader’s sense of reality” (5). This, to me, means that an individual who has never seen a ghost or some other supernatural being, might read a text or watch a movie that incorporates these elements, and from that they will have that fear they seek. They may hear a creak in the house while they are alone, or walking in the woods, or something else that is gothic, that might make them feel they are in the presence of a supernatural entity.

Gothic style writing has been around for over two hundred years, and according to Thompson:

In 1764-65, Horace Walpole, in The Castle of Otranto, usually considered the first Gothic romance in English, emphasized the vaults, stained windows, tombs, darkness, and carefully coordinated perspective of Medieval buildings-a perspective that in the cathedral was designed to bring the observer to his knees. Walpole’s work effected a shift of meaning in the most common use of the word Gothic from the architectural denotation of “Medieval buildings” to the emotional effect of weird, supernatural, fantastic, and terrifying events in a work of literature in which the Medieval cathedral or castle served as a theater for such events (35).

I find in fascinating that gothic elements in writing began from architectural designs, and that it has been elaborated over time to include so many more elements, from that, supernatural gothic came about with its demons and angels, light and divine and dark and evil. This beginning of supernatural gothic has spread throughout the years and become a sort of urban legend of sorts, because it has put fear into people’s minds about going into the woods at night, or entering an old church or cathedral at night because of the haunting spirits and other supernatural entities that may be present.

Unfortunately, my research into the history of supernatural gothic did not reveal some of my other questions, such as whether or not supernatural gothic began with only dark demonic elements, or were light elements introduced as well. I also wanted to find something that explained why the dark elements are more prominent and the light elements are in the background, only being introduced on occasion. Reading over the books and articles, however, has led me to my own personal conclusion about the last question. I feel that the dark elements are so prominent and popular because those are the ones that instill fear and terror in the readers, and the light and divine elements only offer a glimpse of hope and comfort on occasion, but the primary emotional response readers want is to feel fear and terror in a world that offers danger and suspense and, only a small amount of divine intervention.

“Gothic Possibilities”

In their essay, “Gothic Possibilities”, Norman N. Holland and Leona F. Sherman discuss why gothic literature is so popular. They also discuss supernatural gothic literature in a way that reminds me of correspondence because much of what they discuss involves the relationship between the inner world and the outer world. Holland and Sherman state that

we match inner defenses and expectations to outer realities in order to project fantasies into them and them transform those fantasies into significance…The idea of expectations places the literary work in time, in the ongoing sequence of our wishes and fears, while our transformation of the work toward significance attaches it to themes that transcend the immediate concerns of the moment, Fantasies are what we project from within onto the outer world. Defenses define what we let into ourselves from that outer world (280-281).

They discuss how supernatural gothic elements enable the reader to feel fear and terror based on their perceptions of the elements. Demons are known to be evil entities and therefore the reader is able to feel terror when demonic activity is occurring within a text. As the article progresses along, they begin to discuss specific elements that are no longer supernatural, just plain gothic in nature, such as a castle at night, or a abbey or alley way at night.  

“Gothic Versus Romantic: A Revaluation of the Gothic Novel”

          In this essay, Robert D. Hume discusses the history of the gothic novel, and he also states that it began with Horace Walpole in 1764, but he also gives credit to Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer as a starting point for the gothic novel. His article discusses the romantic aspects of gothic literature, and refers to it as a “symptom of a widespread shift away from neoclassical ideals of order and reason, toward romantic belief in emotion and imagination” (282). I found it very interesting that Hume defines gothic as an overall theme and refers to everything that falls into the gothic category “Gothic trappings”, which include supernatural gothic elements.

          Hume also states something that I found very interesting about human nature and how the world we live in may have a direct effect on what we perceive and feel: “And, since, in our passage through this world, painful circumstances occur more frequently than pleasing ones, and since our sense of evil is, I fear, more acute than our sense of good, we become the victims of our feelings…” (284). In other words, what Hume is saying is that our surroundings directly dictate our emotions and, therefore, individuals look for something to familiarize themselves with or even something to hope for when reading a novel or other text. They are able to familiarize themselves with the evil occurrences and understand that the feelings of fear and terror should be directly associated with these elements of supernatural gothic. They also, on occasions, find something to hope for when reading supernatural gothic literature because there is sometimes divine intervention or romance intertwined with the fear and horror that gothic texts provide.

Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow represents the supernatural gothic in various ways. In this text, he offers readers a direct connection with the dark side through his use of elements that leave the reader with a sense of fear and terror. Some of the supernatural elements that Irving uses throughout The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are ghosts, dreams and apparitions, witching influence, forests where evil occurs, giving Ichabod Crane characteristics of a scarecrow, omens and witchcraft, the glow of a crackling wood fire, and phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness, and of course the Headless Horseman, just to name a few. I did notice that Irving does not reveal the struggle of good and evil as much as Nathaniel Hawthorne does in his stories, but I think that they are there in a small way. In the beginning of the text, Irving mentions the “Sabbath stillness”, but quickly counters the good and divine by presenting elements of darkness and evil when he mentions “angry echoes” (2). There is also a church set out into the woods that, at dark, the contrast of light and dark is extremely notable. Irving also adds good or divine elements because while Ichabod Crane is being pursued by the Headless Horseman he starts whistling psalms so that he could find comfort and calm himself. Irving also places Crane on his Sunday saddle while riding through the forest, only to lose the saddle when he is being chased by the Headless Horseman, leaving him hanging onto the horse, nearly falling off, while the Sunday saddle is being ruined by the Headless Horseman and his huge black horse. This could mean many different things, such as Ichabod losing faith, but regardless of what it means, it does represent the struggle between good and evil.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister Black Veil represents the supernatural gothic entirely, and Hawthorne gives the reader a glimpse of that supernatural gothic at the very beginning through the title, and gives the reader an idea of what is to come. It was not until after I decided to write the journal on supernatural gothic that I was able to connect the title with the story and also my topic. The title suggests that the parable will somehow reveal to the reader both sides of good, or the divine, and evil because, as it suggests, the Minister will be wearing a black veil or will be in possession of a black veil. The title leads directly into the battle between good and evil when Hawthorne begins the parable on a Sunday, a day of worship, with individuals waiting in a church for Parson Hooper to begin his sermon, and when he arrives he is covering his face with the black veil. The black veil represents the evil, demonic side of supernatural gothic, and, of course, Parson Hooper represents the diving side, both struggling with one another because of the temptation to sin and also the guilt he feels for his sins. Throughout the parable, Parson Hooper is referred to as “awful” and “ghostlike” by his parishioners. Parson Hooper struggles with this throughout the parable, and, ultimately, he dies wearing the black veil.  

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown also represents the supernatural gothic, but the connection between the diving and the demonic seem to be hidden throughout his text in various ways and the struggle between good and evil is seen throughout the text. The story starts off with a young man named Young Goodman Brown venturing on a journey of some sort, and as he leaves he kisses his wife, Faith goodbye. It is not until the reader is taken further into the story that Hawthorne reveals that this is a more of a moral tale than a story of a young man’s journey. Young Goodman Brown travels through the woods, going deeper and deeper into the darkness, and the deeper he goes the more he struggles with good and evil, sometimes refusing his faith and letting evil win out.  The more I read Hawthorne’s text, the more I notice the struggle that Young Goodman Brown is dealing with. Hume explains “the key characteristics of Gothic and romantic writers are concern with ultimate questions and lack of faith in the adequacy of reason or religious faith to make comprehensible the paradoxes of human existence” (289).

It seems that Hawthorne played both sides throughout the text, but let the evil demonic characteristics be the more prominent element. When reading the story, I was able to notice more and more how Hawthorne made references to heaven and divine symbols, but they seemed to be overridden by the evil that surrounds him. Thompson also notes that some “gothic writers [persist] in using religious symbols and images as a vehicle for presenting a picture of man as eternal victim-victim of both himself and of something outside himself” (39).

Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instrument Series

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare is a young adult series that portrays supernatural gothic entirely throughout the series. Clare, like Hawthorne and Irving, reveals the struggles between the forces of good and evil and shows them in a way that is appealing to young readers. She uses many common elements such as old cathedrals, vampires, demons, warlocks and faeries, but she also incorporates many of the divine elements in a way that makes them stand out and become part of the heart of the series, right alongside the demonic forces in many ways. One way she reveals the struggle of good and evil, demon and angels is by creating a race of individuals called Nephilim, or “Shadowhunters”. These individuals are part human, part angel, and their sole purpose is to fight evil, demonic beings, and they were created when an angel mixed his blood with the blood of an ordinary human in order to create a race of super-human beings whose fights evil on earth. I believe that series fits perfectly with my topic choice because throughout the series it refers to angels and the divine.

Conclusion

          While doing the research I found that supernatural gothic is sometimes placed into the same category as gothic itself, making that list of elements longer and more complex. In the beginning, I was searching for “supernatural gothic” but hardly found anything that I felt was valuable or it was not really what I was looking for. Most of the results from my research were primarily on gothic as a whole, and supernatural elements were placed under that as “supernatural occurrences.” I also learned that, over the almost two hundred fifty years, the gothic genre has not changed all that much. Walpole, the first gothic writer, met a lot of resistance when he wrote his first gothic book, but over the years it has become increasingly popular, as I have learned not only in class, but also through my research.

My research did not present any explanation as to why or when light elements, such as Heavenly and divine beings or symbols, were used or why these two very different forces were put against one another. This leads me to believe that supernatural gothic elements have always been primarily about evil, demonic beings or symbols since gothic literature is meant to strike fear and terror into the readers. If I were to continue this research, this would be one main focus of my research because I am still curious as to why light, divine, heavenly elements are included, and I also wonder how they were included in the first place.  I wanted to include a young adult series that I have read that is more current to show that supernatural gothic elements are still used, but they are also being used to target a younger audience, and they also reveal the struggle between heaven and hell in a more forceful way.

My research would be useful in many ways and would work wonderfully if writing about some of the texts that we read in class. I also think it would be useful when comparing how texts, both then and now, may have developed through the years in their incorporations of the gothic elements. Have they grown in occurrence or have they stayed steadily the same? I also found that my research has led me to question the psychological state of many of the authors who rely solely on the darker images that are relevant to gothic style writing. During the semester we learned about many of the authors, and, looking back, it seems that the authors who write in a primarily gothic style have had a more difficult life, but those, like Irving, didn’t have the type of life others did. They may have had difficulties, but not to the extent of others. Although I did not focus on Edgar Allan Poe for my research journal, many of the articles and books I read mentioned his gothic style writings, and how it related directly to the personal hauntings he faced throughout his life. This is also something to consider when researching supernatural gothic style writing, and how it is used by certain authors; to find the connection, if one exists, to their psychological state of mind.  

Overall, my research has shown me that the gothic style writing and the inclusion of supernatural elements will only grow more popular through the years. Its elements have been incorporated into books and movies, and continue to grow in popularity by individuals of all different ages. My research has also shown me that many of the terms we learned this semester are also incorporated into gothic style writing, such as sublime and correspondence, and these other terms flow harmoniously with supernatural gothic, or gothic in general.

Works Cited

Cavaliero, Glen. The Supernatural and English Fiction. New York: Oxford University Press. 1995. Print

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. In-class Text. 1 March 2012.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Minister’s Black Veil. In-class Text. 1 March 2012.

Holland, Norman & Sherman, Leona F. “Gothic Possibilities” New Literary History 8.2 (1977): 279-294. Web. 19 April 2012.

Hume, Robert D. “Gothic Versus Romantic: A Revaluation of the Gothic Novel.” PMLA 84.2 (1969): 282-290. Web. 19 April 2012.

Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In-class Text. 19 Jan. 2012.

Thompson, G.R. “A Dark Romanticism: In Quest of a Gothic Monomyth” Literature of the Occult. Ed Peter B. Messent. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall 1981. 31-39. Print.

Todorov, Tzvetan. “The Uncanny and the Marvelous”. Literature of the Occult. Ed. Peter B. Messent. Englewood Cliffs:Prentice-Hall. 1981. 17-30. Print.

Varnado, S. L. Haunted Presence: The Numinous in Gothic Fiction. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. 1987. Print