A Reflection on Gothic Literature

To be completely honest, I was a bit skeptical going into this class because I didn't know much about gothic literature and I assumed the readings would be boring. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The more I learned about how to analyze the different texts, finding their underlying messages and symbolism, the more interesting the readings became. At the beginning of the course, some of the symbolism would fly over my head, and I would get lost in the plots. After reviewing the basic characteristics of gothic literature, you start to appreciate each text more because you realize how much thought went into every single word. Every description, character, dialogue contributed to the gothic genre.



I don't think I would change any of the readings. The movies were especially beneficial because they not only broke up the reading, but it was interesting to see the gothic genre in modern day film. I liked the concept of blogging, but at times it was a lot of work, espcially responding to everyone's blogs. Other than that, I thought this was a great class! Thank you.

Three short stories (A Rose for emily, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Yellow Wallpaper

While there are many themes in all of these stories, it seems the portrayal of women is very prominent. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is portrayed as crazy and her husband especially views her as that. The women trapped in the wallpaper is a symbol for females trapped in a male-dominated society. The narrator is trapped just like the women in the wallpaper and even though she doesn't feel like anything is wrong, her husband tries to convince her how sick she is. He is almost making her crazy on purpose it seems.
In A rose for Emily, we don't find out many things until the very end of the story. Emily is portrayed as beautiful and had a very close relationship with her father. When her father dies, she had difficulty letting go and accepting it. We see this another time when Homer dies. In fact, Emily keeps his body in the bed and sleeps next to him still. The townspeople all view her as this crazy lady who won't pay her taxes. It seems the author is portraying a female character who was once beautiful but went crazy through her attachment to men, and by going crazy, her looks faded and she became fat and ugly.
In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the grandmother is the protagonist and again we don't find out a lot about her until the end. While reading the story, I was almost annoyed with her ignorance, especially when she shouted out that the mysterious man was the misfit. The entire story the grandmother is potrayed as the perfect Christian, at least superficially. However, it isn't until the Misfit starts to question her beliefs that she really has an epiphany. That is why she reached out to him and called him one of her sons.
The women in all three stories are portrayed as dark, mysterious, and many of them suffered from psychological disorders, whether proclaimed by male characters or not.

Southern Goth in Jean Ah Poquelin

There are many basic elements of southern goth in Cable's story Jean Ah Poquelin. First of all, teh setting itself embodies Southern goth taking place in rundown plantation house surrounded by swamp land. It takes place in Louisiana when race is part of the culture. The decay of the house really begins when the two brothers set out on the slave-trade ship. When they return, everything is different. Years later, we see that the new South is confronting the old South of this town by wanting to develop more houses and build a road through Jean's haunted property. Jean is not accepting of these new ways and refuses change, an element of Southern gothic.
The appearance of the supernatural is evidenet, especially from the townspeople point of view. Even the typical stock character of the quiet and wise secretary sees a supposed ghost of Jean's brother. In attempts to expand the town and get rid of the supernatural elements in Jean's house, the town drain his swamp and begin to expand. This is an interesting confrontation because Jean and his house were initially shunned, almost forced into hiding by all of the judgemental, skeptical townspeople. But now he cannot hide any longer as the townspeople need his land, even the land they once shunned. However, within this confrontation, superstition and fear get in the way of the townspeople, and it's hard for them too to accept the new Southern ways. The new Southern ways are in denial of a ghostly presence, yet when they are faced with the confrontation of Jean, all the towsnpeople ran in fear. So it was interestign to see that not only was Jean not accepting of the new Southern expansions, but the actual proponents of the new South couldn't let go of their old Southern folktales/ghost stories and superstition in order to talk to Jean on his property.

Charles Chesnutt

While racial identity was an obvious theme in the story The Sheriff's Children, one really interesting aspect of the plot was how the sheriff and the prisoner switch positions, almost as if they have switched racial identities. When the prisoner has the pistol in his hand the sheriff was surprised and had "relied on the Negro's cowardice and subordination in the presence of an armed white man as a matter of course." When the positions had switched, the sheriff took upon the typical slave reaction and was forced to "submit quietly". The idea of submitting quietly really seems to relate to the African American struggle throughout the course of history. While they don't remain silent forever, they are forced in many aspects like a lack of education or more obviously, being punished for speaking.
The juxtaposition of the prisoner with the sheriff's white daughter is interesting because I think the sheriff finally realizes in that moment that they are both his children, and that they both deserve fatherly attention.
Knowing a little more about Chesnutt's life, it's really evident how his own life experience parallels into the story. Chestnutt, being of mixed race (7/8 white) but being identified as legally black in the South, wasn't really accepted by either race, much like the prisoner who is also mixed race. "Free in name, but despised and scorned and set aside by the people to whose race I belong far more than to that of my mother." This quote was especially interesting because just like Chesnutt who looks more white than black, the prisoner isn't accepted by the white culture and is treated almost like a slave, even after the Civil War. A common theme in much of Chesnutt's writings was the unsuccessful reconstruction of racial issues in the South after the Civil War.

Our Nig and Gothic Novels

Our Nig definately has a much different style than the gothic literature that we have read, however there are similarities as well. For one thing, this novel was written much later than others that we have read, so language and ideas will obviously be different. It sounds like it was written during the Reconstruction period, where racial tensions were high as African Americans tried to find a place socially in free America.
One main element that seemed very gothic was the character of Mrs. Bellmont and her evil, tyrannical "aunt-like" behavior. We also see the Frado's mother abandons her, so we get the gothic element of an absent mother. Also, Frado's bedroom is in a tiny attic; a basic gothic element.
In the story, Frado is the typical gothic sentimental heroine and is the object for reader's sympathies. She's penniless, parentless, abused, "different" by appearance; she's forced to rely on her own strength in order to overcome hardships. Also, the topic of religion is widely used as Frado struggles to find her own relationship with God. In the end, she rejects relationship with God I believe. (it was a bit hard to tell through the language). This was a common theme in Gothic literature as well. It also seems Wilson tries to make a statement on the contradictory nature of many churchgoers. Mrs. Bellmont is a religion professor yet she is cruel, abusive, and generally has no morals, yet she preaches religion. Frado brings that issue up as well.

The Fall of the House of Ushers

Before I start, I just have to say that I was reading this story and am now writing this post, in the middle of a thunder storm (a bit spooky and ironic...).
I want to talk about the description of the house because I believe it has a lot to do with how and why Matilda is killed. Poe's description of the house immediately reminded me of Castle of Otronto. As the readers, we are immediately flooded with these images of the dark, gloomy house that evokes onto the narrator's spirit "a sense of insufferable gloom" (p 112). It was also interesting that Poe gave the house human-like characteristics like "vacant and eye-like windows". Like Castle of Otronto, we get this image of an overlaying spirit lurking in the house. There could be many reasons for this external spirit encompassing the house, but I believe that there is a family secret that haunts the house. That secret is incest, just as in Castle of Otronto.
The narrator notes that he had learned that the Usher race had at no time "any enduring branch;in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain." (p 113). The narrator speculates that this is the reason for their "deficiency" and the character in the house.
Roderick Usher has an identical twin, Madeline in which he claims " a tenderly beloved sister; his sole companion for long years." (p.115). When I read this statement, I immediately speculated that Roderick was having sex with his twin sister. On an even weirder note, by having sex with his identicle sister, it's like having sex with a mirror image of yourself. Poe could be trying to make a statement there, although I'm not quite sure. I believe that Roderick wants to be rid of his sister for numerous reasons, the main one being his guilt for the incest. The other is that being twins and connected on a sympathetic level, Roderick shares her illness. What she feels, he feels. He knew the symptoms of her illness because he too showed similar signs of "cataliptical" character, so he knew that her temporary stiffness was just that, stiffness and not death. But he insisted on burrying her, his other half. This also made me think of Jekyll and Hyde with the split personality. Just like in Jekyll and Hyde, neither halves can live so Madeline returns to her brother and they both die.

Young Goodman Brown

The story of Goodman Brown seems to be a statement about human nature and the temptations and sins they face. The forrest is a symbol of temptation and sin, and Goodman Brown wants to enter it. Even though he second guesses at times, his feet keep taking him further into the forrest as if he were posessed by a spirit.
The man that meets Goodman Brown in the forrest is described very similarly to the devil with his serpant staff. Faith seems to be a symbol for religious faith, Brown's in particular. Her physcial description also exudes innocence with her pink ribbons in her hair and Brown describes her as an angel, destined for heaven. But even innocent Faith is tempted by the evil and is curious to learn more about this dark culture in the forrest. so in a way, Faith loses her "innocence" which could also be a symbol for Goodman Brown losing his religious faith.
I thought that it was very interesting how Goodman Brown lost control of his feet in the forrest. he felt as if he were flying through the forrest instead of fwalking. Even though he wanted to turn back, his body kep going further into the forrest. I think this is a statement by the author that all humans, innocent and guilty have an unconscious desire and curiosity for temptations and sins. It is a natural impulse.
There's a definate contrast in character between how Goodman Brown was before the forrest and how he was afterward. In the beginning of the story, Brown talks about heaven. "she's a blessed angel on earth;and after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven." But after the forrest, he seems to have less faith in mankind and talks about the devil. "Come, devil: for to thee is this world given." he contrasts good and evil, innocence and sin, and also light and dark with the darkness of the forrest and daylight.