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American Gothic. Hawthorne and Poe. Exploration of the Dark Interiors of the Human Heart. is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance Horror –exposing the terrible/evil in man Romantic -glorifying nature and the natural: criticizing society.
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American Gothic Hawthorne and Poe
Exploration of the Dark Interiors of the Human Heart • is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance • Horror –exposing the terrible/evil in man • Romantic-glorifying nature and the natural: criticizing society
By representing the inevitable decay and collapse of human/man-made creations *society *laws *ideas Symbolic for the corruption present in the human heart (hypocrisy, greed, lust, hubris) The ruins of gothic buildings gave rise to multiple linked emotions
the Supernatural, Ghosts and Witches Haunted Houses Darkness, Death, Decay, Doubles, Madness, Secrets Curses. Gothic fiction include terror (both psychological and physical)
Other Gothic Elements • a passion-driven, willful villain-hero or villain • horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings. • extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather,
1) Chillingworth’s foreshadowing in Chapter 3 about the Condemnation of the soul 2)Comet in the Sky 3)Lurid glow of the Scarlet Letter Omens, Foreshadowing, and Dreams usually play a large role in the mysterious air that is created within the story.
Tales include highly charged emotional states like: 1)terror, 2)a feeling that one is on the brink of insanity, 3)anger, 4)agitation/anxiety, 5)an exaggerated feeling of some impending doom, and 6)obsessive love.
Light and Dark interplay with shades of gray or blood-red colors Repressed fears & desires; memory of past crime or sin closed doors & secret passages / rooms Weird, scary characters Lurid symbols How Author’s Build a Gothic Mood
Author’s Purpose ~to Evokes terror through the depiction of physical and, more often, psychological violence
Author’s Purpose~ to Explores the nightmares under the surface of the “civilized” mind and/or aberrant psychological states
horribly gruesome: including gruesome and horrific details of death and decay Creepy/ Scary Macabre