Characteristics of a Gothic Novel or Story An atmosphere of gloom, terror, or mystery

1. Characteristics of a Gothic Novel or Story • An atmosphere of gloom, terror, or mystery • Elements of the mysterious that challenges reality, including mysterious events that cause the protagonist (hero) to question the evidence of his or her senses and the presence of seemingly supernatural beings • An exotic setting isolated in time or space from contemporary life often a ruined mansion or castle • Primary concern with identity and creation of the self

2. Characteristics (continued) • Violent or gruesome events that cannot be hidden or rationalized despite the efforts of the narrator • Disturbed or unnatural relation between the order of things that are usually separate • Life and death • Good and evil • Dream life and reality • Rationality and madness

3. Characteristics (continued) • An interrupted narrative form that relies on multiple methods to tell the tale • Inserted documents • Letters • Dreams • Fragments of a story told by several narrators • Isolation by the main character • Internal conflict • Something out of reach • Things normally accessible are inaccessible

4. Characteristics (continued) • Nature is a living and vitalizing (energizing) force • The protagonist’s wanderings are motivated by flight from previously-chosen goals • Often pattern of escape and pursuit • Protagonist usually driven by irresistible passion • Lust • Curiosity • Ambition • Intellectual pride • Envy

5. Characteristics (continued) • Emphasis on protagonist’s desire to overcome limitations of: • Body • Society • Time rather than moral transgressions • Yearns to escape the limitations of life • Death may become an obsession • Buildings and locations central to the meaning • Supernatural, wild nature, dreams, and madness offset social conventions and institutions

6. Characteristics (continued) • Endings/Conclusions are not definitive • Does not tie up loose ends • Does not explain ambiguities and uncertainties • Used to resist the limits of time and place • Helps explain the importance of dreams and memories of other times and locations • Love of nature is presented in tranquil settings and wild, stormy moods • Supernatural or the possibility of the supernatural appear repeatedly

7. Byronic hero traits—perfect but flawed character • Rebellious, arrogant, and passionate • Cynical/Pessimistic • Isolated • Mysterious origins • Lacks family ties • Rejects external restrictions and control • Troubled past or suffering from an unnamed crime • Self-destructive • Sophisticated and educated • Treated as an exile, outcast, or outlaw