In the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe were known for their use of gothic elements in their types of writing. The plot of gothic literature novels typically involves people who become involved in complex and oftentimes evil paranormal schemes, usually against an innocent and helpless heroine. Poe used gothic dimensions to explore the human mind in extreme situations. Hawthorne examined the human heart under conditions of fear, vanity, mistrust, and betrayal. Even though Hawthorne and Poe used the gothic elements, they still used different types of darkness to portray their writing to the reader.
The type of darkness Nathaniel Hawthorne used in The Scarlet Letter and The Minister’s Black Veil is the darkness in sin. In The Minister’s Black Veil, the congregation is assembled to hear a sermon from Mr. Hooper, he emerges with a black veil covering his face. The town immediately begins to view him differently, as if he is hiding some deep, dark sin, even though his actions remain the same. The society is afraid and intimidated by his visual
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Edgar Allan Poe used fear to attract his readers into his gothic world. Poe realized that fear intrigues as well as frightens his readers. In The Fall of the House of Usher, The story begins with Roderick Usher already suffering from a severe mental illness, which steadily grows worse as the tale progresses. Roderick dreads the unknowable; he fears precisely what cannot be rationally feared. He fears for no apparent reason. Later in the story, Usher identifies that it will be fear itself's that will end up killing him. In The Raven, the one quote that shows fear is “Sorrow for the lost Lenore- the rare and radiant maiden…” The narrator seems to still think of Lenore as beautiful even though she is dead. The Raven was influenced by Poe’s fear and obsession of the death of beautiful