ipl-logo

Gothic Elements In Gothic Literature

747 Words3 Pages

Gothic Literature started in the mid 1700’s in Europe. This form of writing began to grow more popular through the works of Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, and Emily Brontes. In America, gothic literature grew popular by the works of Edgar A. Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. These writers grew more popular during the Romantic Era, which started in the late 1700’s, but it’s peak was from about 1800-1850. In Edgar A. Poe’s horror stories and poems, he uses several different gothic elements. In Edgar A. Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado”, he uses the gothic element of entrapment. The element of entrapment is shown when Montresor ”hastened to make an end of my labor. I forced the last stone onto its position; I plastered it up,” (Cask …show more content…

Poe, the narrator has the feeling of the gothic element of explained supernatural. The narrator hears a “ringing became more extinct… I found that the noise was not within my ears” (Heart 4). The narrator hears noises after he kills the helpless old man after seeing his Evil Eye and he tries to explain what the noises were coming from. In Edgar A. Poe’s horror poem, “The Raven”, the gothic element of the revenant is present. This occurs when,”an echo murmured back the word,”Lenore!’ “. This is revenant because the speaker begins to go crazy and he hears several noises and his dead wife, Lenore, can be coming back to haunt him. The speaker can not stand living without his deceased wife and he now is going to be haunted by Lenore after she comes back from the dead. The short horror story, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the gothic element of revenant occurs. The narrator kills the old man and buries him in the floor. The police men show up after hearing a loud shriek coming from the house. The narrator was fine until the old man came back to haunt him. The narrator notices that a tapping “noise was not within my ears,” (Heart 4). The noise grew louder and louder and he couldn’t take it anymore. The narrator thinks the old man has come back from the dead to haunt him and his heart is still beating. The narrator tells the police to “ ‘tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!’ ”(Heart 4). The

Show More
Related
762 Words | 4 Pages

--tear up the planks! Here here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!” Sane people cannot hear someone’s heartbeat after one’s death. This piece of evidence proves that he is insane since he had already killed the old man, yet, he claims to hear the old man’s heart.

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

“ The Tell-Tale Heart” Interpretive Essay Is the complex character created by Edgar Allan Poe a calculated killer or a delusional madman. In the short story “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character has a mental condition which causes him to kill a neighbor. He believes that his neighbor has a “vulture eye” which is the reason why he killed him. Night after night, he watches the man and plans how to kill him. Then one night, he puts his plan into action.

Read More
1470 Words | 6 Pages

Over the course of the story, there are multiple times when the narrator refers to hearing a beating in different forms. For example, during the narrators visit to the old man, he claims that “there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound too well. It was the beating of the old man’s heart.” The reason he knows the sound “too well” is actually because the heartbeat he hears is his own.

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

He refers to himself as Death, implying he has all knowledge and power over the old man. The reader becomes filled with dread as the man patiently waits to kill. The imagery portrayed in “The Tell-tale Heart” increases the demented tone that the narrator projects as the main character waits to strangle the old man. Every night, for a week, the murderer would “look in” upon the victim as he slept.

Read More
930 Words | 4 Pages

The Tell Tale Heart is narrated anonymously yet extremely in depth, leaving the reader with an ominous perspective. The use of first person creates a mysterious interpretation for the readers as we construe the tale from an individuals point of view, looking into the story. The story builds up upon the narrator’s guilt over intentionally killing an innocent man. A suspicious neighbor cries out for help after hearing a shriek and three policemen investigate the situation. During the climax, the narrator is at the greatest intensity of guilt and craze.

Read More
1244 Words | 5 Pages

The genre had developed during the civil war in the twentieth century. The civil war had ultimately caused the end of slavery while leaving America devastated. America was economically failing along with their social standpoint, despite the aftermath of the war, this enabled many authors to write about what it meant to be southern and their southern lives. Southern Gothic’s Strategy

Read More
559 Words | 3 Pages

In gothic literature, the elements used by the author depicts how the piece of work is going to unfold. Authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving depict the themes of psychological issues and entrapment through the short stories: “Black Cat”by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving. The gothic theme of entrapment is commonly used across various pieces of literature. Entrapment is the idea of being contained by something either physically, mentally, or emotionally.

Read More
768 Words | 4 Pages

Meaning that after the murderer had shne out the light from the lantern and onto the old man 's eye, it was quiet in the house yet the could hear the old man’s heart beating in his ears. Revealing how insane the was. In another line that Poe wrote,” And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch on his door and opened it--- oh so gently!” This quote from the story simply explains on how someone is intruding your personal

Read More
1334 Words | 6 Pages

At a moments notice, the narrator could do anything. Moreover, this fact continues throughout the story all the way to the end. The Narrator acts extremely excited after the fact that he has killed the Old Man, yet this façade is completely abolished when confronted by the police, as he is overtaken by the guilt of the murder. Another character in the story is the old man, who also creates fear and dread in “The Tell-Tale Heart”. The old man, being oblivious to what is happening around him, is struck by paranoia as throughout the night sounds have been heard around him.

Read More
1669 Words | 7 Pages

“ The Fall of the House of Usher “ by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story about a man named Roderick Usher who initiates some events such as evoking his friend The Narrator as a protagonist to the dreadful mansion. The images such as the house and gothic ambience are used to reinforce the idea of giving the mystery to the reader. Edgar Allan Poe uses gothic elements to show how they affect the atmosphere and the characters. In the beginning , the gothic atmosphere of the house is indicated with terrifying images such as “ dull, dark and soundless ” that the feeling of horror vaccinated into reader by the thoughts of the narrator.

Read More
940 Words | 4 Pages

To begin, Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism in his short story to create suspense. The narrator hears the beating of the heart, although it really represents how nervous he is as a result of his crime. An excerpt from the text states, “It grew louder - louder - louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not?

Read More
779 Words | 4 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writer of all time, as he was one of the first writers to explore darker themes through literature such as death and revenge. He has revolutionized the gothic genre for years to come. Throughout the many gothic works of Edgar Allan Poe including, The Raven, The Cask of Amontillado, and many more; Poe gives a unsettling tone which defines most of his writing. Poe tries to do this through incorporating specific literary techniques like erie imagery and cryptic diction.

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that causes the sufferer to hear voices that are not actually there or experience paranoia. The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” hears the sound of a dead man’s heart beat: “I admit the deed! -tear up the planks! -here, here! -it is the beating of his hideous heart!”

Read More
1056 Words | 5 Pages

Gothic Elements in the “The Tell Tale Heart” The classic short story of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, written by one of the all time masters of horror, Edgar Allen Poe, has always been used as an excellent example of Gothic fiction. Edgar Allen Poe specialized in the art of gothic writing and wrote many stories that portrayed disturbing events and delved deeply into the minds of its characters. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe revolves the plot around a raving individual who, insisting that he is sane, murders an old man because of his` “vulture eye”. The three main gothic elements that are evident in this story are the unique setting, the theme of death and decay, and the presence of madness.

Read More
1459 Words | 6 Pages

Of all gothic writers, Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most groundbreaking of them all. From The Cask of Amontillado, a story with integrated historical references of the time, to The Fall of the House of Usher, a deep and morbid story full of imagery. Anywhere from The Tell-Tale Heart, truly a story of both unique syntax and perspective, to The Raven, a poem full of symbols and eerie repetition. Through these and many more, Poe has been using his writing style to immerse people into his stories and poems alike since 1839. However, Poe is only able to accomplish this through his unique writer’s style, particularly his forceful imagery and meaningful syntax.

Read More

More about Gothic Elements In Gothic Literature

Related Topics

Open Document