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 short story “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving was a story based on Gothic Romanticism. Gothic Romanticism is a story written with horror and death with a magistical suspense. The Devil and Tom Walker has many characteristic pertaining gothic romanticism. The setting is medieval in a way that relates to gothic romanticism. The setting of the story “The Devil and Tom Walker “is described as a thick wooded swamp where there is a deep inlet that has two sides to it.
Various gothic elements are depicted by the following gothic writers: Washington Irving, Richard Matheson and Edgar Allan Poe; elements such as: entrapment and supernatural characteristics are illustrated in the short stories: “The Devil and Tom Walker;” “Prey;” and “The Raven.” Entrapment was a significant element represented in all of the short stories aforementioned. In, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” soon after Tom Walker established his broker’s shop in Boston “he made money hand over hand, became a rich and mighty man, and exalted his cocked hat upon "Change." He built himself, as usual, a vast house, out of ostentation, but left the greater part of it unfinished and unfurnished, out of parsimony. He even set up a carriage in the fulness of his vain-glory, though he nearly starved the horses which drew it”(Irving 326).
In the aged version of gothic romanticism, the gloomy aspects are still found; however, they are depicted in different manners. An example of modified gothic romanticism is seen in Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” by its supernatural conflict, and setting in the mysterious, abandoned Native American Fort. Irving’s
Gothic Literature is known to incorporate many gothic elements into it’s stories. Authors such as Ransom Riggs, Horacio Quiroga, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edward Poe have done a great job by proving this using elements like monsters, grotesqueness, and fascination with the past. In both the novel Mrs. Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Riggs and the short story “Feather Pillow” by Quiroga two main characters died suddenly by a monster. In Mrs. Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children Jacob finds his Grandpa Abe dead by a “tentacle-mouth horror in the woods” (Riggs 39).
The theme is another accurate representation of this time period. One could say that the theme of The Devil and Tom Walker is to not be selfish, and money is the root of all evil. During the Gothic period, many people where hard pressed to make an honest living. This meant that the
Robert T. Kiyosaki once said, “People’s lives are forever controlled by two emotions: fear and greed.” - People who don't face their fears or become greedy, tend to spend their lives hiding from their fears and taking advantage of others, and those fears and that greed can end up taking control of them. People who become overtaken by fear or greed tend to overlook the smaller aspects of life which eventually, leads to their vanquishing. The stories, “The Devil & Tom Walker” by Washington Irving (1824) and “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe (1839) are exemplifications of gothic literature. The authors use literary elements such as mood, images, foreshadowing, and metaphors/similes to create tension and suspense within the story.
Gothic literature authors emphasize literary elements in their stories to create tension and suspense. In “The Devil and Tom Walker” Washington Irving uses satire to make the reader think about what will happen later in the story. Another instance of literary devices creating tension and suspense in gothic literature is Edgar Allen Poe’s use of personification in “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Other than foreshadowing and personification both authors also use mood to develop suspense and tension.
In the poems The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe, Prey by Richard Matheson, and The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving the theme of violence and grotesqueness is highly prevalent. Whether the violence is glossed over or painted in sensational and bloody detail , it is a hallmark of the gothic narrative, and serves many purposes many functional purposes beyond inspiring terror in the reader. All of the three authors selected have shown immense experience in adding the right amount of violence and goriness into their writings. In Prey Matheson represents violence by stating “Both legs were streaked with caking blood, some of the gashes still bleeding” (Matheson 6). In the same writing Matheson uses a representation of grotesqueness in saying
Gothic literature can make you feel like you are in the story. It provides a dubious feeling and is some of the most descriptive writing out there. Pretty much all gothic literature can be connected through the gothic elements within the story. In the short stories, “Prey”, by Richard Matheson, “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, and “The Raven”, by Edgar Allen Poe, gothic elements such as grotesqueness and supernatural events connect together.
'Transgression is often an important element in Gothic writing'. Compare its uses and effects in 'The Bloody Chamber'. Angela Carter celebrates transgression through the form of short stories. The gothic element is the understanding of going beyond boundaries and testing the limits of oppressive power structures.
In “The Subjectivity of Values,” J.L Mackie argues for Error Theory. Error Theory is a version of moral skepticism. This version of moral skepticism denies the existence of right and wrong as “intrinsically normative entities on fundamental grounds as unsure about what kinds of things such entities would be, if they existed” (Mackie 1977). His ‘Central Argument’ article affirms two things: Objective values provide reason to motivate anyone aware, and the awareness of some objective reason would provide reason in such a way that everyone would be motivated (to some extent) to act in accordance with the value.
Gothic Literature is a genre that was popular between 18th to 19th centuries in North Germany. It is always being associated with Dark Romanticism which the emphasize was more on nature, terror and death, horror and many more. It involves dark and gloomy setting and also unexplainable things that are beyond human senses and reason such as ghosts and monsters. The main characters, on the other hand, are always ineffectual which they do not give much effect on the story plot. This can be seen through Washington Irving’s “Rip van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which can be considered as American gothic work in terms of its description of setting, the involvement of supernatural element in the story and also the characteristics of the main character.
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.
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.
