How Is Gothic Literature Still Developing?

How Is Gothic Literature Still Developing?

Horace Walpole published the first gothic novel known as The Castle of Otranto in 1764. His novel was known for its striking horror and supernatural occurrences, and the amount of suspense. This novel set the standards for many of the gothic novels published after Walpole’s novel. Within the last 250 years Gothic Literature has changed in a few ways such as the vocabulary. However, several aspects of Gothic literature have remained unchanged. For example, the setting, time, and suspense in gothic novels has remained the same.

The 18th century was beginning of the Gothic era. Shortly after the publication for The Castle of Otranto an author by the name of Matthew Lewis published The Monk in 1796. Lewis’s novel includes the discussion of the amount of mistrust he had toward Catholicism. It also mentions the dark side of Catholic monks. The novel reveals sexuality and lust, which contributes to the

This novel is thought to be the first science novel. Shelley created tension by using terror in her novel. She uses mysterious circumstances to have the character Victor Frankenstein create the monster known as Frankenstein. Shelley incorporates the supernatural into her novel. For example, the novel includes the raising of the dead. She wrote, “infusing a life into an inanimate body” (page 76). She wanted her readers to question Victor's use of the dead for his scientific experimentation. The thought of rising the dead left many readers with terror. The way Shelley wrote her novel gives Frankenstein a voice that allowed readers to pity the monsters suffering and pain. She wrote, “I beheld the wretch – miserable monster whom I had created” (Page 77). Shelley incorporated the supernatural and terror that many gothic novels included. In addition, she used the dark or night time to add fear into her novel which is very common in Gothic