Gothic literature is created by using fear, darkness, and negative emotions to consume the readers, as well as bleak or ominous settings. In comparison, the two environments are similar with a darkness that overpowers the main characters at some point. However, the characters are introduced with their dark environments under different circumstances. In the excerpt from “The Castle of Otranto”, Isabella is desperately attempting to escape from the king running through a castle’s underground portion in search for her sanctuary. She is filled with anxiety, fear, despair, and at the last moment “...she approached the door that had been open; but a gust of wind that met her at the door extinguished her lamp, and left her in total darkness”(Walpole 589). …show more content…
In “Sir Bertrand, a Fragment,” Sir Bertrand is chasing a light he glimpsed after he was lost. On his journey to determine the source of this light he enters a haunted mansion that traps him within its doors and forces him to follow a path in shadow. However, Sir Bertrand has been walking through a dark path that led him to discover the glimmering light as he was beginning to lose his courage. “...but at length the increasing darkness and fatigue of body and mind overcame him...for fear of unknown pits and bogs…”(Aikin and Aikin 592). Another difference, is that when he reaches his destination he encounters a beautiful lady, a banquet, and gratitude that diminishes the fear he once had. Overall, the setting is the most significant component for Gothic literature because it is how the author defines the setting and mood, as well as how they first develop fear in a reader’s mind. Without the environment these same tales would not have the same effect they