Origins of Gothic Literature
English Lit: OCR A Level Dracula, topic 1.1.1
Origins and Initial Reception of Gothic Literature
Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. The novel was first published in 1897. It is arguably one of the most famous examples of Gothic literature.
Origins of Gothic literature
- Gothic literature was born out of the Romantic movement. Gothic writers took the concept of revering of the natural world and explored its darker side.
- The first Gothic novel was Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764).
Initial reception
- As a genre, Gothic literature was initially not taken very seriously.
- Critic Sue Chaplin suggests that this may have been because Gothic fiction was “perceived to be read by women” and, as such, was considered an “inferior literary mode”, against the “higher intellectual aspirations of the Romantic movement".
Gothic architecture
- Gothic writing is inspired by Gothic architecture.
- Antiquated buildings in isolated, rugged locations are a key Gothic feature.
- Castle Dracula in the Carpathian Mountains and the ruined abbey at Carfax are prime examples of Gothic architecture.
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