Gothic period of American Literature - 1800-1850

Gothic is a sub-genre of Romanticism

Content:

• sublime and overt use of the supernatural
• individual characters see themselves at the mercy of forces our of their control which
• they do not understand
• motif of the "double": an individual with both evil and good characteristics
• often involve the persecution of a young woman who is forced apart from her true love

Style:

• short stories and novels
• hold readers' attention through dread of a series of terrible possibilities
• feature landscapes of dark forests, extreme vegetation, concealed ruins with horrific
• rooms, depressed characters

Effect:

• today in literature we still see portrayals of alluring antagonists whose evil
• characteristics appeal to one's sense of awe
• today in literature we still see stories of the persecuted young girl forced apart from
• her true love

Historical Context:

• industrial revolution brings ideas that the "old ways" of doing things are now irrelevant

To find out more about a particular literature time period, click on the links below:

• American Literature through Time
• Puritan Times
• Rationalism/Age of Enlightenment
• American Renaissance/Romanticism
• Gothic
• Realism
• Naturalism
• Modernism
• Harlem Renaissance
• Postmodernism
• Contemporary