![]() ![]() ![]() Walpole’s house became so celebrated that it gave its name not only to an area of London (near Twickenham and lying in the London borough of Richmond) but also to a style of architecture known as Strawberry Hill Gothic. His London house, Strawberry Hill, was a vast villa that approached the scale and appearance of a castle. Walpole’s influence on the Gothic revival extended beyond literature. ‘Serendipity’ has been called one of the most difficult words to translate. The tale is one of the earliest detective stories in existence: it recounts how three princes track down a missing camel largely through luck and good fortune, rather than any forensic skill. The term gothic was first used to describe literature in 1765, in. He coined the word in a letter of 1754, when recounting the ‘silly fairy tale’ (‘fairy tale’ is another term he is credited with inventing) of ‘The Three Princes of Serendip’ (Serendip being a former name for Sri Lanka). Gothic literature was a product of the Romantic movement in Europe, especially in Britain. But another lasting linguistic legacy was being the origin of the word ‘serendipity’, meaning the ‘faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident’. Walpole was also a prolific inventor of new words, and is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with introducing over 200 words into the English language, among them beefy, malaria, nuance, sombre, and souvenir. Although many of the most famous Gothic novels were written during the Victorian times, conventions of. This one novel (which in many ways makes for a dull, laboured read) founded not only a genre but a whole style of writing. Gothic literature is a genre of fiction which first became popular during the 18th century. Without Walpole, it is doubtful whether there could have been any Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dracula, or even Stephen King. Many of the features of Gothic which endure today, such as the subterranean secret, the gloomy castle, and the mysterious ghostly sightings, were all used in Walpole’s novel. ![]() In doing so, he founded not only a new literary genre but also one of the most perennial features of the Gothic story, the so-called ‘found’ manuscript. A year later, when the book was reprinted, Walpole added a preface in which he came clean and admitted that he’d made the whole thing up. The literary world flocked to buy this exciting new book. Walpole, who was the son of the first de facto Prime Minister of Britain, Robert Walpole, claimed the story was a genuine medieval manuscript which had recently been discovered and translated. One of the most famous forgeries which that decade produced, Horace Walpole’s 1764 book The Castle of Otranto, was responsible for founding the Gothic novel genre. This can be in the form of a murder or other such macabre themes laced throughout the text.The 1760s was the decade of literary forgeries. Macabre and morbid - No Gothic tale is complete without a little death and destruction. Omens and prophecies - The protagonist or a supporting character will often typically have distressing dreams, visions or prophecies connected to the setting or events of the story.Īgony and ecstasy - Gothic stories are often characterized by melodrama, inner turmoil, intrigue, and insanity as well as sweeping romance, grandiose passions and enchanting prose. Sometimes these supernatural figures are literal, and other times they are symbolic or have a natural explanation. Paranormal activity - Gothic novels are famous for featuring ghosts, vampires, monsters, and other shadowy figures. Terror - The protagonist is haunted by supernatural or seemingly supernatural events such as doors suddenly closing, baying of dogs, footsteps, moans, and eerie sounds in the night. Suspense - Gothic plot lines typically revolve around suspenseful events, familial mysteries, disappearances, unexplainable events, and frightening objects. Examples include rain, storms, a chill in the air or howling wind.Īrchetypal character traits - Gothic literature typically has particular types of characters: a distressed heroine, tyrannical male characters (usually villains) and anti-heroes, also known as Byronic heroes after Romantic poet Lord Byron. Natural imagery - A hallmark of both Romanticism and Gothic literature is imagery, particularly pertaining to nature.ĭark atmosphere - No Gothic story is complete without atmosphere, including complementary weather conditions. Some common types of settings include castles, haunted houses, graveyards, and dark forests. This is because Gothic literature has specific characteristics like:Ĭreepy settings - In Gothic fiction, the setting is a character in its own right. There is a reason the word “gothic” brings to mind trap doors, castles, monasteries, and more. ![]()
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