ENG 11 - Gothic: Overview

This paper will examine the evolution of Gothic fiction and how it has been represented from its Romantic heritage and Victorian upbringing to the
American Gothic traditions of the 19th century and the contemporary Gothic scene. It will also analyze American Gothic film by selecting four individual works singular to their generation: - The Wolfman, Psycho, Jaws, and The Sixth Sense.

Professor John Mullan examines the origins of the Gothic, explaining how the genre became one of the most popular of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the subsequent integration of Gothic elements into mainstream Victorian fiction.

What does it mean to say a text is Gothic? Professor John Bowen considers some of the best-known Gothic novels of the late 18th and 19th centuries, exploring the features they have in common, including marginal places, transitional time periods and the use of fear and manipulation.

The term “Gothic” was first used in conjunction with a Medieval style of ornate architecture that originated in France around the 12th century. It wasn’t until the Romantic era in the late 18th century that the word was applied to literature. The first mention of Gothic literature appeared in English writer Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764. Walpole applied the word in the subtitle, “A Gothic Story."