Gothic Literary Devices

To be defined as such, a genre must contain set devices, making them inclusive or exclusive to texts. As such, gothic literature includes many motifs, themes and devices which make them easily identifiable as part of the gothic genre, some of which will be discussed here, including, imprisonment, heightened emotions, the doppelgänger, the supernatural, death, the villain and pathetic fallacy. It is a misconstrued idea that gothic literature influenced many other gothic areas. However, in reality, this opposes the truth entirely; gothic art and architecture paved the way, inspiring gothic literature and gothic writers. It is for this reason why it is important for this project to deepen its enquiry into this area of the gothic.

It is interesting to note one of the definitions of ‘gothic’ as deemed so by the Oxford English Dictionary, is that it is something “belonging to the dark ages”[1]. This could have many interpretations which will aid our deeper analysis into gothic literary devices. Although the OED definition could be referring to the time period known as ‘the dark ages’, it remains certain that this also helps to identify some of the literary components commonly found in gothic literature, that is the ‘darkness’ aspect. This could make reference to the gloomy nature and settings of these texts as well as the unknown quality that they often possess, or the lack of morality gothic characters stereotypically operate with. These mysterious and unknown aspects are key to a gothic novelist’s dominion over their reader, which keeps them glued to the page as they try to uncover the truth.

Imprisonment and the feeling of isolation is a theme in many gothic texts. In Otranto, the prison-like nature of the castle is an example of this. Particularly when Isabella tries to escape Manfred; she can never escape the castle and instead must trawl through its winding corridors and underbelly. The fact she cannot escape adds heavily to the suspense filled nature of the novel as we are sure she will be caught.

Beyond this, there are numerous gothic devices, not all of which it will be possible to go into detail about here, and indeed, it would not be possible, nor advisable, to fit all of which into a single gothic text. But to proceed, another gothic device is the double or doppelgänger, which is having a character’s double appear in the text with an alteration to the original’s personality, usually trying to seek the demise of the ‘original’. Although this device is not evident in Otranto, this goes to show that at the time Walpole was writing, the genre was obviously still developing into what we see today.

Another device that gothic literature uses is the theme/presence of death. Especially, as with this text, if death is a result of a higher or unknown power, for example Conrad’s demise (which also links to another device-the supernatural and the fantastical). By having outside and unknown forces interact with the characters, it creates a tense and anxious tone as the reader simply does not know what is responsible for (in Otranto’s case) deaths of characters and therefore when the next will occur, allowing for an edge-of-the-seat read. All of these factors add suspense and mystery to the genre, enabling climactic ends and heightened emotions for both the characters and readers. It is this link between what a reader is reading and their actual physical state and emotion as they read it, which the gothic genre really tries to affect.

[1] Oxford English Dictionary OED, 2015. [Online] Available from: http://www.oed.com/ [Accessed 18 March 2015].