What does "gothic fiction" mean?

Origin and Characteristics The third line of early American popular fiction is the gothic fiction (gothic fiction). The word "gothic" (gothic) has many meanings in English. It is a literary word, a historical term, and can be used as a specialized term for architecture and art. As a literary word, it also has many meanings. It refers to a literary phenomenon, a category of literary works, and can also indicate a method of literary creation; and in different historical periods and stages of history, these literary phenomena, literary works, and methods of literary creation have different connotations. Here, in accordance with common practice, it is used to denote a category of popular novels. This type of novel once flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, yet their authors, with a few exceptions, have been neglected by literary critics and literary historians. The pattern is characterized by stories that often take place in remote times and out-of-the-way places, with characters imprisoned in cramped spaces and ghost-infested buildings, and suspense and romance intertwined. The usual suspense devices include mysterious inheritances, hidden origins, lost wills, family secrets, ancestral curses, and so on. By the end, the suspense is solved, the outlaws are exposed, and the obstacles to the hero and heroine's love are cleared. However, this kind of love is different from the love in a romance novel. The difference between the two is that gothic novels usually depict mysterious adventures, and the obstacles to love often come from the outlaws, while romance novels depict mundane family trivia, and the obstacles to love often come from the heroes and heroines themselves.

The gothic novel originated in England in the late 18th century, and its originator was Horace Walpole. His The Castle of Otranto created the model for the early classical gothic novel. The emergence of the Gothic novel is related to the "Gothic" complex of the English cemetery poets of the time, as well as the "Gothic" aesthetic of Edmund Burke (1729-1797). standards of Edmund Burke (1729-1797). In addition, it draws on Richardson's Clarissa, with its dyadic model of "woman and villain". Soon after its release, the novel attracted the attention of many writers, including Clara Reeve (1729-1807), Sophia Lee (1750-1824), William Beckford (1760-1844), and others. -1844) and many others followed suit, becoming the most popular genre and rapidly expanding from England throughout Europe and America. By the 1890s, the Gothic novel had gradually evolved into two branches. One branch is the horror-type gothic novel, which is characterized by adhering to the traditional means, and on the basis of the integration of morbid evil, in order to increase the effect of mystery and horror, such as Matthew Lewis (Matthew Lewis, 1775-1818) The Monk (The Monk, 1795). Another branch is the sentimental gothic novel, which is characterized by retaining the old castle scene but discarding the excessive mystical elements and extreme horror atmosphere so that the story arrives at a logical explanation, e.g., The Mysteries of Udolpho (1764-1823) by Mary Radcliffe (1764-1823). Udolpho, 1794). Both branches had an impact on the United States. Among the American horror gothic novelists, the representative figure was Charles Brown (1771-1810). His Wieland (1798) and a series of horror gothic novels described the fearfulness of the protagonist with gloomy tones and mysterious atmosphere in a very evocative way, which had a great influence on the serious novelists of later times. Among the sentimental gothic novelists, the representative figures are Sally Wood (1759-1855) and Isaac Mitchell (1759-1812). The former wrote a series of well-known Gothic novels, such as Julia (1800), set in 18th-century France and Spain. The latter is known for the Gothic novel The Asylum (1804).

Charles Brown On January 17, 1771, Charles Brown was born into an old Quaker family in Philadelphia. He was the youngest son of the family, and was weak and sickly from childhood. However, he showed greater talent in reading and writing. As a child, he attended the Friends' Grammar School in Philadelphia, where he read the classics, and at the age of ten he wrote for the Columbia Magazine. At sixteen, he studied law under Alexander Welcox. However, his interest remained in writing, and in 1793 he decided to give up law and study literature instead. In the same year he traveled to New York and joined the Friendly Society, led by the famous English writer William Godwin (1756-1836). William Godwin's influence on Brown, especially his Gothic novel Caleb Williams (1794), prompted Brown's determination to write Gothic novels. As soon as he returned to Philadelphia, Brown began writing, and in 1798 he published his first book, Alcuin, A Dialogue on the Rights of Women, which spoke out for change in the unequal status of women. The same year also saw the release of his first Gothic novel, Willan. He returned to New York as editor of Monthly Magazine and American Review. In three short years, he published five novels in a row. They were Ormond; Or, The Secret Witness (1799), Edgar Huntly (1799), Arthur Mervyn (1800), Jane Talbot (1801) and Clara Talbot (1801). ), and Clara Howard (1801). Later, Brown returned to Philadelphia to edit the Literary Magazine, the American Register, and the American Register Or General Repository. During this period he wrote many articles and published a series of political pamphlets, and in 1804 he married Elizabeth Linn of New York. The long and arduous period of writing destroyed his already frail health, and he died of tuberculosis in Philadelphia on February 22, 1810, at the age of thirty-nine.

Charles Brown's reputation rests largely on a series of Gothic novels, including The Willams. Willan" tells the story of a New York farmer named Willan who suddenly sees a bright light flashing in the sky. Two angels urge him to "destroy his idol". So he goes mad, first killing all his horses, then his children and wife. Then he went to visit his sister and tried to kill her as well. As a result, he was caught and imprisoned as a madman. Charles Brown successfully combines traditional horror gothic fiction techniques with the American scene and brilliantly depicts the complex horror of Willan's psychology. When Willan was a child, his father died because he did not follow the instructions of the gods. Although Willan lived peacefully for many years with his wife, children, and sister Clara, the incident left a strong shadow in his mind. Especially in the "temple" built by his father, on the terrace, in Clara's bedroom, there was often a mysterious voice. On the one hand, he speculated with horror about the misfortunes it brought, and on the other hand, he remembered the tragic death of his father in the past. In a trance, he heard a voice: "Your prayer is heard. As proof of your fidelity, sacrifice your wife to me." So he killed his wife, his child, and went on to kill his sister Clara.

The theme of Arthur Merwin is different from that of Weyland. It is a presentation of a natural evil, the ravages of yellow fever on mankind; the novel began to be serialized in the Monthly Magazine in June 1798, but it lasted only two issues before the Monthly Magazine ceased publication. The following year, Brown organized and published a portion of it. In the third year, the remaining portions were again collated and published. Since Brown himself had suffered from yellow fever, the book's depiction of this plague is very realistic. In addition, the plot of the novel is extremely complex. The story has two main characters. One is Dr. Stevens, and the other is Arthur Merwin, a nineteen-year-old lad. It is in front of his house that Dr. Stevens finds Arthur Mervyn, who has contracted yellow fever. Next, Arthur Merwin recounted his astonishing experiences. Most of these experiences were related to Welbeck. This man betrayed, plundered, and killed all of his friends. Arthur Merwin is one of the intelligent characters. He relies on intelligence rather than force. When he rescues Eliza, a fifteen-year-old girl, he skillfully overcomes her cruel uncle.

Ormond, which was completed after Arthur Merwin, is also set against the backdrop of yellow fever. However, the yellow fever no longer serves as a strand in the plot, but as a means of highlighting the strong character of the protagonist. The protagonist, Constantiel, has both the personality of an ordinary woman and the qualities of an ideal woman. She meets the disaster with a positive attitude. Even when confronted with Ormond, who abandons her lover, she is very calm. Later she gradually becomes interested in Ormond, not so much to possess him as to defend her honor. In contrast, Ormond's personality is perverse. Presumably Brown's attempt to portray him as a fierce, ultra-selfish man failed to work.

"Edgar Huntley" returns to its original theme of showing the twisted psychology of man. At the beginning, Brown makes a big deal of the horrors of Criscillo's sleepwalking through the point of view of the main character, Edgar Huntley. At the same time, he expresses his deep sympathy for Clitheroe in an affirmative tone, thus stirring up a great deal of suspense in the reader's mind. Next, Charles Brown gives an account of Criscillo's guilt that Edgar Huntley suspects Criscillo of killing his fiancée's brother. Edgar Huntley's investigation of Criscillo actually ends up in a dead end. He has lost his memory of recent events. Without needing to be provocative, Edgar Huntley himself is a sleepwalker.

In short, Charles Brown's horror gothic novels such as Willan are among the finest of early American popular fiction. They reflect Brown's Quaker family background and embody William Godwin's ideas of social reform. In particular, the book's original and complex psychological depiction of horror influenced some famous novelists of later times, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James (1843-1916), and so on. Despite the widespread artistic success of horror-based gothic novels such as Willan, they were not widely popular with American readers. It was another type of gothic novel, the sentimental gothic novel, that was really favored by American readers. Representative writers in this area are Sally Wood and Isaac Mitchell.

Other Writers and Works Sally Wood, originally Sally Barrell, was born in 1759 in York County, Maine, into a family of naval officers. She grew up with her grandfather, who was a judge, and received a good upbringing from him. At the age of nineteen, she married Richard Keating. But only five years after their marriage, Richard Keating died, leaving her with two daughters and a newborn son. She worked hard to raise her children and remarried a few years later to a man named Ebil Wood, a general from Wiscasset, Maine. From 1800, she wrote five Gothic novels, first as "A Lady of Massachusetts" and then as "A Lady of Maine". The most important of these five novels is the debut Julia and the Illuminated Baron (1800). Set in 18th-century France, the book's heroine is Julia, a beautiful and kind-hearted young woman. After many trials and tribulations, she and her lover finally unravel the mystery of her birth and become a couple. The novel utilizes many of the traditional components of the Gothic novel, such as dangerous plateaus, graves, kidnapping, attempted rape, and so on. The remaining four novels are Dorval; or, the Spectator (1801), Amelia; or, the Influence of Virtue (1802), Ferdinand and Elmira: A Russian Story, 1804), and Tales of The Night (1827). They are all set in Europe and all have mysterious, macabre plots.

Isaac Mitchell was born in 1759 in Albany County, New York. He was the editor of the local newspaper, The Political Barometer, and it was in this newspaper that he published his Gothic novel, The Asylum; or, Alonzo and Melissa, in serialized form in 1804. It was not until 1811, however, that the novel was issued in a single volume by Joseph Nelson, a bookseller in Poughkeepsie, New York. In the same year, a similarly titled plagiarized book, Alonzo and Melissa; or, the Unfeeling Father, signed by Daniel Jackson, was also published. Ironically, it was Daniel Jackson's version that was favored by readers and reprinted over the next hundred years. Later, people finally recognized the authenticity. The basis for this was that the pirated copy did not contain an informative preface like the original. The Asylum; or, Alonzo and Melissa centers on a traditional story of the rescue of a beauty from an old castle. The novel is set in Connecticut during the colonial period in North America. Melissa, the heroine, falls in love with Alonzo, an impoverished revolutionary, and is imprisoned by her father in a haunted castle. Later, Alonzo joins Washington's navy and is captured by the British during the Revolutionary War. With Franklin's help, he escapes his clutches and returns home by way of France. This is Franklin's first and only appearance in an American Gothic novel. The climax of the story occurs at the end. In Charleston, the townspeople rumor that Melissa is dead, and Alonzo goes to her grave to pay his respects. However, Melissa is not dead, and she manages to escape the old castle to meet her intended.