“Gothic refers to the use of primitive, medieval, wild, or mysterious elements in literature. Gothic novels feature places like mysterious and gloomy castles, where horrifying, supernatural events take place.” (Wiggins R27) The Fall of the House of Usher To many, this short story is considered the epitome of Gothic literature. Within the opening of the story, the single element of gloom is implanted into the reader. The narrator describes his first glimpse of the House of Usher, “I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible, I looked upon the scene before me” (Wiggins 293-294). The feeling of gloom and mystery is successfully transmitted from the narrator to the reader through the spooky description of the large deserted looking castle of Usher. When the narrator goes into find his friend in terrible mental state, fear of his own sickness, his sister’s sickness, and his belief that his mansion has supernatural powers over him. The resolution to the story describes catastrophic supernatural events, because on one night Usher couldn’t sleep, his friend reads a story to help calm him. On that night, all the sounds and events from the story could be heard within the mansion. He then admits to his friend that he buried his sister alive, and she came back from the dead to take Usher with her. These events demonstrate the horror, and anomalous things that only the possesed could perform. It successfully showed a dark side to the thinking and workings of the mind of people.
The Raven Poe’s the Raven demonstrates many elements of gothic literature because the whole aura of the poem is dedicated to bringing a remote, fearful, and overall dark message to the reader. It starts out in a very remote setting, which shows a mysterious vibe by placing it during midnight. Later it becomes even more gothic, “Back then into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning” (Wiggins 314). Poe adds another layer of spook by introducing a character that is going through mental and physical torture. By the end of the poem, he calls the raven a prophet of evil, showing that the bird represents a supernatural force by showing up to the character’s window. These specific events that Poe portrays successfully puts a dark spooky vibe into the reader’s mind, convincing that darker forces are present and may come to haunt you.
Media - The Phantom of the Opera In the Phantom of the Opera, several elements of gothic literature are displayed. The dreary music fills the scene with gloom, and an overall spooky message is drawn from it. The phantom’s lair and the Opera House is considered the ancient castle, making it gothic. The phantom’s powers are illusional and create the effect of supernatural forces.