Southern Gothic Literature

Gothic Literature18th-19th centuryCombines elements of both horror and romanceFeatures include melodrama and parodyCritique of moral blindness of medieval eraNathaniel Hawthorne, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman?

Visual ContrastMichelangelo’s Renaissance rendering vs. crucifixion motif emphasizing the physical suffering of Christ

Michelangelo Buonarroti1475-1564

Roettgen Pietacirca early 14th century

Gothic SettingsGothic Buildings

Old, unfamiliar, mysterious and menacing“Dark Ages” architectureDesigned to terrify or overwhelm the reader

Natural SettingsForests and mountain to involve a sense of dangerDesigned to remove the reader from the ordinary, everyday world of the normal and familiar

Action in the Gothic novel tends to take place at night, or at least in a claustrophobic, sunless environment.

Some Gothic MotifsHaunted castleAscent (up a mountain or high staircase)Descent (into a dungeon, cave, underground chambers or labyrinth) or falling off a precipiceSecret passageHidden doorsThe pursued maiden and the threat of rape or abductionPhysical decay, skulls, cemeteries, and other images of death

Ghostsrevenge; family curseBlood and goreTortureThe Doppelganger (evil twin or double)Demonic possessionMasking/shape-changingBlack magicMadness/psychosisIncest and other broken sexual taboos

CharactersThe protagonist deems himself/herself the most tortured soul in the world as the misfortunes occur.There are characteristic passages in the stories in which the character goes into a self pitying monologue of some sort.The characters in gothic stories are often tormented by horrendous actions for which they are sometimes responsible.

Southern Gothic Literature

CharacteristicsMost notable Southern Gothic literature written in 20th centuryGrotesque charactersIssues of supernatural and uncanny ideas that border on lunacyBizarre endingsThemes of conflict intrinsic to the SouthCharacters with stereotypic personalities (using supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to reveal the inequities of Southern society)

Southern Gothic Literature: Distinguishing Features

The outsiderImprisonment (both literal and figurative)ViolenceSense of placeFamily

Grotesque Characteristics

One whose psyche is distorted because he or she develops an obsession or latches on to only one ideaThe characters’ bodies may or may not be deformed to reflect these psychic obsessions (may be physical, mental, or metaphorical)Induces both empathy and disgust