Gothic Elements In The Castle Of Otranto

Words: 812
Pages: 4
Open Document
In the Castle of Otranto the story includes many of the gothic elements in a gothic novel, and those gothic elements relate to the fear response in the human brain. In this paper I will explain The gothic elements found in the Castle of Otranto, the fear response system and how the gothic elements relate to it, and lastly the significance of the Castle of Otranto.

According to the Elements of the gothic Novel worksheet there ten main gothic elements found in a gothic novel ,and in the castle of Otranto the novel includes all ten of these gothic elements, but there are three main gothic elements that stand out in the novel. The First Gothic element is a setting in castle. A quote from the book that proves this is in novel when it say,” The …show more content…
Fear can be many things. The definition of fear is, an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Why do we feel fear? Well fear is caused by the amygdalae. The amygdalae is organs in the limbic System, detect such possibilities and send the signals which generate the fear emotion, which sets off avoidance activities. This causes what modern science call fight or flight. It is also called the fear trigger system. This was a life saving mechanism for early humans. Fight or flight prepares us to run, move, fight, etc. The gothic elements in the novel Castle of Otranto relate to the fear trigger system. The amygdalae tells us that a bad, old rotten house is scarier and more avoidable than a normal clean house. The amygdalae also tells us that most of the gothic elements aren't suppose to be something good and instead tell us that the situation isn't good. An example would be the gothic element a setting in a castle. The massive arched spaces of the buildings were intended to produce emotion of awe and fear. To sum it up the amygdalae is what causes fear and fight or flight and the gothic elements are related to the fear trigger …show more content…
Although many people reflect on Frankenstein or Dracula when you think of early gothic writing examples, the novel castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole is the first gothic novel that started it all. BBC news says,” In fact, the roots of the genre can be traced back to the publication of Horace Walpole’s 18th century novel The castle of Otranto- a work whose aesthetics have shaped modern-day gothic books, films, art, and music, as well as the gothic subculture.” Also Walpole combined two prominent styles of writing instead of just one. The two he combined was Medieval romance which includes Dragons, Giants, Knights, etc, and the second style was modern novel which is entirely realistic detail and true to-life descriptions. This created a realistic setting in which supernatural things occur. Also to enhance the “reality” of the gothic novel, often an introduction states that the novel is found a “found manuscript”, which the Castle of Otranto included. The Castle of Otranto was a very significant peice in writing and will always be known as the start of the gothic literature and inspiring many of today's gothic movies, arts, books ,and gothic
Show More

Related Documents: Gothic Elements In The Castle Of Otranto

Gothic Fiction and Mrs Danvers Essay

Rebecca Film analysis Bridget Tuke Gothic literature is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothic literature was almost singlehandedly invented by Horace Walpole after the release of his novel, The Castle of Otranto in 1764. Based on the novel of the same name written in 1938, Rebecca opened in April 1940 to rave reviews. Rebecca follows the story of a naïve young woman after she marries a wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter. After…

Words 920 - Pages 4

Essay about Rebecca: Daphne Du Maurier and Mrs. de Winters

Rebecca Gothic literature is an English genre of fiction that was popular in the eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries, characterized by an atmosphere of mystery and supernatural horror and having a pseudo-medieval setting. The very first example of gothic literature in history was attributed to Horace Walpole and his novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764). Other examples include Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker, Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë, and Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë. Seeing…

Words 1654 - Pages 7

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions Essays

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions 89S. Imagining War. Instructor M. Maiwald. WF 8:30-9:45 In this course, we will consider how the experience of war has been represented in American fiction, non-fiction, and film. We will investigate how attitudes toward war have evolved throughout American history: our timeline begins with the Civil War—the traumatic event that birthed the modern American state—and ends with the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In particular…

Words 9501 - Pages 39