This project is an investigation of early modern literature and the concept of the Gothic mode in poetic works of early modern England
Image: An 18th century engraving of Strawberry Hill, home of the gothic novelist Horace Walpole. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
In 1764, Horace Walpole published The Castle Of Otranto, a work commonly acknowledged as the first Gothic novel. Gothic novels were seen as a reaction to the Enlightenment: while the earliest English novels were realistic and believable, Gothic novels eschewed realism for an emphasis on the emotions. Representations of terror, the 'principle engine' behind Walpole's text, would consequently become a staple theme of subsequent Gothic novels. The question this thesis seeks to address is, if we can conceive of texts such as contemporary horror films as an 'evolution' of the Gothic novel, can these concepts be applied retroactively to pre-eighteenth century texts? This thesis is an investigation of early modern literature and the concept of the Gothic mode in poetic works of early modern England. Terror, horror and melancholy are emotions (or emotional states) are salient characteristics of the Gothic mode, and the aspect of my research that is germane to the Centre's aims is a study of how these emotions were represented in works of early modern poetry.