Eighteenth-century Gothic novel
Eighteenth-century Gothic novels are works of Gothic fiction published between 1764 and roughly 1820, with their greatest period of popularity in the 1790s. These works originated the term "Gothic" to refer to stories which evoked the sentimental and supernatural qualities of medieval romance with the new genre of the novel. After 1820, the eighteenth-century Gothic novel receded in popularity, largely overtaken by the related genre of historical fiction as pioneered by Walter Scott.[1] The eighteenth-century Gothic was also followed by new genres of Gothic fiction like the Victorian penny dreadful.[2]
The first work to call itself "Gothic" was Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764).[2] Walpole's novel was popular but did not initially prompt many imitators. Beginning with Clara Reeve's The Old English Baron (1778), the 1780s saw more writers attempting the Gothic combination of supernatural plots with emotionally realistic characters. At the height of the Gothic's popularity in the 1790s, the genre was almost synonymous with Ann Radcliffe, whose works were highly anticipated and widely imitated.[3] Radcliffe's works were often seen as the feminine and rational opposite of a more violently horrifying male Gothic associated with Matthew Lewis. Lewis's The Monk (1796) contrasted strongly with Radcliffe's bestselling The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and Radcliffe responded to Lewis in her final novel The Italian (1797).[4]
References
- ^ Richter, David H. (2016-07-28). Downie, James Alan (ed.). The Gothic Novel and the Lingering Appeal of Romance. Oxford University Press. pp. 471–488. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566747.013.021. ISBN 978-0-19-956674-7.
- ^ a b Birch, Dinah, ed. (2009). "Gothic fiction". The Oxford Companion to English Literature (7th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191735066.
- ^ Sucur, Slobodan (2007-05-06). "Gothic fiction". The Literary Encyclopedia. ISSN 1747-678X.
- ^ Hogle, Jerrold E., ed. (2002-08-29). "Introduction". The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–20. doi:10.1017/ccol0521791243. ISBN 978-0-521-79124-3.