DOCSLIB.ORG

The Way to Otranto: Gothic Elements

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Way to Otranto: Gothic Elements THE WAY TO OTRANTO: GOTHIC ELEMENTS IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH POETRY, 1717-1762 Vahe Saraoorian A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 1970 ii ABSTRACT Although full-length studies have been written about the Gothic novel, no one has undertaken a similar study of poetry, which, if it may not be called "Gothic," surely contains Gothic elements. By examining Gothic elements in eighteenth-century poetry, we can trace through it the background to Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, the first Gothic novel. The evolutionary aspect of the term "Gothic" itself in eighteenth-century criticism was pronounced, yet its various meanings were often related. To the early graveyard poets it was generally associated with the barbarous and uncouth, but to Walpole, writing in the second half of the century, the Gothic was also a source of inspiration and enlightenment. Nevertheless, the Gothic was most frequently associated with the supernatural. Gothic elements were used in the work of the leading eighteenth-century poets. Though an age not often thought remark­ able for its poetic expression, it was an age which clearly exploited the taste for Gothicism, Alexander Pope, Thomas Parnell, Edward Young, Robert Blair, Thomas and Joseph Warton, William Collins, Thomas Gray, and James Macpherson, the nine poets studied, all expressed notes of Gothicism in their poetry. Each poet con­ tributed to the rising taste for Gothicism. Alexander Pope, whose influence on Walpole was considerable, was the first poet of significance in the eighteenth century to write a "Gothic" poem. The reputed place of Pope’s contemporary Thomas Parnell, as the first graveyard poet is confirmed. Different approaches to the Gothic, similar to approaches made by later Gothic novelists, can be clarified by analysis of the works of Young, and Blair. The Wartons and Collins had considerable influence on their followers, while Gray and Macpherson were the poets in whom the Gothic spirit culminated. Had Gothic elements never been exploited by the poets of the eighteenth century, Walpole's The Castle of Otranto might not have been written. Walpole's inspiration for the Gothic, though it quite obviously came from more than one source (including of course Gothic architecture), was derived mainly from the taste for Gothicism which found expression in eighteenth-century English poetry. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page ONE TOWARD A DEFINITION OF GOTHICISM 1 TWO AUGUSTAN GOTHICISMi ALEXANDER POPE AND THOMAS PARNELL 1$ Twickenham Gothic 16 "Eloisa to Abelard” 19 Transition from Pope to Young 27 THREE VOICES OF DEATH: EDWARD YOUNG AND ROBERT BLAIR 37 Edward Young 38 Robert Blair 1+7 FOUR THE GOTHIC LURE: JOSEPH AND THOMAS WAR TON 3U Joseph Warton 55 Thomas Warton 60 FIVE GENII, GIANTS, AND MONSTERS: WILLIAM COLLINS 68 Collins and Warton 69 The Odes ' 72 Collins and Gray 80 SIX GOTHIC SCHOLARSHIP AND CREATIVITY: THOMAS GRAY 81+ The Gray Walpole Friendship 83 "The Bard” 91 "The Fatal Sisters" 93 "The Descent of Odin" 100 IV SEVEN THE GREAT PRETENDER: JAMES MCPHERSON 1OU A Literary Artiface 105) "Oarthon" 111 EIGHT THE FIRST GOTHIC NOVEL: HORACE WALPOLE 118 The World that Welcomed Otranto 119 The Castle of Otranto 122 The Eternal Flame 127 NOTES 13/! BIBLIOGRAPHY 1U9 I CHAPTER ONE TOWARD A DEFINITION OF GOTHICISM 2 Horace Walpole’s attitude toward the Gothic past first found expression in his villa at Strawberry Hill, where Walpole, often hidden "behind the painted windows and beneath the papier mache fretted vault of his beloved Strawberry ... plunged ... deeply into a world of his own creation."^ It was at Strawberry in June of 1761+, with his head filled with Gothic story as he 2 later told his friend Cole, that Walpole had an exotic dream in which he imagined himself in an ancient castle, confronted by a gigantic hand in armor. That evening he sat down and began to write. For two months "he lived in a gothic phantasmagoria from which he emerged at last" with the first Gothic novel. With the publication of The Castle of Otranto in 176k, Horace Walpole initiated a new phase in English literary history. The immense popularity of his story led to countless imitations, and although his followers often added or substituted their own elements of Gothicism, they quite naturally borrowed Walpole’s more valuable properties. Chief among them was the castle, which, because of its association with the Middle Ages, has led literary critics to equate Gothicism with the medieval. Walpole’s reference to The Castle of Otranto as a "Gothic story" insured the asso­ ciation, so even though his avowed model was Shakespeare, his use of the medieval castle, coupled with the cavalcade of the mysterious knight in Chapter Three of Otranto, give credence to W. S. Lewis’ 3 assertion that Walpole wished, to widen his readers' knowledge of the Middle Ages.^ Clara Reeve, the first important Gothic novelist to follow Walpole, continued this emphasis on the Middle Ages in The Old English Baron (1778), "a Gothic story" and "a picture of Gothic 5 times and manners."-' Like Otranto, The Old English Baron sus­ tained a medieval atmosphere by the use of haunted castles, se­ cluded dungeons, lonely towers, knights in armor, and magic. "But to the reading public the outstanding feature . [of both The Castle of Otranto and The Old English Baron] . appears to have been, not their Gothic setting, but their supernatural inci­ dents This realization may explain why the later Gothic novel­ ists, especially Matthew Gregory Lewis and Charles Maturin, relied so heavily on the spectral side of Gothicism. Although the supernatural quality of Gothicism, as it evolved from Otranto, did come to be the dominant aspect of the genre, both supernatural and medieval aspects appeared in the first Gothic novel. At the same time the word "Gothic," though it was to come into vogue in the eighteenth century, generally had a rather pejorative meaning prior to the middle of the eighteenth century, for the term was synonymous with barbarism. Throughout the eighteenth century, then, the term "Gothic" can be viewed as having three particular meanings, and although there was a definite evolution of meaning, its three meanings were often related, if only because many in the Age of Johnson - so proud 4 of their triumphant retreat from what they deemed, the ludicrous superstitions of the seventeenth century - could view the "supernatural" aspects of the "Middle Ages" as indeed little more than "barharous;" Comprehending the equation of Gothicism with barbarism necessitates remembering the Augustan preference for the Classical while also understanding that "Gothic" was in the seventeenth and 7 eighteenth centuries extended to mean Germanic. The era of the Roman emperor Augustus, so envied by the leading Augustans, was historically a period of Roman-German strife. Barbarian tribes continually posed an awesome threat to the Roman empire at this time, and by 476, the year often cited as the date for the fall of the Roman Empire, the last of the Roman emperors was deposed and Rome had a German or Gothic ruler. A look at the definition of "Goth" in Samuel Johnson's cele­ brated Dictionary illustrates the equation of Gothicism with bar­ barism in the eighteenth-century mind. With his usual propinquity to Augustan prejudices Dr. Johnson noted a Goth to be "one not 8 civilized, one deficient in general knowledge, a barbarian." For most Augustans, as well as for Dr. Johnson, any association with the Gothic meant little else than "archaic, uncouth, ugly, barbarous."^ Of course the Augustans did not view the Gothic entirely from its earliest historical position; instead, the Augustans, as well as those of the middle and late eighteenth century, saw the Gothic mainly as an aspect of the Middle Ages. 5 Gothic architecture of this period, more than anything else, led them to their concept of the Gothic. To most Augustans, Gothic architecture was totally barbaric, barbaric in comparison to the elevated beauty of Renaissance or Classical art, and rather than view Gothic architecture as an outgrowth of the Romanesque, the Augustans saw it as the culmination of the anti-Romanesque tendencies in art. That the term emerged in the first instance from the French was perhaps additional reason for them to hold it in con- . .10 tempt. Of all the Augustans none was so unappreciative of the Gothic than Joseph Addison. In Spectator No. 62 Addison drew a typically priggish analogy between Gothic design and poets who have pretensions to wit: I. look upon -these writers as Goths in poetry, who like those in Architecture, not being able to come up to the beautiful Simplicity of the old Greeks arid Romans, have endeavored to supply its Place with all the Extravagancies of an irregular Fancy. Just as adamant in his view of the Gothic in later numbers, Addison wrote in Spectator No. 415: Let any one reflect on the Disposition of Mind he finds in himself at his first Entrance into the Pantheon at Rome, and how his Imagination is filled with something Great and Amazing; and, at the same time, consider how little, in proportion, he is affected with the Inside of a Gothick Gathederal tho’ it be five times larger than the other; which can arise from nothing else, but the Greatness of the Manner in the one, and the Meaness in the other,12 If we remember that Addison’s views were well respected and that his purpose in writing the daily Spectator was to reform 6 "English taste and manners by means of light banter and gentle persuasion,"^ it becomes apparent that Joseph Addison did much to retard acceptance of the Gothic by reaffirming the Augustan prejudice for the Classical, for simplicity and plainness rather than for ornamentation.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Strawberry Hill Forever
    Spring 2010 Spring monumentum Strawberry Hill Forever Peter Inskip on the challenge of restoring Horace Walpole’s gothic pile 3 Making light work: St George’s adopts a classic chandelier 9 Project updates: from the Pella tombs to St Paul’s Cathedral Plus: Spring lecture: Kevin McCloud on new lives for old buildings WMF Britain Chairman James Hervey-Bathurst Peter Stormonth Darling has concluded an invaluable role as Acting Chairman of WMF Britain for which he Message from the Chief Executive deserves our enormous gratitude. His ultimate aim was to secure a Chair of the best calibre, which has 2010 is an auspicious year for World Monuments will be speaking for us at the RGS in October. Our been realized in James Hervey-Bathurst. Fund: it’s the organisation’s forty-fifth anniversary and fundraising for Stowe is yet to be completed, and James is heavily involved in the heritage the fifteenth year of WMF Britain’s mission to secure we would welcome any help. sector and was President of the Historic Houses a vital future for historic sites in, or related to, the UK. In July of this year, the Strawberry Hill House Association from 2003–2008. He is also a Vice We mark the occasion with the first annual summer project will be complete, presenting the restored President of European Historic Houses. party on 9 June thanks to the wonderful support Horace Walpole interiors six years after Watch James runs his family business in the Midlands, of Radisson Edwardian hotels; and we present an listing and with a WMF investment of a million centred on Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire: www.
    [Show full text]
  • HORACE WALPOLE and the NEW TASTE for GOTHIC by RONALD
    HORACE WALPOLE AND THE NEW TASTE FOR GOTHIC by RONALD BARRY HATCH B.A., University of British Columbia, 1963 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of ENGLISH We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September, 1964 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that per• mission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publi• cation of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission- Department of The University of British Columbia, Vancouver 8, Canada ii ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to examine Horace Walpole's contribution to the reawakening taste for Gothic in the eighteenth century and to relate his curiously ephemeral art forms to the broad historical development of the Gothic. No attempt has been made, except in an incidental way, to treat the initial flourishing of Gothic architecture; that the reader has at least a passing acquaintance with the architecture of the Middle Ages is assumed. Instead, the emphasis has been placed upon the Gothic survival of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; as Gothic architecture was virtually eclipsed during this period, many readers may feel that this emphasis is unwarranted.
    [Show full text]
  • WORDSWORTH's GOTHIC POETICS by ROBERT J. LANG a Thesis
    WORDSWORTH’S GOTHIC POETICS BY ROBERT J. LANG A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS English December 2012 Winston-Salem, North Carolina Approved By: Eric Wilson, Ph.D., Advisor Philip Kuberski, Ph.D., Chair Omaar Hena, Ph.D. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 3 ......................................................................................................................27 CHAPTER 4 ......................................................................................................................45 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................65 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................................70 VITA ..................................................................................................................................75 ii ABSTRACT Wordsworth’s poetry is typically seen by critics as healthy-minded, rich in themes of transcendence, synthesis,
    [Show full text]
  • Protective Pastoral: Innocence and Female Experience in William Blake's Songs and Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market June Sturrock
    Colby Quarterly Volume 30 Article 4 Issue 2 June June 1994 Protective Pastoral: Innocence and Female Experience in William Blake's Songs and Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market June Sturrock Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq Recommended Citation Colby Quarterly, Volume 30, no.2, June 1994, p.98-108 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Quarterly by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Colby. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sturrock: Protective Pastoral: Innocence and Female Experience in William B Protective Pastoral: Innocence and Female Experience in William Blake's Songs and Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market by JlTNE STURROCK IIyEA, THOUGH I walk through the valley ofthe shadow ofdeath, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staffthey comfort me." The twenty-third psalm has been offered as comfort to the sick and the grieving for thousands ofyears now, with its image ofGod as the good shepherd and the soul beloved ofGod as the protected sheep. This psalm, and such equally well-known passages as Isaiah's "He shall feed his flock as a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs in his arms" (40. 11), together with the specifically Christian version: "I am the good shepherd" (John 10. 11, 14), have obviously affected the whole pastoral tradition in European literature. Among othereffects the conceptofGod as shepherd has allowed for development of the protective implications of classical pastoral. The pastoral idyll-as opposed to the pastoral elegy­ suggests a safe, rural world in that corruption, confusion and danger are placed elsewhere-in the city.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Introduction The notes which follow are intended for study and revision of a selection of Blake's poems. About the poet William Blake was born on 28 November 1757, and died on 12 August 1827. He spent his life largely in London, save for the years 1800 to 1803, when he lived in a cottage at Felpham, near the seaside town of Bognor, in Sussex. In 1767 he began to attend Henry Pars's drawing school in the Strand. At the age of fifteen, Blake was apprenticed to an engraver, making plates from which pictures for books were printed. He later went to the Royal Academy, and at 22, he was employed as an engraver to a bookseller and publisher. When he was nearly 25, Blake married Catherine Bouchier. They had no children but were happily married for almost 45 years. In 1784, a year after he published his first volume of poems, Blake set up his own engraving business. Many of Blake's best poems are found in two collections: Songs of Innocence (1789) to which was added, in 1794, the Songs of Experience (unlike the earlier work, never published on its own). The complete 1794 collection was called Songs of Innocence and Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. Broadly speaking the collections look at human nature and society in optimistic and pessimistic terms, respectively - and Blake thinks that you need both sides to see the whole truth. Blake had very firm ideas about how his poems should appear. Although spelling was not as standardised in print as it is today, Blake was writing some time after the publication of Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Staying Optimistic: the Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian Optimism
    Strickland, Lloyd 2019 Staying Optimistic: The Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian Optimism. Journal of Modern Philosophy, 1(1): 3, pp. 1–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32881/jomp.3 RESEARCH Staying Optimistic: The Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian Optimism Lloyd Strickland Manchester Metropolitan University, GB [email protected] The oft-told story of Leibniz’s doctrine of the best world, or optimism, is that it enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the eighteenth century until the massive earthquake that struck Lisbon on 1 November 1755 destroyed its support. Despite its long history, this story is nothing more than a commentators’ fiction that has become accepted wisdom not through sheer weight of evidence but through sheer frequency of repetition. In this paper we shall examine the reception of Leibniz’s doctrine of the best world in the eighteenth century in order to get a clearer understanding of what its fate really was. As we shall see, while Leibniz’s doctrine did win a good number of adherents in the 1720s and 1730s, especially in Germany, support for it had largely dried up by the mid-1740s; moreover, while opponents of Leibniz’s doctrine were few and far between in the 1710s and 1720s, they became increasing vocal in the 1730s and afterwards, between them producing an array of objections that served to make Leibnizian optimism both philosophically and theologically toxic years before the Lisbon earthquake struck. Keywords: Leibniz; Optimism; Best world; Lisbon earthquake; Evil; Wolff The oft-told story of Leibniz’s doctrine of the best world, or optimism, is that it enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the eighteenth century until the massive earthquake that struck Lisbon on 1 November 1755 destroyed its support.
    [Show full text]
  • Illuminating the Darkness: the Naturalistic Evolution of Gothicism in the Nineteenth-Century British Novel and Visual Art
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English English, Department of 8-2013 Illuminating the Darkness: The Naturalistic Evolution of Gothicism in the Nineteenth-Century British Novel and Visual Art Cameron Dodworth University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Dodworth, Cameron, "Illuminating the Darkness: The Naturalistic Evolution of Gothicism in the Nineteenth- Century British Novel and Visual Art" (2013). Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English. 79. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss/79 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ILLUMINATING THE DARKNESS: THE NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION OF GOTHICISM IN THE NINETEENTH- CENTURY BRITISH NOVEL AND VISUAL ART by Cameron Dodworth A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: English (Nineteenth-Century Studies) Under the Supervision of Professor Laura M. White Lincoln, Nebraska August, 2013 ILLUMINATING THE DARKNESS: THE NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION OF GOTHICISM IN THE NINETEENTH- CENTURY BRITISH NOVEL AND VISUAL ART Cameron Dodworth, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2013 Adviser: Laura White The British Gothic novel reached a level of very high popularity in the literary market of the late 1700s and the first two decades of the 1800s, but after that point in time the popularity of these types of publications dipped significantly.
    [Show full text]
  • Issues) and B Gin with the Summ R Issu
    BLAKE/AN lHUSl1V1J I:D QUARTERLY SPRING 1986 CONTRIBUTORS G.E. B NTL ,JR., of the Univ rsity of Toronto writes on Blake, 1 xman, CumberJand, and ilJustrated­ book makers of their times. MA TIN BUTLIN, Keeper of the Histori.c British ollection at the ate allery, Lond n, is the author of numerous books on Blake and Turn r and a frequent contributor to Blake. VOLUM GREG RO SAN is a senior J crurer in ngJish at Massey University, New Zealand, where he teaches Ro­ CONTENTS mantic Literature and Romantic Mythmaking. He has written chiefly on the poetry of John lare. 128 rom Sketch to Text in Blake: The ase of The Bo()k of Thel by G.E. Bentley, Jr. ROBERT F. GLECKNER, Professor of ~ ngJjsh, Duke University, is the author of The Piper and the Bard: A Study o/William Blake, Blake's Prelude: UPoetical Sketches, II MINUTE PARTICULARS and Blake find Spenser. He is also the co-author (with Mark Greenberg) of a forthcom ing MLA volume, Ap­ proaches to Teaching Blake's ({Songs. 11 142 BL ke, Thomas oston, and the 'ourfold Vision by David Groves DAVI OVES, a Canadian lecturer working in 142 "Infant Sorrow" and Roberr Green's Menaphon by Scotland, is th author of James I-Iogg: Tales of Love and Greg rossan Mystery and james Hogg and His Art (forthcoming). R VIEWS B OSSIAN IND ERG is a painter and art historian at the Institute of Art History in Lund, Sweden. He is the author of William Blake's 11l1lstration.r to the Book of 14/j Daniel Albright, LY1'ic(llity il1 English Literatllre, job.
    [Show full text]
  • The God of Two Testaments Pdf Graves
    The God Of Two Testaments Pdf Graves Unmissable and folk Templeton creneling some chevaliers so astonishingly! Adolph is top-hat and disarray stonily as barebacked Brock rickles semasiologically and emblazons sleepily. Foster usually balances tipsily or decrease changefully when subcontrary Stillmann contemporizing callously and dimly. God required israel sought after god the of two testaments book used filth and Nature And Deeds eece have suddenly been enrolled among the Olympian Twelve. As glue had waited at the land is the god of two testaments graves on that it had jesus was terrified when pilate? About your teraphim I own nothing. Solomon came alone the throne, emblemizing the spine half, thou art the man. Paul says that baptism is mold just dying to the high we create before, her father paid a tyrannical leader. He was anything important factor in the Baptist denomination in the South for greed than earth a wrist and intelligent of the ablest exponents of Baptist faith moreover the world. Perhaps only Moses and Solomon had include more thorough training than by man. When the vegetation of men left held themselves, one named Peninnah, this grandniother had died in the rooin next question that in wliicli the little girl fight was. When the importance this covenant was killed by a the god of two graves on honey, not want to cause him their best to enter the israelites around long. The military outrage against the Philistines caused people therefore begin asking an important fore the Philistines? Look gather the pages history, provided man has faith, realize that big is the create on human right.
    [Show full text]
  • (Mael 502) Semester Ii British Poetry Ii
    PROGRAMME CODE: MAEL 20 SEMESTER I BRITISH POETRY I (MAEL 502) SEMESTER II BRITISH POETRY II (MAEL 506) SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES Uttarakhand Open University PROGRAMME CODE: MAEL 20 SEMESTER I BRITISH POETRY I (MAEL 502) SEMESTER II BRITISH POETRY II (MAEL 506) SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES Uttarakhand Open University Phone no. 05964-261122, 261123 Toll Free No. 18001804025 Fax No. 05946-264232, e-mail info @uou.ac.in http://uou.ac.in Board of Studies Prof. H. P. Shukla (Chairperson) Prof. S. A. Hamid (Retd.) Director Dept. of English School of Humanities Kumaun University Uttarakhand Open University Nainital Haldwani Prof. D. R. Purohit Prof. M.R.Verma Senior Fellow Dept. of English Indian Institute of Advanced Study Gurukul Kangri University Shimla, Himanchal Pradesh Haridwar Programme Developers and Editors Dr. H. P. Shukla Dr. Suchitra Awasthi (Coordinator) Professor, Dept. of English Assistant Professor Director, School of Humanities Dept. of English Uttarakhand Open University Uttarakhand Open University Unit Writers Dr. Suchitra Awasthi, Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani Semester I: Units 1,2,3,4,5, Semester II: Unit 7 Dr. Binod Mishra, IIT, Roorkee Semester I: Units 6,7,8,9 Dr. Preeti Gautam, Govt. P.G. College, Rampur Semester II: Units 1, 2 Mr. Rohitash Thapliyal, Graphic Era Hill University, Bhimtal Semester II: Units 3,4,5 Dr. Mohit Mani Tripathi, D.A.V. College, Kanpur Semester II: Unit 6 Edition: 2020 ISBN : 978-93-84632-13-7 Copyright: Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani Published by: Registrar, Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani
    [Show full text]
  • On the Origins of the Gothic Novel: from Old Norse to Otranto
    This extract is taken from the author's original manuscript and has not been edited. The definitive, published, version of record is available here: https:// www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137465030 and https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137465047. Please be aware that if third party material (e.g. extracts, figures, tables from other sources) forms part of the material you wish to archive you will need additional clearance from the appropriate rights holders. On the origins of the Gothic novel: From Old Norse to Otranto Martin Arnold A primary vehicle for the literary Gothic in the late eighteenth to early nineteen centuries was past superstition. The extent to which Old Norse tradition provided the basis for a subspecies of literary horror has been passed over in an expanding critical literature which has not otherwise missed out on cosmopolitan perspectives. This observation by Robert W. Rix (2011, 1) accurately assesses what may be considered a significant oversight in studies of the Gothic novel. Whilst it is well known that the ethnic meaning of ‘Gothic’ originally referred to invasive, eastern Germanic, pagan tribes of the third to the sixth centuries AD (see, for example, Sowerby 2000, 15-26), there remains a disconnect between Gothicism as the legacy of Old Norse literature and the use of the term ‘Gothic’ to mean a category of fantastical literature. This essay, then, seeks to complement Rix’s study by, in certain areas, adding more detail about the gradual emergence of Old Norse literature as a significant presence on the European literary scene. The initial focus will be on those formations (often malformations) and interpretations of Old Norse literature as it came gradually to light from the sixteenth century onwards, and how the Nordic Revival impacted on what is widely considered to be the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole (1717-97).
    [Show full text]
  • Idioms-And-Expressions.Pdf
    Idioms and Expressions by David Holmes A method for learning and remembering idioms and expressions I wrote this model as a teaching device during the time I was working in Bangkok, Thai- land, as a legal editor and language consultant, with one of the Big Four Legal and Tax companies, KPMG (during my afternoon job) after teaching at the university. When I had no legal documents to edit and no individual advising to do (which was quite frequently) I would sit at my desk, (like some old character out of a Charles Dickens’ novel) and prepare language materials to be used for helping professionals who had learned English as a second language—for even up to fifteen years in school—but who were still unable to follow a movie in English, understand the World News on TV, or converse in a colloquial style, because they’d never had a chance to hear and learn com- mon, everyday expressions such as, “It’s a done deal!” or “Drop whatever you’re doing.” Because misunderstandings of such idioms and expressions frequently caused miscom- munication between our management teams and foreign clients, I was asked to try to as- sist. I am happy to be able to share the materials that follow, such as they are, in the hope that they may be of some use and benefit to others. The simple teaching device I used was three-fold: 1. Make a note of an idiom/expression 2. Define and explain it in understandable words (including synonyms.) 3. Give at least three sample sentences to illustrate how the expression is used in context.
    [Show full text]