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Supernatural Elements in Selected Stories of Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Supernatural elements in selected stories of Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood Bachelor Thesis Brno 2013 Supervisor: Author: Ing. Mgr. Věra Eliášová, Ph.D. Michal Břenek 1 Annotation This bachelor thesis focuses on the analysis of supernatural elements in the stories The White People and The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen and The Willows by Algernon Blackwood used by authors to achieve psychological impacts on readers and closely examining the origin of these elements taking into consideration authors' background and attitudes. In the first part I briefly introduce the authors as well as their opinions and background that influenced their writing while the second part is dedicated to explanations of plots and analyses of the elements in detail. Anotace Tato bakalářská práce se zaměřuje na rozbor nadpřirozených prvků v povídkách Bílí lidé a Velký Bůh Pan Arthura Machena a v povídce Vrby Algernona Blackwooda, které autoři použili pro dosažení psychologického dopadu na čtenáře a také na původ těchto prvků s ohledem na postoje a minulost obou autorů. V první části krátce představuji jednotlivé autory, jejich názory a minulost, které ovlivnily jejich literární styl a v druhé části se věnuji vysvětlení zápletek a podrobnému rozboru prvků. 2 Bibliographical description BŘENEK, Michal. Supernatural elements in selected stories of Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood : bachelor thesis. Brno : Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2013. 49p. Supervisor Ing. Mgr. Věra Eliášová, Ph.D. Klíčová slova Gotický horor, viktoriánské období, porušení přírodních zákonů, strach z neznáma, dědičný hřích, nadpřirozené prvky, vtělené zlo, nadpřirozené síly, naprosté odloučení od civilizace, extáze, degenerace, okultismus, starodávné rituály, narušená sexualita, psychický kolaps Keywords Supernatural elements = nadpřirozené prvky, Victorian Era = viktoriánské období, hereditary sin = dědičný hřích, fear of the unknown = strach z neznáma, weird fiction, Gothic horror = gotický horor, occultism = okultismus, sorcery and sanctity, ecstasy and sin = extáze a hřích, violation of natural laws = porušení přírodních zákonů, supernatural forces = nadpřirozené síly, total isolation from the civilization = naprosté odloučení od civilizace, incarnated evil = vtělené zlo, forbidden dimensions, ancient rites = starodávné rituály, literature of cosmic fear, disturbed sexuality = narušená sexualita, psychical collapse = psychický kolaps 3 Declaration “I hereby declare that I have worked on this bachelor thesis independently, using only the sources listed in the bibliography” Michal Břenek Brno 10 December 2013 .................................. 4 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to the supervisor of my bachelor thesis, Ing. Mgr. Věra Eliášová, PhD, for her guidance, invaluable advice and great support during the whole writing process. 5 Weird Tale ....................................................................................................................... 8 1. Characterization of authors....................................................................................... 9 1.1 Arthur Machen ........................................................................................................ 9 1.1.1 Biography ........................................................................................................ 9 1.1.2 Philosophy and background .............................................................................. 11 1.2 Algernon Blackwood ............................................................................................ 12 1.2.1 Biography ...................................................................................................... 12 1.2.2 Philosophy and background .......................................................................... 14 2. Analyses of selected stories ...................................................................................... 15 2.1 The White People ................................................................................................. 15 2.1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 15 2.1.2 Concerning Sin .............................................................................................. 16 2.1.3 Power of tradition .......................................................................................... 19 2.1.4 Breaking the spell .......................................................................................... 21 2.1.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 22 2.2 The Great God Pan ............................................................................................... 23 2.2.1 The experiment .............................................................................................. 23 2.2.2 The great god Pan .......................................................................................... 24 2.2.3 The hereditary sin of Helen ........................................................................... 26 2.2.4 Victims of the Devil ....................................................................................... 29 2.2.5 The suicides ................................................................................................... 32 2.2.6 Evolution of Helen's power and her sexuality ............................................... 33 2.2.7 Helen's death and degeneration ..................................................................... 34 2.3 The Willows .......................................................................................................... 36 2.3.1 Admiring nature ............................................................................................. 36 2.3.2 From awe to terror ......................................................................................... 38 2.3.3 Rationalizing the supernatural ....................................................................... 40 2.3.4 The victim ...................................................................................................... 43 2.3.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 46 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 48 6 Introduction Literature has been written for various purposes - from preservation of events, knowledge or tradition to expression of author's thoughts and fantasies. Many authors have also intended to evoke certain emotions in readers and one of the strongest emotion which can be transmitted through a piece of writing is fear. In my thesis I would like to focus on two authors whose work convey a very specific kind of fear – the fear of unknown. Both of them lived in the same period, they even knew each other and yet their writing styles are vastly different. And it is exactly this difference that I am going to examine by choosing best work of each, as a matter of fact, one by Blackwood but two by Machen, for The White People and The Great God Pan are closely linked by a common theme and I consider including both of them to be vital for the analyses, as one contains key information for explanation or understanding the other. In the first part I am briefly introducing the authors via biographies while examining their attitudes, experience and philosophies by means of available autobiographies and critical essays, which should lead to better understanding of the settings, plots, characters and moods of the stories. The second chapter, the analyses themselves, are divided into sub-chapters in a chronological order in accordance with narration of the stories. The analyses consist of a detailed plot review and examination of principal supernatural elements which I am trying to put into the context and prove my findings by using examples from the text and secondary sources. In The White People analysis I am trying to show and illustrate the author's ability to vividly depict an ecstasy caused by supernatural forces in connection with sin and its definition within the context of the story while applying this definition to characters of The Great God Pan and developing further associations with sexuality, fear of the unknown, biology and violation of natural laws and its possible impacts on (Victorian) readers. In The Willows I am trying to explain behaviour of the supernatural forces in 7 connection with a human intrusion as a possible act of self-defence. Also I am showing the author's ability to change polarities of emotions from awe to terror in order to keep the tension and slowly escalate the plot by illustrating helplessness of reason and rationality against the supernatural. Weird Tale In this extra introduction, I would like to introduce and examine in detail a specific 'sub-genre' of Gothic fiction, the 'weird tale' or 'weird fiction', for both authors, together with H. P. Lovecraft1, could be regarded as its prominent representatives. The weird tale is an unofficial term invented and used by H. P. Lovecraft in order to distinguish “a literature of cosmic fear” which is based on the fear of unknown where “uncertainty and danger are always closely allied; thus making any kind of an unknown world a world of peril and evil possibilities” from
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