Studies in an Eighteenth-Century Genre
Term 2
MWF, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Gothic fiction emerged in Britain in the mid eighteenth century and achieved immense popularity in the 1790s. Its characteristic features, which tend to include vast and labyrinthine castles, malevolent father figures, missing mothers, imperilled heroines, supernatural manifestations, paranoid fears, and uncanny sensations, captured many of the contradictions and terrors associated with what we still recognize as the modern world. From those late-eighteenth century gothic tales we can trace some of the origins of many other genres, including science fiction, fantasy, the Harlequin romance, and even the western. Beginning with some classic early examples (and some literary precursors, including Macbeth), we will look into the conditions from which gothic fiction emerged, the literary innovations its practitioners have accomplished, and some examples of the sub-genres it helped to spawn. Texts will include Ann Radcliffe’s The Romance of the Forest, Matthew Lewis’ The Monk, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner. We will also view and discuss a few movies and television shows, including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Firefly, and Jane the Virgin.
