The American Gothic can be approached as a cultural lens, through which we can examine the social, political, and aesthetic investments of a particular historical period. Narratives about crumbling castles and damsels in distress may not be in style anymore, but many characteristics of the Gothic prevail today in popular culture-ranging from the Harry Potter series, to noir films, to the Twilight franchise.įor the purposes of introducing and studying the Gothic in the classroom, however, one important characteristic is the particular role the genre plays in American literature, history, and culture. While many Gothic texts include seemingly impossible scenarios and otherworldly events, the biggest, and most effective, thrill of the Gothic is how it taps into the essential terrors of human experience, hidden fears and desires, and the hauntings of the historical past. Cuddon aptly describes one important quality of the Gothic: “an atmosphere of brooding gloom” ( Dictionary of Literary Terms, 381-82). Common characteristics of classic Gothic literature include: wild and desolate landscapes ancient buildings (ruined mansions, monasteries, etc.) castles and dungeons secret doors and winding stairways and apparitions and phantoms (“Literary Terms and Definitions”). Broadly conceived, the Gothic is a sub-category of the Romantic genre including poetry, short stories, or novels designed to thrill readers by providing mystery and blood-curdling accounts of villainy, murder, and the supernatural. Many authors of Gothic literature capitalized on those creepy feelings in order to usher in a new literary experience for readers. Those feelings are intrinsic to the experience of reading Gothic literature. Edgar Allen Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher, frontispiece and title page (1931)
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