 Gothic literature

—Gothic writing is a form of romantic literature that is characterized by pessimism, mystery, and macabre. While the term originally refers to a medieval Germanic tribe, it is often connected to everything that is archaic and old. In architecture it refers to "revival" of old styles that were trendy during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the gothic text, there are constant references to the old and archaic past. It emerged as a writing style in the mid-eighteenth century with the rise of the romantic belief that the Enlightenment was unable to reflect human complexity through rationalism. It was used by authors like S.T Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Byron to show how irrationality could criticize the rational experience because feelings of fear and transgression affect humans more than optimistic situations (Smith 3).

            The gothic text includes special settings, like castles, monasteries, and ruins. The characters are also peculiar too, they are often religious (nuns, monks), and aristocratic. They represent evil, terror, and are anti-enlightenment themes (Smith 4). Other aspects of the gothic text include grotesque and ugly figures, disgust, and the supernatural.