Gothic Novel Definition

Post date: Mar 4, 2014 5:24:06 PM

Gothic novel or Gothic romance- a story of terror and suspense, usually set in a gloomy, old castle or monastery (hence ‘Gothic’, a term applied to medieval architecture and thus associated in the 18th century with superstition). These stories made free use of ghosts and demons along with other scenes of cruelty and horror. The fashion for such works gave way to a vogue for historical novels, but it contributed to the new emotional climate of Romanticism. In an extended sense, many novels that do not have a medievalized setting, but which share a comparably sinister, grotesque, or claustrophobic atmosphere have been classed as Gothic. The term Gothic novel is today often applied to works which lack the Gothic setting or the medieval atmosphere but which attempt to create the same atmosphere of brooding and unknown terror which the true Gothic novel does.