Fiche de révision : La littérature gothique

📋 Plan du Cours

1. Les caractéristiques du roman gothique
2. Le cadre et les sens mobilisés
3. Le Château d’Otrante
4. Frankenstein et ses enjeux

📖 1. Les caractéristiques du roman gothique

🔑 Notions clés & Définitions

• Gothic literature : Gothic literature is a literary genre that appeared in the late 18th century and developed in the 19th century.

★ À maîtriser

• Gothic novels emphasize darkness and death to create an atmosphere of fear and often feature strange, awe-inspiring characters such as vampires, monsters, or people with a childlike personality.

• Gothic heroes experience excessive feelings and may be chased by an evil character who intends to hurt them or be held prisoner; isolation is also a key feature.

Compléments

• Gothic literature is called “Gothic” in reference to the medieval architectural movement and its churches, cathedrals, and abbeys.

• After King Henry the 8th left the Catholic Church to create the Church of England, many Catholic symbols were demolished and became ruins in the 18th century, providing settings for Gothic novels.

💡 Astuce mémo

Darkness creates fear → excessive feelings.

📖 2. Le cadre et les sens mobilisés

📝 Points essentiels

• Gothic scenes often take place at night in impressive landscapes such as wastelands and cliffs, amid wind, rain, storms, thunder, or fog.

• Gothic writing often appeals to hearing, sight, and touch.

📖 3. Le Château d’Otrante

★ À maîtriser

• The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole is described in the course as one of the first Gothic novels ever written. - Walpole Horace David

• In the studied passage from The Castle of Otranto, Isabella is pursued and imprisoned, and she is unable to escape.

• The passage appeals to hearing through a concealed presence, a sigh, and footsteps, while Isabella cannot see the person.

Compléments

• Manfred is presented as a frightening character who makes Isabella afraid.

• Isabella’s fear reaches a climax in the words “agony of despair.”

• The scene is set in a frightening vault, probably in a ruined castle, with dim light, a moonbeam, and a fragment of earth or building crushed inward.

💡 Astuce mémo

Pursuit → imprisonment → fear reaches its climax.

📖 4. Frankenstein et ses enjeux

★ À maîtriser

• In the Frankenstein extract, Victor describes creating a monster from dead bodies.

• The extract falls into three parts :

  • Victor discovers his achievement
  • Victor reacts to the monster
  • Victor regrets wasting time on the result

📌 The monster’s appearance contrasts beautiful features such as whiteness and lustre with horrible details such as watery eyes, yellow skin, and dun-white sockets.

• Victor regrets creating the creature and wishes he had not wasted his time.

• The course presents Frankenstein as a novel with a romantic dimension in its description of feelings and a philosophical dimension in Victor’s attempt to play God by creating life; it considers the novel the first science-fiction novel and says it warns about the use of science.

Compléments

• Victor’s work took a long time and involved hard labour, expressed by “toil” and “deprived of rest.”

💡 Astuce mémo

Victor’s beautiful intentions contrast with the monster’s horrible appearance.