Gothic Genre Notes

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Main Ideas of the Gothic Genre:

  • Dark, dramatic atmosphere
  • Uncovering secrets long lost - usually ties back to some sort of cultural taboo (why is it secret, after all?); does not have to do with intention, somehow cursed
  • Levels of uncertainty/unknown (e.g. nature is somehow threatening; wolves, the dark, etc.)
  • "Body" based genre
Trope Examples:
  • Supernatural elements
  • Separation/Isolation - traps
  • Dreams/Nightmares - supernatural connection, subconscious processing
  • Dark, darkness, unknown
  • Secrets - knowledge, passageways, prophecies, etc
  • Full moon - light in darkness, effect on people/tides, connection to femininity/menstrual cycle
  • Creepy housekeeper
  • Damsels - in distress or otherwise
  • Nature/weather is out of our control
  • Long/winding staircase - spiral ascent/descent - loss of control
  • Old dark house/house on haunted house
  • Shadow imagery

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