Comparisons for the Unseen

Question 1

William Beckford - Vathek

Answer 1

themes and tropes
- the hidden ‘animal within’ of cruelty
- good versus evil (corruption versus innocence) is seen through Vathek and the murdered children
- Greed and overreach are seen through the sacrifices of domesticity and goodness in return for overreaching
- the Byronic Hero being led astray by supernatural forces that haunt, and ultimately destroy him

quotes
- ‘Woe to the rash mortal who seeks to know that of which he should remain ignorant’
- ‘I am not over-fond of resisting temptation’

Question 2

Ann Radcliffe - The Italian

Answer 2

themes and tropes
- she avoids the supernatural and instead embeds terror within the setting and moral corruption
- female victimhood (animalism/ monsterism within the domestic)
- corruption of religion and seemingly moral characters
- restorative yet sublime power of nature

quotes
- horrible perversion
- left it to darkness

summary
a story of forbidden love between a nobleman and a woman of humble birth. Vivaldi’s mother is displeased with their relationship and aims to prevent the marriage. the two are then separated again, but it is revealed that the Monk is a murderous count and he poisons himself, providing a positive ending where Ellena and Vivaldi are finally married.

Question 3

William Faulkner - A Light in August

Answer 3

Themes and tropes
- American Southern Gothic
- hauntings of past behaviours and sins
- political and social conflicts
- taboo of female sexuality and illegitimate relationships

quotes
- But it’s the dead folks that do him the damage
- Perhaps they were right in putting love into books,’ he, perhaps it could not live anywhere else

Question 4

Cormack McCarthy - Outer Dark

Answer 4

themes and tropes
- Postmodernism combined with the Southern Gothic

• taboo of incest and sexual relationships
• dubious morality
• the haunting of past decisions and overreaching of human behaviours
• death
• the hidden corruption and macabre of humanity

quotes
- I’ve seen the meanness of humans till I don’t know why God aint put out the sun and gone away
- In a world darksome as this, I believe a blind man ought to be better sighted than most

Question 5

Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory

Answer 5

themes and tropes
Modern Gothic overlaps with fantasy and sci-fi

• liminal space and isolation through the setting
• interconnection of the present and past (haunting of past behaviours)
• mental instability (psychological terror)
• animal cruelty
• sexual taboo (gender politics)
• bizarre nature of human beliefs (critique of religion ?)

quotes
- A death is always exciting, always makes you realise how alive you are
- Our destination is the same in the end, but our journey - part chosen, part determined - is different for us all

summary
- a boy Frank believes he had been mauled by the family dog, resulting in his struggles with his masculinity
- he goes on a killing spree to avenge his lost masculinity
- his brother has escaped from a mental asylum and comes home to visit
- Frank discovers that he was never mauled and in fact was born a girl

Question 6

Toni Morrison - Beloved

Answer 6

themes and tropes
- unreliable and disrupted narratives
- supernatural

quotes

summary

Question 7

Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

Answer 7

The first gothic novel
pre-gothic
- established the prototypes for further Gothic novels

themes and tropes
- supernatural
- dark and ominous setting
- set in a castle
- damsel in distress
- male perpetrator - tyrant
- hauntings from the past

Question 8

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

Question 9

Fall of the House of Usher

Question 10

The Monk - Mathew Lewis