07-15-2010, 10:54 PM
Since activity on this forum tends to slow down during summertime, I'll take advantage of the lull to post the following modest disquisition . . . which, if generally useless, might come in handy to any aspiring Gothic writers out there, who knows.
I've been taking stock of certain themes or elements that I've found crop up frequently in Gothics, particularly during the modern period (1950s–'70s), and I thought it would be fun to make a list of them. Many will be familiar to Gothic readers. Strangely, I never weary of them, and welcome them as familiar, comfortable furniture; the more found in one book, the better. ("One man's cliché is another man's archetype." -- I forget who said that.)
This is by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to add to it. Some of the items are so obvious as to be hardly worth mention, but one has to start somewhere.
I. Settings (Locales)
1. Cornwall coast/moors
2. Devon moors
3. Yorkshire "
4. Normandy/Brittany
5. Maine/New England
6. The southern USA
7. Any foggy coast or desolate upland
8. An island, often small and privately owned
II. Settings (Domains)
1. Manor house
2. Castle
3. Country inn
4. French château
5. Old monastery
6. Decadent plantation
7. Any sufficiently old, isolated dwelling
III. Grounds/Special Features
1. Grotto
2. Folly/mock ruins
3. Hidden/underground passage
4. Locked/turret room
5. Entire locked/closed wing
6. Swamp/moat
7. Peep (usually overlooking ballroom)
8. Widow's walk
9. Sideboard
10. "Green baize door"
IV. Curious Customs/Localisms/Victoriana
1. Legend of a ghost/curse
2. Spiking tea with brandy (at least 3–4 books I've read!)
3. Cure for any shock/faint = mandatory brandy/whisky + 3 days in bed
4. Mourning garb is always "black bombazine"
5. Huge breakfasts, often including kidneys
6. Coffee served late at night
7. "Brown merino" = heroine's dowdy dress before makeover
8. Lavatories are never mentioned, but "toilet" means a lady's dressing area
V. Narrative Devices
1. Book opens with heroine on train, carriage or car, en route to story setting
2. She has a "rug" over her knees to keep warm, but it doesn't help much
3. Household staff/servants are usually suspicious, taciturn and territorial
4. Any unexplained noises during the night come from above heroine's room
5. Gothic heroines have a penchant for wandering out into thick fog
6. Heroine is invariably attacked in the fog; she can't see but attacker apparently can
It should also be noted that physiognomy was a valid science in the 19th Century: chins are "arrogant", noses are "noble", brows are "philosophical", etc. Character traits are assigned to immobile features according to their shape. An untrustworthy character will have small, beady eyes. I'm not sure if "generous mouth" indicates a character's generosity or the size of the orifice itself. Whenever I see this description I think of Julia Roberts.
Another curious thing: the ubiquitous lone lighted window in the tower on the cover of almost every modern Gothic, with the heroine pictured foreground in an attitude of flight or desperation, is a scene that almost never actually occurs in the story. If anyone can contradict me on this I'd be delighted; it ought to be the subject of a contest to find a book that really contains this scene. I've ready plenty in which the heroine flees outside, running barefoot across the moors or through a swamp, but never come across the single lighted window except in cover art.
I'll add more to this list as I think of things, and again, I encourage any others out there to suggest additions, if only for the fun of it.
I've been taking stock of certain themes or elements that I've found crop up frequently in Gothics, particularly during the modern period (1950s–'70s), and I thought it would be fun to make a list of them. Many will be familiar to Gothic readers. Strangely, I never weary of them, and welcome them as familiar, comfortable furniture; the more found in one book, the better. ("One man's cliché is another man's archetype." -- I forget who said that.)
This is by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to add to it. Some of the items are so obvious as to be hardly worth mention, but one has to start somewhere.
I. Settings (Locales)
1. Cornwall coast/moors
2. Devon moors
3. Yorkshire "
4. Normandy/Brittany
5. Maine/New England
6. The southern USA
7. Any foggy coast or desolate upland
8. An island, often small and privately owned
II. Settings (Domains)
1. Manor house
2. Castle
3. Country inn
4. French château
5. Old monastery
6. Decadent plantation
7. Any sufficiently old, isolated dwelling
III. Grounds/Special Features
1. Grotto
2. Folly/mock ruins
3. Hidden/underground passage
4. Locked/turret room
5. Entire locked/closed wing
6. Swamp/moat
7. Peep (usually overlooking ballroom)
8. Widow's walk
9. Sideboard
10. "Green baize door"
IV. Curious Customs/Localisms/Victoriana
1. Legend of a ghost/curse
2. Spiking tea with brandy (at least 3–4 books I've read!)
3. Cure for any shock/faint = mandatory brandy/whisky + 3 days in bed
4. Mourning garb is always "black bombazine"
5. Huge breakfasts, often including kidneys
6. Coffee served late at night
7. "Brown merino" = heroine's dowdy dress before makeover
8. Lavatories are never mentioned, but "toilet" means a lady's dressing area
V. Narrative Devices
1. Book opens with heroine on train, carriage or car, en route to story setting
2. She has a "rug" over her knees to keep warm, but it doesn't help much
3. Household staff/servants are usually suspicious, taciturn and territorial
4. Any unexplained noises during the night come from above heroine's room
5. Gothic heroines have a penchant for wandering out into thick fog
6. Heroine is invariably attacked in the fog; she can't see but attacker apparently can
It should also be noted that physiognomy was a valid science in the 19th Century: chins are "arrogant", noses are "noble", brows are "philosophical", etc. Character traits are assigned to immobile features according to their shape. An untrustworthy character will have small, beady eyes. I'm not sure if "generous mouth" indicates a character's generosity or the size of the orifice itself. Whenever I see this description I think of Julia Roberts.
Another curious thing: the ubiquitous lone lighted window in the tower on the cover of almost every modern Gothic, with the heroine pictured foreground in an attitude of flight or desperation, is a scene that almost never actually occurs in the story. If anyone can contradict me on this I'd be delighted; it ought to be the subject of a contest to find a book that really contains this scene. I've ready plenty in which the heroine flees outside, running barefoot across the moors or through a swamp, but never come across the single lighted window except in cover art.
I'll add more to this list as I think of things, and again, I encourage any others out there to suggest additions, if only for the fun of it.
