1. Romanticism and Gothic Literature

2. Romanticism a movement in Europe and America in the late 18th century that was a reaction against the Age of Reason It celebrated: -the individual -emotion over reason -imagination and the unknown -nature (especially in its untamed state) -rebellion against established rules -fascination with the exotic, weird and mysterious,

3. Gothic Writing Part of Romanticism Focuses on the grotesque (monstrous, weird) mysterious and desolate (dreary, depressing) Romantics saw the unknown with hope and beauty; Gothics saw its potential for evil

4. Gothic Fiction TGothic Fiction was the predecessor of modern horror fiction. (So, if you like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, American Horror Story, etc., this is where it all began.)

5. Characteristics of Gothic Fiction Intended to terrify reader Features: Ghosts Mystery Haunted houses Castles Darkness Decay Death

6. Characteristics of Gothic Fiction Doubles (like twins, often good and evil) Madness (insanity) Secrets Hereditary curses Damsels in distress (women who need to be rescued)

7. Edgar Allen Poe Master of Gothic literature Believed people showed their true nature in extreme situations A person’s true nature under duress is a way to find existential (meaning of life) truth

8. A Life Marked by Pain and Loss By age 3, father abandoned family and mother died (of tuberculosis) Had to drop out of college because of debt Foster mother died when he was 20; (of tuberculosis) Kicked out of West Point Disinherited by his foster father

9. Poe Finds LovePoePo At the age of 27, Poe \At the age of 27, Poe married his 13-year- old cousin, Virginia Clemmons. Happy marriage – he was devoted to her! d his 13 year-old cousin

10. TTragedy Strikes Again V Virginia dies (of tuberculosis!) Poe is devastated and plunges into despair Poe dies in 1847 Cause a mystery – Alcoholism? Syphilis? Rabies? P