Features of the Gothic

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The Female Gothic
Women are imprisoned/persecuted/disinherited - they cannot defend themselves - sexually vulnerable
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The Haunted Castle
Simultaneously prison and refuge - maze, site of secrets - tomb-like claustrophobia
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The Monster
What is 'normal'? - boundaries of acceptable behaviour - comparison between what is abhorrent and what is accepted - tripartite literary structure: first endures/entertained by monster, followed by rejection/expulsion of monster - monster within
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Persecution and Paranoia
Instability of knowledge - ignorance/uncertainty of world - objectivity eroded - victim vulnerable to own subjectivity - prospect of dissolution of expectation/hope
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The Uncanny
De ja vu - fate - silence - death
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Twentieth Century Gothic
Profound dislocation - interiorised dread - abandonment/abuse/transition to sexual maturity - patriarchy-lead initiation into womanhood - the male gaze - self-objectification
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Terror
Pychological fear
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Horror
Intense feelings of digust, physical violence
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Magic Realism
Naturalistic narrative combined with surreal elements
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The Abject
Societal taboos broken, breakdown between the self and the other
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The Liminal
On the boundary of two things, e.g. Heathcliff is simultaneously an outsider and an insider, the witches walk the line between mortal and supernatural, many 'TBC' characters border man and beast
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The Revenant
The return of the dead to terrorise the living
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Entrapment
Imprisonment, contributes to claustrophobia
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Grotesque
Oddly shaped, distorted imagery
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Incubus
Male demon who forces himself on sleeping mortal woman
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Sadomasochism
Sadists enjoy inflicting pain on others, masochists enjoy enduring it
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The Pursued Protagonist
The main character is persecuted relentlessly, inescapability of punishment
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Pursuit of the Heroine
A young virtuous woman is pursued by an older, villainous, potent aristocrat
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Revenge
Pursuing vengeance against someone who wronged you
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Simultaneously prison and refuge - maze, site of secrets - tomb-like claustrophobia

Back

The Haunted Castle

Card 3

Front

What is 'normal'? - boundaries of acceptable behaviour - comparison between what is abhorrent and what is accepted - tripartite literary structure: first endures/entertained by monster, followed by rejection/expulsion of monster - monster within

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Instability of knowledge - ignorance/uncertainty of world - objectivity eroded - victim vulnerable to own subjectivity - prospect of dissolution of expectation/hope

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

De ja vu - fate - silence - death

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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