Best Gothic Novel?

daithiocondun

I'm researching some basic info for my MA thesis on the Gothic Novel. Can people suggest the best Gothic Novels to include as well as any ideas for angles for the MA?

I was thinking about something to do with the nature of the "monster" in Gothic novels. i.e. Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera etc. only exist by because they have been betrayed by man (humanity). In fact,, it is often the "good" people of the novels who are the real monsters.

All help appreciated.

buck65

HP Lovecraft may be worth a look at along with Stoker, Shelley et al.

lemon_sherbert

The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Wuthering Heights all spring to mind - interesting in terms of the monster as a facet of humanity?

old hippy

buck65 wrote: »

HP Lovecraft may be worth a look at along with Stoker, Shelley et al.

Lovecraft, definitely. And check out Neil Gaiman's stuff for modern gothic.

Red Hand

Many stories by an Irish author from the 19th centuary named J Sheridan LeFanu would fall into the Gothic category.

His novella Carmilla is a precursor to, and in some ways, an inspiration to Dracula. I highly recommend it...can be found on Project Gutenburg for free.

Kinski

Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer is a really interesting one.

daithiocondun wrote: »

I was thinking about something to do with the nature of the "monster" in Gothic novels. i.e. Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera etc. only exist by because they have been betrayed by man (humanity). In fact,, it is often the "good" people of the novels who are the real monsters.

IIRC (and I may not!) the original 1818 edition of Frankenstein had a softer, more sympathetic portrayal of Victor Frankenstein than the much revised later edition (or it could be the other way round - I think some of those changes were made to combat claims that the original was too 'irreligious', or something); so there could be an interesting comparison to be made between the two versions.

landsleaving

I'd have to third the Lovecraft recommendation. You could look at the Monster there as mankinds fear of the unknown, the past, religion etc. The imagery in the Cthulhu mythos, the rise of an ancient, godlike being, is a far cry from the traditional gothic monster, alone in his castle/dungeon, like the ones you mentioned.

If only as a reference, there's a great Lovecraft story called 'The Outsider', one of the more simple of his, but sits nicely alongside your original idea I'd say.

Lemon sherbet also makes some great points for an alternative. You'll probably have to cover all of this in a literature review anyway I suppose, even if you do cover one specific story or author.

Nitochris

If you're interested in Dorian Gray this years One City One Book in Dublin covers that book and there are a number of presentations by academics and enthusiasts http://www.dublinonecityonebook.ie/calendar . On April 28th there is one on Dorian Gray and Melmoth the Wanderer.

Il Trap

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Many stories by an Irish author from the 19th centuary named J Sheridan LeFanu would fall into the Gothic category.

His novella Carmilla is a precursor to, and in some ways, an inspiration to Dracula. I highly recommend it...can be found on Project Gutenburg for free.

Agreed, super example of an Irish Gothic novel. Dracula is also an often under-appreciated masterpiece. Also, check ot some of William Carleton's stuff (Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry Vol 1 and 2). While not necessary exclusively Gothic, several of his stories contain strong Gothic elements (eg The Three Tasks or importantly Wildgoose Lodge which tells the tale of real-life massacre in Louth in 1815 - scary stuff!).
If you really want to get stuck in, maybe have a look at some of Joyce's stuff. Plenty of Gothic in there eg. The Sisters, parts of Portrait of the Artist...
Great genre to be working on...you'll have fun with this! Good luck!

dawvee

I don't know if I'd call it the best, but you might want to consider The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. Walpole's book is one of the earliest examples of a gothic novel, and it establishes many of the elements used by later gothic writers. The supernatural elements are very underplayed, and there is no monster as such, only the one character, Manfred, acting monstrously.

metrovelvet

The Mysteries of Udolpho - Radlciffe

Northanger Abbey -Austen's satire on gothic

Jane Eyre

Jekle and Hyde

Might have a look at The Madwoman in the Attic.

Cant get away from Freud if you are going to go the monster route, or Neitzche either. And Jung's shadow. And of course theory around "the other."

Maybe read some theory on horror too... and look up the etymology of monster...too.. its will lead you too all sorts of ideas.

And read Beowulf and another book [short] called Grendel [the monster in Beowolf].

pavb2

Coming from a different angle try The Seven Basic Plots - Christopher Booker.

As the title states the author argues that there are only a small number of basic stories in the world and all stories fit into one or more of these categories .

One section which will be of interest to you is Overcoming the Monster others are The Quest, Voyage & Return, Rags to Riches,Comedy, Tragedy and Re Birth .

What I particularly liked was that there were loads of examples to back up his theory and I ended up reading books I wouldn't normally such as The Turning of the Screw, The Woman in White, Silas Marner.....

Hope this helps