Line #150 SoYouWantTo/WriteAGothicStory


1	Gothic fiction, a.k.a. GothicHorror, is a hard genre to do well because of how deeply rooted in Western European (and particularly [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire British]]) realities of the late Enlightenment and early modernity it was. Take for instance, the "{{horror}}" aspect: Many things that its contemporary readers considered horrifying about Gothic fiction are pretty quaint by today's standards -- largely because they have since [[ValuesDissonance become part of our daily lives]]. On the other hand, a lot of motifs and themes of the Gothic literature remain strangely relevant to us today, so to help you grasp the fundamentals of its enduring appeal, here is a guide for writing it.
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3	See also the IndexOfGothicHorrorTropes.
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5	!!Some Literary Theory
6	In her 1980 book ''The Coherence of Gothic Conventions'', [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Kosofsky_Sedgwick Eve Sedgwick]] argued that a single idea underlies all tropes, themes, and motifs of Gothic fiction: that of the Self being dramatically sundered from something that it normally has access to, such as its [[LossOfIdentity own past]], [[IHaveNoSon family]], a [[StarCrossedLovers lover]], or even life itself ([[TheUndead literally]] or [[TheAloner metaphorically]]). While the triad of the Self, an object of desire, and something separating them is a common {{Conflict}} setup, what makes it essentially ''Gothic'' is that the connection the Self shared with what it had lost was proper, necessary, and natural. No longer capable of making this connection, Gothic characters go to dangerous, transgressive, and violent extremes to restore their original oneness, often realizing the futility of their actions in the end. [[https://thegothicwanderer.wordpress.com/ Tyler R. Tichelaar]] dubbed these figures "Gothic wanderers" and traced their literary origins to Creator/JohnMilton's ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', specifically to Satan, Adam, and Eve longing to return to Eden after being cast out.
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8	Similarly, Anne Williams in her 1995 book ''The Art of Darkness: A Poetics of Gothic'' observes that the "Gothic is... pervasively organized around anxieties about boundaries (and boundary transgressions)". Boundaries in the Gothic, whether moral, social, natural, or metaphysical, are [[GreyAndGrayMorality often blurred and things are rarely as clear cut as they seem]], so transgression is used, paradoxically, to reestablish and to reinforce them by [[HorrorHatesARulebreaker showcasing its horrific consequences]]. While it may appear that the Gothic championed [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies conservative values]], most historical Gothic authors were, even more paradoxically, very progressive individuals during their time, so Gothic fiction's stance on boundaries and transgression is [[AmbiguousEnding ultimately ambivalent]].
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10	Multiple scholars of literature have observed that Gothic fiction surged during times of sociopolitical crises and exposed contemporary anxieties of the educated (British) middle class. These anxieties centered on the erosion of traditional social institutes like family, gender roles, [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions religion]], royalty and nobility, as well as on new threats like accelerating urbanization, [[ScienceIsBad unchecked scientific experimentation]], and growth of the poor and working classes. Feminist scholars in particular have put forth countless interpretations of the Gothic as an artistic expression of the conflict between the [[GoodOldWays patriarchal, conservative order]] and the emerging individualism and female empowerment.
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12	!!Necessary Tropes
13	* [[HorrorHatesARulebreaker Transgression]]: Like much of {{Romanticism}}, Gothic fiction is firmly rooted in the presupposition of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being "natural" order of things]] both in the universe and in the society and concerns {{rebel\|Tropes}}lion against said order and/or the {{authority\|Tropes}} imposing it. As romanticism's more [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism cynical]], DarkerAndEdgier side, however, the Gothic refuses to celebrate this rebellion and instead frames it as a transgression, exploring its consequences for both the perpetrator and innocent victims. Transgression against natural order tends to be epic in scope (think [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Dr. Frankenstein trying and failing to play God]]), while transgression against (conservative, patriarchal) social order tends to be more personal (think [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho Emily St. Aubert repeatedly defying her father and Count Montoni]]) -- more on them in the Choices section. Either way, Gothic "horror" is always about the human cost of transgression, rather than just being scary.
14	* ThickerThanWater: Pretty much every Gothic story is a story about family, specifically about losing it and, if [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the author feels generous]], finding it again. Family [[DarkSecret secrets]], homes, [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal lost lineages]], [[WillAndInheritanceTropes inheritance]], primogeniture, {{marriage\|Tropes}}, and [[BloodyTropes blood]] all play crucial roles, since the Gothic, like Romanticism at large, was very concerned with the weakening of the family unit by the advent of modernity (and particularly by UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, which spurred the first British Gothic boom in the 1790s), and sought to validate and to reinvent it.
15	* {{Romance}}: Romantic love is an important part of the Gothic, but the "romantic paradigm"[[note]]BoyMeetsGirl, Girl's [[BoyfriendBlockingDad father figure]] [[ParentalMarriageVeto intervenes]], Boy is [[TheExile exiled]], but returns after a [[ComingOfAgeStory transformative experience]] and [[HappilyEverAfter marries Girl]][[/note]] is almost always gleefully subverted. In ''Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto'', true love is [[StarCrossedLovers torn apart by death]] and the surviving lover has to marry another, while in ''Literature/TheMonk'', Ambrosio's twisted desire for Antonia is the source of his most heinous transgressions. In "Literature/TheRaven", the narrator is driven mad by the clash of Eros (his love for [[TheLostLenore Lenore]]) and Thanatos (death taking her away), whereas in ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Victor and Elizabeth]]'s doomed relationship only adds to the cost of his transgression. A major exception is the [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho "Gothic]] [[Literature/JaneEyre romance"]] [[Literature/WutheringHeights subgenre]], which lets love prevail in the end, but it is still [[ValuesDissonance subversive]] in showing the heroine as a subject, rather than an object in the romantic relationship.
16	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Gothic fiction often introduces us to its characters [[InMediasRes long after]] they have been displaced them from some initial Edenic state of bliss, to which they now long to return by [[TheAtoner atoning]] (if it was their own transgression against order and authority that displaced them) or by sticking to their virtues until the end (if they are a victim of another's transgression). Their alienation from family and society forces them to wander ([[WalkingTheEarth literally]] or [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife metaphysically]]) in search of their lost Eden, tormented both internally and externally, by [[TheProphecy dark prophecies]], {{revenge}}, [[HauntingTheGuilty unquiet dead]], etc.
17	* ByronicHero: A specific variant of the Gothic wanderer, expies of Creator/LordByron -- "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" -- are popular in Gothic fiction as both protagonists and villains. In short, if your main character isn't a Byronic hero(ine), then your antagonist should probably be one.
18	* [[IGaveMyWord Secret oaths]] and [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow forbidden knowledge]]: These two tropes usually go hand in hand in Gothic fiction. The protagonists are often privy to knowledge they are not supposed to have (usually relating to their or another's transgression), but are [[HonorBeforeReason bound by honor]] not to disclose it, resulting in even deeper alienation. This can be something personal, like [[Literature/TheVampyre Aubrey's promise to keep Lord Ruthven's nature secret]], or something grand, like [[Literature/StLeon St. Leon]] learning the [[AncientTradition Rosicrucian]] secret of eternal life and having to WalkTheEarth to avoid people finding out about it.
19	* {{Supernatural\|Fiction}}: Phenomena unexplainable to a rational mind (particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], {{curse}}s, [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]]) are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-story or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore associated primarily with villains and transgressors.
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21	!!Choices, Choices
22	!!!Subgenres
23	* Feminine/comedic and masculine/tragic Gothic are two distinct subgenres first identified by the feminist scholars Kate Ferguson Ellis and Eugenia [=DeLamotte=] and further studied by Anne Williams:
24	** Feminine Gothic is typically written by female authors[[note]]though this is not a rule -- some of most famous masculine Gothic was penned by Creator/MaryShelley[[/note]] and its (female) protagonist typically transgresses by attaining some knowledge forbidden to her by an authority (echoing Milton's Eve and, even more relevantly, [[Myth/CupidandPsyche Psyche violating Eros' trust]]) in pursuit of romantic love. Her subsequent wandering usually ends in a [[HappilyEverAfter happy marriage]],[[note]]hence [[{{Comedy}} "comedic"]] in the classical sense of the term -- in fact, most feminine Gothic plots are variations on ''Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast''[[/note]] restoring her personal Eden and suggesting that transgression may be a good thing if done for the right reasons. Stylistically, feminine Gothic typically features a single [[PointOfView omniscient third-person]] narrative voice.
25	** Masculine Gothic, on the other hand, starkly condemns its (male) protagonist's transgression and rarely, if ever, has a happy ending for him. Like Miltonian Satan, the protagonist tries and fails to be TheHero and is forced to wander for the rest of his life, longing in vain to return to Eden, although in later Victorian Gothic, he is at least given a chance to [[RedemptionEqualsDeath redeem himself before he dies]]. Stylistically, masculine Gothic is usually told in first person by [[NestedStory multiple disjoint narrative]] [[SwitchingPOV voices and perspectives]].
26	* In addition to feminine vs. masculine, which are mainly distinguished in the British Gothic, there have been several subgenres of Gothic fiction that arose in other parts of the world:
27	** Germany developed no less than three Gothic subgenres: The ''Schauerroman'' (shudder novel), which is the most similar to a conventional Gothic novel but is considerably more cynical and typically focuses on {{necromanc\|er}}y and SecretSocieties; the ''Räuberroman'' (robber novel), which focuses on the life and deeds of {{outlaw}}s; and the ''Ritteroman'' (chivalry novel), which focuses on a knight or a soldier finding himself dealing with magic, secret tribunals, and other Gothic elements.
28	** The Gothic (particularly Creator/AnnRadcliffe's) was hugely popular in Imperial Russia, with the [[UrExample first original]] Russian Gothic novel, ''The Island of Bornholm'', published by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Karamzin Nikolay Karamzin]] in 1794 (same year as ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho''). The [[TropeCodifier king of Russian Gothic]], however, was Creator/NikolaiGogol, who wrote several Gothic short stories based on the Cossack lifestyle, Ukrainian folklore, and Orthodox Christianity in the early 1830s, including "St. John's Eve", "Literature/ATerribleVengeance", "The Portrait", and "Literature/{{Viy}}".
29	** The French Gothic tradition largely largely echewed the supernatural in favor of exploring the darker sides of humanity, exemplified by works [[https://thegothicwanderer.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/gothic-existentialism-in-victor-hugos-notre-dame-de-paris/ from]] ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', [[https://thegothicwanderer.wordpress.com/2020/05/16/the-forgotten-gothic-the-count-of-monte-cristo/ through]] ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' and ''Literature/TheCastleInTransylvania'', to ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.
30	** The most famous regional subgenre, however, is most likely the American SouthernGothic. A mixture of a classical Gothic novel and social commentary, the Southern Gothic novel uses the macabre to explore the values, cultural character, and social issues of the American South rather than just for the sake of suspense or exploring the transgression of one character.
31	** Southern Gothic got its own offshoot in the form of Southern Ontario Gothic, in which certain Canadian authors transposed the themes of Southern Gothic to the very different social conditions of Toronto and its surrounding region.
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33	!!!Other
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35	* Horror vs. Terror: A distinction first described by Creator/AnnRadcliffe in "On the Supernatural in Poetry", terror is the dread and suspense you feel before a horrifying experience (e.g., seeing a TrailOfBlood), while horror is the feeling of revulsion and abjection you get after it (e.g., actually discovering a decaying corpse). Terror is associated more with the feminine Gothic, whose heroines must repeatedly face their own fears, while horror is more of a masculine Gothic thing, whose protagonists are traumatized by their confrontation with mortality, irrationality, and corruption. A third option, "revulsion" -- a visceral gag-reflex -- was coined by Creator/StephenKing, which he sees as the lowest form of scariness that relies on cheap gore instead of psychological nuance.
36	* With the human cost of transgression being the CentralTheme of Gothic horror, the choice of a particular transgression that is the cause of your characters' downfall is crucial. Gothic horror is difficult to write because to be properly horrified, your audience has to identify with the moral and universal order your characters transgress against. Classic transgressions fall under a few overlapping categories:
37	** Transgression ''against the Divine'' covers rejection of {{God}} (the classical [[FlyingDutchman Wandering Jew]] archetype), blasphemy (in word and/or deed), and actual attempts at [[AGodAmI usurping divinity]] (which often overlaps with the next category). This transgression is best used in UsefulNotes/{{Christian\|ity}} or, alternatively, UsefulNotes/{{existentialis\|m}}t stories, unless the transgressor is a religious institution (with the [[CreepyCatholicism Roman Catholic Church being the favorite punching bag]] for English authors of the Victorian era).
38	** Transgression ''against Nature'' covers the ScaleOfScientificSins, but primarily any tampering with the line between life, death, and undeath: [[ImmortalityImmorality extending life way past its natural limits]] (via {{alchemy\|IsMagic}}, DealWithTheDevil, etc.), bringing the [[ResurrectionTropes dead back to life]] (overlaps with usurping divinity above[[note]]since the power of resurrection was among UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}' most famous miracles[[/note]]), {{Creating Life\|IsBad}} (ditto), [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampirism]] (in nature, living things feed on the dead,[[note]]parasite species notwithstanding[[/note]] but vampires are the dead who feed on the living), etc.
39	** Transgression ''against family'' runs the gamut from [[InfidelityIndex marital infidelity]] to {{incest\|IsRelative}} and is particularly insidious, given how important family is in the genre. On the other hand, Gothic fiction often presents the institute of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primogeniture primogeniture]] as transgressive against family,[[note]]echoing ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', in which it belies both Satan and Eve's respective fall[[/note]] resulting in a number of second sons, first-born daughters, and [[BastardBastard bastards]] cast as sympathetic victim-villains.
40	** Transgression ''against social norms'', such as class divide, gender roles, and sexual taboos. Gender role transgression is particularly prominent in the feminine Gothic, whose heroines' attempts at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_workforce self-determination through honest labor]] are commonly met with automatic assumption of [[TheOldestProfession prostitution]] and subsequent social ostracization. Breaking sexual taboos, meanwhile, is more of a [[AllMenArePerverts masculine Gothic thing]] (from ''Literature/TheMonk'' to ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'') and covers all kinds of perverse, weird, and dangerous sexuality: [[VillainousIncest incest]], [[DepravedHomosexual homosexuality]],[[note]]a crime in the Victorian era[[/note]] [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence violence]], [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty abduction]], {{rape\|IsASpecialKindOfEvil}}, [[ILoveTheDead necrophilia]], etc.
41	** Finally, ''{{gambling\|Tropes}}'' is a special kind of evil in Gothic fiction, combining elements of all of the above in one big transgressive package. It is a transgression against the Divine because TheGamblingAddict rejects the grace of God in favor of Chance; against nature, because it is unnatural to risk one's own financial well-being on a vice; against one's family, because gambling inevitably leads to its [[TrappedByGamblingDebts financial impoverishment and moral ruin]]; and against social norms, because it allows for social advancement without birth or merit, serving as the antithesis of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic Protestant work ethic]] prevalent among British middle class at the time (who considered gambling to be a [[AristocratsAreEvil vice of the aristocracy]]).
42	* Gothic fiction is rife with [[SupernaturalFiction beings and events outside the accepted confines of nature]], as well as various omens, portents, and visions, but whether the supernatural is real in-story or merely all a ScoobyDooHoax is up to you. There are two schools in Gothic fiction regarding the supernatural: the classic[[note]]a.k.a. "accepted supernatural"[[/note]] school, originating with [[Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto Horace Walpole]] and carrying through most of the masculine Gothic tradition, treats the supernatural as real; whereas the [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho Radcliffe]][[note]]a.k.a. "explained supernatural"[[/note]] school (whose adherents include the Brontës) tends to provide rational explanations for "supernatural" events, at most leaning towards MaybeMagicMaybeMundane.[[note]]After all, we never learn whether [[Literature/WutheringHeights Heathcliff]] was ''actually'' 100% human.[[/note]] Both approaches are equally valid, because the supernatural is not the point of Gothic fiction, but merely a tool to showcase the darker sides of humanity, and even non-supernatural stories like ''Literature/JaneEyre'' usually have numerous mentions of folktales, ghost stories and the like. The related genre of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensation_novel sensation novel]] borrowed a lot of the Gothic shocking, but realistic themes while not relying on the supernatural at all.
43	* Additionally, location and timing vary. Some stories, like ''Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto'', ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho'' and ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'' confine their stories to a single large BuildingOfAdventure, usually a {{Big Fancy\| House}} HauntedHouse in a few days, whereas others (such as ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' and ''Literature/JaneEyre'') range over a wide variety of locations and occur over a period of months or years.
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45	!!Pitfalls
46	* Gothic "horror" is not {{Horror}} in the modern sense of {{Cosmic Horror\|Story}}, SplatterHorror, etc. It does not try to scare or to shock the audience with an external or psychological threat, but to confront us with our moral failings and corruption, while also suggesting a path to redemption. Gothic fiction is therefore unexpectedly [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism humanistic]], especially compared to the outwardly similar, but utterly nihilistic [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]] horror. While you may be tempted to spice up your Gothic story with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s from beyond, don't, as the two genres are inherently thematically incompatible.
47	** As with all rules, there are exceptions, which nonetheless proves the rule: The EldritchAbomination in question may be somehow linked to a character's past or moral failings and [[LovecraftLite can be defeated, though it's more than often an uphill battle]]. For example, [[TheAntiGod Chaos]] in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'' tries to [[spoiler: force Soma into taking Dracula's place as the Dark Lord because he's the reincarnation of Dracula and Chaos is the source of Dracula's power]]. Soma's [[FaustianRebellion able to defeat him]], but for the first half of the fight, he has to do so without the various souls he's collected, and it only gets harder from there. Sutekh of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids of Mars]]" (from an era of ''Doctor Who'' actually ''called'' the "Gothic Horror" era) can't be ignored by the heroes, as the Doctor shows [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt what will happen]] if they just go back to 1981 without dealing with him in 1911, making him an {{allegor\|icalCharacter}}y for apathy, and the Doctor ultimately defeats him after enduring a ''terrifying'' MindRape from him.
48	** Instead of Lovecraftian eldritch abominations, you can instead go with abstract "dark powers" -- a concept primarily codified by ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}''. Unlike Lovecraft's alien deities, who are inherently unknowable and indifferent to humanity, Gothic "dark powers" are inhuman, otherworldly intelligences who nevertheless follow comprehensible rules (and [[HorrorHatesARulebreaker punish anyone who breaks them]]) and are very keenly interested in [[TragicHero intense individuals falling to their own corruption and flaws]]. While not proactively malicious, they can grant supernatural powers or knowledge to Gothic villains, but unlike a classical DealWithTheDevil, these deals merely give them [[GoneHorriblyRight enough rope to hang themselves with]]. The role of dark powers in a Gothic story is thus not to drive conflict, but to empower passionate but flawed individuals, to make their fall all the more spectacular, and to manifest their corruption and transgressions in tangible, grotesque forms. They [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane don't even have to explicitly exist]] in your text: [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Victor Frankenstein]]'s invention can be viewed as some dark power's boon for his passion that lets him transgress the boundary of life and death, produces a [[FrankensteinsMonster grotesque manifestation]] of this transgression, and ultimately destroys him and everything he holds dear.
49	* A lot of classical Romantic and Gothic fiction revels in PurpleProse, which serves to underscore the sublime [[SceneryPorn descriptions of nature]] and heightened emotional states, but [[Creator/EdwardBulwerLytton occasionally]] goes too far in the direction of "ItWasADarkAndStormyNight". Purple prose is a [[https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/purple-prose/ divisive practice in modern times]], but a certain amount of it is expected in a Gothic novel, so our best advice for you is to remain focused on using it to express character' emotions and awe of nature and not to show off your vocabulary or, heaven forbid, to distract readers from weak characterization and plot holes.
50	* Gothic conflicts are always [[ItsPersonal personal]]. A Gothic villain is never an abstract EvilOverlord or a force of nature, but a powerful yet flawed human being with whom the main characters share an emotional connection and who is out to get them in particular. Many would-be Gothic stories fall flat because they fail to establish this personal relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist and miss out on its dramatic potential by veering off towards purely functional relationships and political or existential conflicts.
51	* Gothic imagery alone does not a Gothic story make. Setting it inside a HauntedCastle, populating it with [[ByronicHero devious tyrants]], [[TheIngenue fainting maidens]], and [[PortentOfDoom oracular]] [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], and throwing DramaticThunder and/or OminousFog in for good measure is not enough. Unless you use said imagery to explore the alienation and suffering of someone who willingly or unwillingly violated the established order of things, your story is not Gothic on any but the most surface level.
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53	!!Potential Subversions
54	* The virginal maiden is almost always the heroine and pure of heart, but this has long since been subject to ridicule. There are alternatives -- maybe your heroine is a low-born [[TheLadette Lad-ette]] who isn't pure of heart at all and is in fact [[MrViceGuy more than a little sinful herself]]?
55	** Additionally, older women are most often portrayed as foolish in Gothic fiction. You might do by making the older female characters [[WomenAreWiser a voice]] [[OnlySaneMan of reason]].
56	* The clergy of the old-school gothic stories are always weak, and usually evil. Why not make the clergy [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure an ally]] to the heroes?
57	* The genre is cluttered with broody {{Byronic Hero}}es. As with the virginal maiden, alternatives exist, including:
58	** A KnightInShiningArmor to complement the spooky castles,
59	** A LovableRogue who [[GuileHero constantly outwits his enemies]] and always keeps a smile on his face,
60	** And finally, a LovableCoward who stumbles through and screams at all the danger.
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63	!!Writers' Lounge
64	!!!Suggested Themes and Aesops
65	* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment. As an offshot of {{Romanticism}} (itself a reaction to the birth of the modern world), Gothic fiction was concerned with many of the same themes and topics. When the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution Scientific Revolution]] and the subsequent [[UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment Enlightenement]] encroached upon the mysteries of Nature by seeking a scientific rationalization for them, the Romantics responded by professing that [[LuddWasRight civilization has made us sick]], that only Nature can heal our bodies and souls, that [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow the world cannot always be explained]], and that [[DontThinkFeel Imagination, not Reason]] was the sole source of morality and truth. For Romantics like [[Creator/WilliamBlake Blake]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Agricultural_Revolution Agricultural Revolution]] decimated their beloved countryide and exacerbated the mass exodus from it due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure enclosure]]. The UsefulNotes/IndustrialRevolution accelerated urbanization, increasing pollution and class conflict, and invented [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_labour wage labor]], replacing pastoral lifestyle with factories, mills, and steam power. And, of course, UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution of the 1790s tore down the GoodOldWays, sending ripples of anxiety all across Europe, which contributed to the first boom of Gothic fiction in Britain -- indeed, it has been observed that the Gothic flourishes during the time of religious, political, and socioeconomic crises (such as in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer late 1810s]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848 1840s]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Depression 1870-'90s]], etc.).
66	* Past vs. Present: Many works of Gothic fiction deliberately juxtapose modernity and the archaic, e.g., contrasting the bustle of VictorianLondon [[TheCityVsTheCountry with a sleepy backwater village]] or a crumbling HauntedCastle. The Present in the Gothic is not an evolution of the Past, but a sudden juxtaposition, a revolution, a clash. The Past itself is persistent; it erupts and deranges the Present, no matter how much the latter wants it forgotten and gone. [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghosts]] are one of the most enduring elements of the genre because they are the perfect metaphor for this particular view of the Past and its relationship with the Present. Another quintessentially Gothic metaphor, one for the Past repressed by the Present, is the MadwomanInTheAttic. Related themes include:
67	** [[LaserGuidedKarma Poetic Justice]]: In Gothic fiction, past transgressions are inevitably requited, if not upon the transgressors themselves, then [[SinsOfOurFathers upon their progeny]], however unfair that may appear to mortal judgment. Such cosmic punishment typically involves DeathByIrony, [[FateWorseThanDeath insanity, a life of agony, or eternal damnation]].
68	** {{Revenge}}: Elaborate and personal vengeance is a particularly popular expression of the past-vs.-present conflict, and the Gothic is very interested in exploring the dangers of [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming just like the ones you exact your revenge on]] and hardship of [[MotiveDecay remaining just when exacting retribution for past transgressions and injustices]]. Unsurprisingly, both ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' have served as major inspirations for Gothic writers.
69	* Justification of transgression: Tyler Tichelaar has identified three sub-archetypes of the Gothic wanderer, associating them with the [[Literature/ParadiseLost Miltonian]] triad of {{Satan}}, [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Eve, and Adam]], all of whom violate the natural (read: God's) order and are forced to wander, haunted by their respective transgressions.
70	** The [[SatanicArchetype Satanic Wanderer]] is characterized by his {{Pride}}, which both strips him of Eden and makes him reject his punishment and any offers of atonement -- instead, he seeks to reclaim it through an even greater transgression. Masculine Gothic fiction both condemns him for this and puts him up as a [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels Promethean]] figure, producing a morally ambiguous Gothic villain. The Satanic Wanderer sees himself (and is often presented) as a [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority hero in his defiance of authority]], but usually [[UnfitForGreatness fails to actually be one]] and only leads others astray. Unsurprisingly, there is a significant overlap between him and the ByronicHero. Famous Satanic Wanderers include [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Dr. Frankenstein]], [[Literature/TheVampyre Lord Ruthven]], [[Literature/WutheringHeights Heathcliff]] and [[Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet Sweeney Todd]].
71	** The Female Wanderer is both a victim of transgression and a transgressor herself. Her literary parent, Milton's Eve, is a victim of Satan's lies and of God subordinating her to Adam, so her transgression is motivated by the desire both for forbidden knowledge and for equality with man. Feminine Gothic seeks to vindicate Eve's Original Sin by arguing that transgression against inherently unjust social institutes (such as primogeniture and patriarchy) can be a good thing. Female Wanderers are typically pitted against (male) Gothic villains, who have no feminine side to them and whose excessive masculinity causes their downfall, allowing the heroine to reclaim her lost Eden they usurped from her. Famous Female Wanderers include [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho Emily St. Aubert]], [[Literature/TheWanderer Juliet Granville]], and Literature/JaneEyre.
72	** The Adamic Wanderer is a sympathetic transgressor, who is often both a victim and a wrongdoer, like Eve, but [[PinballProtagonist accepts and endures his suffering]], unlike Satan. Famous examples include [[Literature/StLeon Reginald de St. Leon]], [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein's Creature]], and [[Literature/JaneEyre Edward Rochester]].
73	* Power and constraint: One of the most enduring Gothic images is the juxtaposition of the Tyrant and the Maiden, a figure of absolute power and one of perfect vulnerability -- two extremes representing the limits of humanity. The Tyrant (a.k.a. the "Gothic villain") is usually male, politically or supernaturally powerful, driven by his internal desires, emotionally intense, sociable, and exhibits severe moral failings that lead to his downfall. The Maiden, meanwhile, is usually female,[[note]]which is commonly read as social commentary on the powerless situation of women in the early modern Europe[[/note]] innocent, completely vulnerable, often in distress (terrified, persecuted, fainting), dominated by powerful men, and driven by external forces against her will. The power dynamic between them is that of constraint, as the Tyrant imposes himself upon the Maiden to keep her subjugated, although later works may invoke [[HeroicSeductress sexual]] [[FemmeFatale power]] to reverse it, with [[HourglassPlot powerful women re-dominating men]].
74	* [[LiminalBeing Liminal states]] of all kinds:
75	** The [[SanitySlippage line between Rationality and Madness]] has been explored in literature [[Theatre/KingLear long]] [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} before]] [[Literature/DonQuixote Gothic]], but Gothic madness in particular is a fascinating cocktail of misunderstanding and prejudice. It is directly linked to [[InsaneEqualsViolent violence and crime]], strongly gendered (Gothic madmen typically suffer from [[TheParanoiac paranoia]], and [[MadwomanInTheAttic madwomen]] from "{{hysteri\|calWoman}}a"), and (post-Darwin) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atavism atavistic]]. Specifically, many late Victorians viewed madness as "slipping back" to a more primitive and irrational stage of evolution, which in the context of [[SlobsVersusSnobs Victorian classism]] was associated with foreigners and [[LowerClassLout lower classes]].
76	** The [[LifeDeathJuxtaposition line between Life and Death]] is a popular topic in early Gothic, owing to the scientific and cultural context of the Regency and Victorian eras. FrankensteinsMonster, for example, was directly inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Galvani Luigi Galvani's]] experiments with electricity and dead matter. Later Victorians were obsessed with death, from {{Spooky Seance}}s to contact the deceased, to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography post-mortem photography]], while their increased life expectancy brought about an obsession with youth and beauty, best exemplified, perhaps, by ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray''.
77	** The [[EvolutionaryLevels line between Man and Beast]] came to prominence after UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin published his ''On the Origin of Species'' in 1859, confronting his contemporaries with the reality that they aren't that different from apes. The resulting cultural anxiety was sublimated by the Gothic in the animal transformations of its monster-villains like Literature/{{Carmilla}} and Literature/{{Dracula}} and, perhaps in its purest form, in ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde''. Note, however, that [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]], despite their current position as [[FurAgainstFang "classic" Gothic monsters alongside vampires]], didn't become a genre staple until ''Literature/{{The Werewolf of Paris}}'' (1933) or even ''Film/{{The Wolf Man\|1941}}'' (1941) -- decades after the Victorian era ended.
78	* American Gothic has a penchant for PsychologicalHorror elements in their stories -- one or more of the characters may be forced to deal with their fears and their [[SanitySlippage dwindling sanity]] in the face of the terrors they have to deal with, and some of the protagonists may contemplate doing heinous acts in order to survive. The best way psychology is used in a Gothic story comes from how the characters are affected by their surroundings. The BigBad who hides in a castle might see himself as a man at war with the world or trying to protect themselves, or the bandits who roam the forests may be little more than predatory animals.
79
80	!!!Potential Motifs
81	* ''Doubling'' is a ubiquitous narrative and psychological motif in Gothic fiction. While doubles of all sorts, from CreepyTwins to {{Doppelganger}}s, are uncanny thanks to our wariness of anything that is both distinct and indistinguishable, Gothic doubling goes deeper than these straightforward examples. Its two primary modes are doubling proper, when two [[{{Foil}} distinct things parallel each other]], and self-division, where a whole is separated in two parts. Doubling proper is often used to blur the line between the Self and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_(philosophy) Other]], exposing the anxieties caused by the weakening of the class, gender, racial, and national boundaries. Self-division, meanwhile, draws a ''new'' boundary within the previously whole, such as a gap between one's [[JekyllAndHyde respectable facade and repressed antisocial urges]], or the growing class divide of capitalist VictorianLondon. Both variations have also been used to explore anxieties around identity theft, e.g., in ''Literature/TheWomanInWhite'' and ''[[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'', respectively.
82	* The {{Uncanny\|Atmosphere}} is anything that is familiar to us but somehow ''off'', and detailed descriptions of uncanny things are a big part of the Gothic "horror". Most commonly, the Uncanny is found in [[UncannyValley things that look human but aren't]]: [[CreepyDoll lifelike dolls]], [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots automata]], [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], etc.
83	* TheGrotesque, i.e., exaggerated deformity, can be used to externalize the internal flaws and corruption, whether within individuals (a technique favored by Creator/CharlesDickens) or institutions (e.g., the [[OurGargoylesRock gargoyles]] on top of every CreepyCathedral in the Gothic). On the other hand, the grotesque can be paired with innocence to serve as a counterpoint to [[VillainWithGoodPublicity good-looking evil]], as in ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' (the Creature before [[ThenLetMeBeEvil it turns evil]]) and ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' (Quasimodo).
84	* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(philosophy) Sublime]] is a complex aesthetic ideal in Romantic and Gothic fiction that is most commonly attributed to Nature, but also to some particularly intense individuals. A reaction to the Enlightened aesthetic of the harmonious, balanced, and beautiful, the Gothic aesthetic is instead terrifying, overwhelming, unconventional, dangerous, and unstable, yet also somehow natural. The Sublime is meant to inspire awe of Nature and its power, as well as to assign humans our place in the world -- a rather insignificant little place, but one we can transcend at a terrible price.
85	* {{Dream\|Tropes}}s. As the purest form of romanticized Imagination, dreams in Gothic fiction are often either {{prophetic\|Dream}}, or {{erotic\|Dream}} (or both), with a penchant for turning nightmarish. Creator/FranciscoDeGoya's famous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleep_of_Reason_Produces_Monsters etching]] ''Art/TheSleepOfReasonProducesMonsters'', while not intentionally Gothic, is a great depiction of Gothic dreaming.
86	* AnimalMotifs. The Gothic often uses sinister animals to maintain a foreboding atmosphere. These are usually Old World creatures representing the wild and uncivilized aspects of Nature, such as [[Literature/TheRaven ravens]], [[Literature/{{Dracula}} bats, wolves, wild dogs]], and [[Literature/TheBlackCat black]] [[Literature/{{Carmilla}} cats]]. Gothic animals can be made more uncanny with [[TaxidermyIsCreepy taxidermy]], and apart from purely aesthetic uses, they are a common expression of the Beast side of the Man-Beast dichotomy of human nature.
87	* EmpathicEnvironment. Weather events reflecting plot events is a staple in Gothic fiction and a form of metonymy, where something physical stands for an idea or a concept. For example, it will often start [[GrayRainOfDepression raining when characters are overcome by sadness]], OminousFog will cover the landscape when the truth is being obscured or twisted, whereas a decisive confrontation will be underscored by a {{dramatic thunder}}storm (which also feeds into the Sublime aesthetic and the themes of constraint and entrapment).
88	* [[IndexDecay Decay]] in all forms. Whether it is a once-great family dying out, a community long past its peak, crumbling old buildings, like a HauntedCastle, or even outright ruins, decay is one of the key expressions of the Past-Present conflict in the Gothic.
89	* {{Missing Mom}}s. A typical Gothic mother is absent or dead, which is both a commentary on the suppression of women in the Victorian era, and a motivation for male characters to usurp maternal roles (done most blatantly in ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''). If the mother is present, she will either be [[UselessBystanderParent incapable and foolish]] (like Lucy's mom in ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''), [[ThePlotReaper killed]] half-way through the story (Elvira in ''Literature/TheMonk''), or [[EvilMatriarch outright evil]].
90	* {{Blood\|yTropes}} plays many different roles in the Gothic. It is simultaneously a symbol of life itself, of [[ThickerThanWater geneaology]] and familial (and racial) purity, and of money (the "blood" of a capitalist economy). All of these meanings are reflected in the [[ClassicalMovieVampire Gothic vampire]], who both takes life and grants a perverse semblance of it, and is often both of noble descent (thus sucking the blood of the lower classes both literally ''and'' metaphorically) and [[VampiresAreRich filthy rich]]. Vampirism [[Literature/TheVampyre may also be]] a metaphor for [[TheGambler gambling]], as both things drain people of blood/money and both are typically [[TheGamblingAddict addictive and compulsive]].
91	* HypnoticEyes. Originally an attribute of the [[FlyingDutchman Wandering Jew]], the strange, mesmerizing eyes have become a [[RedRightHand telltale sign]] of Gothic wanderers since at least ''Literature/MelmothTheWanderer''.
92	* A "Night Journey", usually to or from the HauntedCastle, taking the protagonists through an equally spooky forest devoid of people.
93	* FisherKingdom
94
95	!!!Suggested Plots
96	TBD
97
98	----
99	!!Departments
100	!!!Set Designer / Location Scout
101	Locations in Gothic fiction mainly come in two categories: imprisoning places and wilderness.
102
103	* The most obvious example of an imprisoning place is the HauntedCastle, which is also the most recognizable and enduring symbol of the Gothic -- not least because of its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture eponymous]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture architecture]]. A Gothic castle stands for claustrophobic enclosure with no maps, confusing corridors, [[BookcasePassage secret]] [[SecretUndergroundPassage passageways]], and [[TrapDoor hidden trapdoors]], often connecting to {{Creepy Cave}}s or [[AncientTomb tombs]]. Its architecture seems alive with its [[HellIsThatNoise clanking chains]], [[WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon howling dogs]], [[SinisterScrapingSound scraping knives]], and locked doors, and invokes images of [[ARestrainedIndex entrapment, abduction, forceful restraint]], and being BuriedAlive. With all that said, however, an imprisoning place does not have to be a literal castle -- any [[BigLabyrinthineBuilding labyrinthine man-made structure]] (an OldDarkHouse, an [[LockedAwayInAMonastery abbey]], a BedlamHouse, a GhostShip, etc.) would do, as long as it conveys the emotions of isolation, alienation, and extreme duress. In late Victorian Gothic (the so-called "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Gothic urban Gothic]]" of the 1880s-'90s[[note]]later [[GenreRelaunch revived]] from the 1980s onward[[/note]]), entire cities (particularly [[VictorianLondon London]]) became symbolic castles, with their labyrinthine sprawl hiding urban horrors and vices, while isolating and alienating inhabitants from one another.
104	* WildWilderness, on the other hand, is supposed to invoke an entirely different set of emotions, that of sublime awe and exhilarating danger. The Gothic had inherited this admiration of Nature from Romanticism, which often substituted awe of it for awe of the Divine, but Gothic wilderness is more remote, rugged, and savage: it's all about [[DontGoInTheWoods woods]], mountains, the ocean, and wastelands of all kinds ([[Literature/WutheringHeights moors]], [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} icebergs]], etc.). Needless to say, the SceneryPorn potential of these settings is significant.
105
106	!!!Props Department
107	* Since it's usually set in a castle, expect to find an awful lot of medieval weaponry -- swords, maces, lances, halberds, and crossbows are all fair game.
108	* Similarly, plate armor displays are a must for any old castle, especially since it can get {{animated\|Armor}} by ghosts, curses, and the like.
109	* TorchesAndPitchforks are also a must for any mob.
110	* Holy symbols and religious iconography.
111	* Portraits are popular plot devices in the Gothic, whose uses range from revealing UncannyFamilyResemblance and {{Identical Grandson}}s, to being straight up AnomalousArt like a SpookyPainting or a CreepyChangingPainting. A whole gallery of paintings can also express the decay motif by portraying the [[FounderOfTheKingdom great ancestors]] next to their [[SketchySuccessor degenerate descendants]].
112	* [[FictionalDocument Mysterious manuscripts]] of uncertain authorship that fall into the protagonists' hands to reveal their [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal true lineage]] or another plot-driving mystery. Often, some kind of supernatural force leads the protagonist to the manuscript, although, if this happens early on, it tends to be {{Conveniently Interrupted\|Document}}. On a meta level, you may present your story as a document or [[ScrapbookStory collection of documents]] you've found and prepared for publication.
113
114	!!!Costume Designer
115	* The [[BigBad Tyrant]] is usually going to be a ManOfWealthAndTaste, and should usually wear the height of fashion for his era (or [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel several years before the era you set it in]] if he happens to be [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld supernaturally hundreds of years old]]). RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver is a common style for him.
116	* The virginal maiden should [[VirginInAWhiteDress wear a white dress to signify her purity]], contrasting with the older woman's darker or [[LadyInRed redder]] dress that is [[{{Fanservice}} usually sexier]].
117
118	!!!Casting Director
119	* First and foremost, you'll need a [[BigBad Tyrant]], like [[Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto Manfred]] or Literature/{{Dracula}}. This Tyrant will take an [[VillainousCrush interest in the heroine]], [[Literature/{{Carmilla}} even if]] [[LesbianVampire she's a girl herself]], and will plot to steal her. Of course, your tyrant need not be a true villain -- the titular caliph Vathek from the William Beckford novel is a great of example of this character type as an anti-villain. He is one of three characters that may or may not have supernatural powers, and he's usually the ''[[DarkIsEvil only]]'' [[AntagonistAbilities one]] who does.
120	* After that, you will need a virginal maiden for your heroine, such as [[Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto Matilda]] or Adeline from ''The Romance of the Forest'', who is pure, innocent, and kind-hearted, has a mysterious past, and often turns out to be royalty. She's the second character who might have some supernatural power, and hers is usually [[WhiteMagic pure or holy in nature]].
121	* As a foil to the above, there will often be an older and more foolish woman who doesn't stand up to the tyrant -- [[Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto Hippolita]] is so obedient and weak-willed that she accepts her husband's decision to remarry.
122	* Last but not least, there must be a hero. Despite the ByronicHero being a staple of the genre, your hero may not necessarily be one -- in fact, your ''tyrant'' may end up being more of a ByronicHero than the actual hero. They're usually virtuous, courageous, and brave, though like with the ByronicHero, this isn't strictly necessary -- ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' has had gothic elements since its beginning, and it features a LovableCoward as a hero. He's the third character who may or may not have [[MagicAndPowers supernatural powers]], and certainly the one with the most variety of powers -- pretty much anything goes, as long as whatever his powers are aren't ''quite'' as good as the Tyrant's (it wouldn't be a horror story if the villains didn't have the advantage). If your hero ''is'' a ByronicHero, remember that he shouldn't be a {{Stock Character\|s}} who's defined simply by how Byron he is. This goes double if your Tyrant is also a ByronicHero, as while you could certainly make use of [[MirrorCharacter fearful symmetry between the two]], there should still be differences that ''make'' a difference. Why is one ByronicHero a ''hero'' and why is the other a villain?
123	In addition to these, there are a few minor characters:
124	* The clergy is almost always weak and unable to do anything about the [[BigBad Tyrant]], and in fact [[CorruptChurch may be working for him]].
125	* Bandits and ruffians may make up the bulk of the Tyrant's power, or they may be unconnected to him; either way, they're a minor thorn in the protagonists' side.
126
127	Scholar and author [[https://thegothicwanderer.wordpress.com/2023/05/21/meet-the-gothic-cast-a-guest-post-by-rayne-hall/ Rayne Hall has argued]] that rather than looking for archetypes, Gothic characters can instead be analyzed in terms of the roles they play in the plot, with the twist that the same character can combine several of these at once. She has identified at least 23 of these, as well as three non-character archetypes they often related to: the [[HauntedCastle Gloomy House]] (which often serves as the main setting, with one cast member serving as its Master), the [[DarkSecret Guilty Secret]] (which drives the mystery subplot, with at least one of the cast serving as its [[SecretKeeper Keeper]]), and the Family Fortune (which is often the ultimate worldly prize, with one or more of the cast as its Claimants). In alphabetic order, Hall's 23 archetypal roles are:
128
129	# The '''[[IllegalGuardian Abusive Guardian]]''' is defined in relation to their Ward, who for one reason or another is unfit to receive the Family Fortune, so the Guardian administers it for them, while secretly planning to take it for themselves, either through [[InheritanceMurder murder]] or by marrying the Ward themselves or to their own child. If the Ward is a Helpless Child or otherwise a minor, the Guardian can be a hired tutor or an actual legal guardian. If the Ward is a Sickly Invalid or an Mentally Deranged Person, the Guardian will use it as a pretext to further isolate them. Examples: [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho Montoni]], [[Literature/WutheringHeights Heathcliff]], [[Literature/TheWomanInWhite Count Fosco]].
130	# The '''Ally Outside''' is defined in relation to a Newly Arrived Outsider and the Gloomy House: specifically, they are a caring person (colleague, sibling, friend, godparent) who nonetheless cannot join the Outsider, instead providing encouragement, advice, or warning from afar.
131	# The '''[[RemarriedToTheMistress Bigamist]]''' is defined in relation to their existing Spouse and to a Pursued character, whom they seek to wed despite already being married, either out of lust or for the latter's Family Fortune. To this end, they can deny or hide their Spouse (often in an underground chamber or [[MadwomanInTheAttic the attic]] of the Gloomy House), seek to divorce them, if only on paper (often with the help of a Corrupt Priest), or to outright poison them (with the help of a Corrupt Doctor). Alternatively, they can already be widowed, but their Spouse still haunts them or their Pursued as a Ghost. Examples: [[Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto Manfred]], [[Literature/JaneEyre Edward Rochester]], [[Literature/TheWomanInWhite Percival Glyde]].
132	# The '''[[BeleagueredBureaucrat Blinkered Professional]]''' is defined in relation to some Task which they must fulfill in the plot, before completely withdrawing themselves from the surrounding conflict. Often a doctor or a lawyer.
133	# The '''[[DamselInDistress Captive]]''' is defined in relation to their Captor, who keeps them constrained, such as a Greedy Villain or an Obsessed Scientist. The reasons they are locked up (often underground, in an attic, or [[LockedAwayInAMonastery at a monastery]]) range from [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing the Guilty Secret]] to generally having an inconvenient existence (such as being a stronger Claimant to the Family Fortune). Examples: [[Literature/TheWomanInWhite Laura Fairlie]], [[Literature/JaneEyre Bertha Mason]], [[Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo Edmond Dantès]].
134	# The '''[[DeadlyDoctor Corrupt Doctor]]''' is defined in relation to their Patient, whose illness they seek to exacerbate despite belonging to a healing profession (doctor, nurse, therapist, etc.), because because they are in cahoots with another villain, to silence the victim, or to claim their Family Fortune for themselves. The Patient is often a Sickly Invalid, a Mentally Deranged Person, a Helpless Child, or an Old Eccentric living in the Gloomy House.
135	# The '''[[SinisterMinister Corrupt Priest]]''' is defined in relation to their Flock, who put their trust in them as a religious professional (priest, monk/nun, shaman, spiritual leader, etc.), which they then abuse for personal gain. A [[CreepyCatholicism corrupt Catholic priest]] will break the seal of the {{Confessional}}, a monk will steal from charity, and a {{Cult}} leader will outright incite their followers to commit crimes. Examples: [[Literature/TheMonk Mother St. Agatha]], [[Literature/TheItalian Father Schedoni]], [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Claude Frollo]].
136	# The '''[[CanineCompanion Dog]]''' is a non-human (specifically canine) character defined by its loyalty to its human Owner. It can serve as a Loyal Retainer to the Master of the Gloomy House, a treasured pet of the Newly Arrived Outsider, or an Obsessed Scientist's test subject. Alternatively, it can be a monster or even a Ghost. Either way, a Dog is usually good at sniffing things out, up to and including the Guilty Secret itself. Examples: Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles.
137	# The '''[[ManipulativeBastard Evil Charmer]]''' is defined by their demonic charm, likeability, and apparent trustworthiness. They seek to be liked and/or loved by everyone, usually to abuse their trust for personal gain or just to seduce the opposite sex and to ruin them for pleasure. The Evil Charmer is often also the Master of the Gloomy House, a Bigamist, a Semi-Outsider, or a Loyal Retainer. Examples: [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho Montoni]], [[Literature/TheVampyre Lord Ruthven]], Literature/{{Carmilla}}.
138	# The '''[[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghost]]''' is a literal PosthumousCharacter who haunts the living or the Gloomy House as an apparition. Most commonly, they are the victim or the perpetrator of a murder, a bigamy, or deceit over the Family Fortune and seek {{revenge}}, justice, or [[TheAtoner atonement]]. Alternatively, they are the Keeper of the Guilty Secret and want to [[UnfinishedBusiness see an old wrong righted]]. If haunting the Gloomy House, they can be bound to a specific room in it, such as an attic or a picture gallery. Examples: [[Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto Alfonso]], [[Literature/TheOldEnglishBaron Arthur Lovel]], [[Literature/WutheringHeights Catherine Earnshaw-Linton]].
139	# The '''[[{{Greed}} Greedy Villain]]''' is defined by their desire to possess something (usually the Family Fortune, which may or may not include the Gloomy House itself) or someone. They are often cruel and abuse their power, but may have some redeeming qualities, especially if motivated by a past injustice or revenge. An Obsessed Scientist may seek to use their invention to reclaim their riches, while an Evil Charmer will manipulate the heir(ess) into falling in love with them, then steal their fortune, while convince everyone of their innocence. Examples: [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho Montoni]], [[Literature/WutheringHeights Heathcliff]], Literature/{{Dracula}}.
140	# The '''[[ChildrenAreInnocent Helpless Child]]''' is defined by their young age (they are legally a minor), innocence, and powerlessness. They are often the Ward of an Abusive Guardian, and while they typically exemplify angelic innocence, a common subversion is to make them a CreepyChild or outright [[EnfantTerrible possessed by evil]]. Either way, the Helpless Child is often also a Sickly Invalid or a True Heir. Examples: [[Literature/TheMonk Antonia]], [[Literature/JaneEyre Adèle Varens]], [[Literature/WutheringHeights Catherine Heathcliff]].
141	# The '''[[TheConfidant Inside Confidant]]''' is defined in relation to a Newly Arrived Outsider and the Gloomy House: specifically, they are a servant or the Outsider's colleague at the Gloomy House, whom the Outsider comes to trust and to confide in. Nevertheless, they are usually too afraid or brainwashed to reveal anything of significance to the Outsider, and may eventually betray them to the Master.
142	# The '''{{Love Interest\|s}}''' is defined in relation to the main viewpoint character and facilitates the RomanceArc.
143	# The '''[[UndyingLoyalty Loyal Retainer]]''' is defined in relation to their Lord, who is also often the Master of the Gloomy House -- but not necessarily, as a common TwistEnding is them having been loyal to a different Lord all along. The Retainer can be a housekeeper, a butler, a secretary, a lady's maid, perhaps even from a multi-generational LegacyOfService, and they are the most likely candidate to be a Keeper of the Guilty Secret.
144	# The '''[[MadnessTropes Mentally Deranged Person]]''' is defined by their madness or, at least, mental instability, be it [[TheParanoiac paranoia]], [[HystericalWoman hysteria]], [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]], [[ExcessiveMourning extreme grief]], the sad result of [[RoyallyScrewedUp many generations of inbreeding]], etc. They may be living in the Gloomy House in voluntary isolation to heal, or kept their against their will by embarrassed relatives, or even as the Obsessed Scientist's test subject. A common twist is to have them been [[MistakenForInsane sane all along]], but either manipulated by a Greedy Villain or a Corrupt Doctor, or haunted by the Ghost.
145	# The '''[[TheIngenue Naïve Bride]]''' is defined by their love for the Master of the Gloomy House, where they move in early on. They are usually shy, inexperienced, poor, socially inept, and lacking in a social security net, and unfortunately for them, the Master often turns out to be a Greedy Villain, an Evil Charmer, an Obsessed Scientist, or a Mentally Deranged Person, so they often end up as a Captive or even Mentally Deranged themselves before long. Examples: Literature/{{Bluebeard}}'s nameless wife, [[Literature/MelmothTheWanderer Immalee]], [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Esmeralda]].
146	# The '''[[FishOutOfWater Newly Arrived Outsider]]''' is defined by their relationship to the Gloomy House and to the rest of the cast, namely, by their ''lack'' of preexisting connections to them. Thanks to this [[NaiveNewcomer outside perspective]], they often serve as the [[AudienceSurrogate main viewpoint character]] and are commonly also a Naïve Bride and/or a True Heir. Examples: [[Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho Emily St. Aubert]], Literature/JaneEyre, [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Jonathan Harker]].
147	# The '''[[MadScientist Obsessed Scientist]]''' is defined by their relation to a weird technology or science and to the Test Subject they [[TestedOnHumans experiment upon]]. They can be a scientist, an alchemist, or an inventor, whether amateur or professional, and their research can range from [[ScienceIsGood benign]] to [[ScienceIsBad diabolical]]. Their Test Subject can be a Captive, a Helpless Child, or a Mentally Deranged Person, although sometimes their research is in service of curing a Sickly Invalid. If it takes a toll of the Scientist's [[ProfessorGuineaPig own health]], they can be a Sickly Invalid or Mentally Deranged themselves. Examples: [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Dr. Victor Frankenstein]], [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Henry Jekyll]].
148	# The '''[[GrumpyOldMan Old Eccentric]]''' is defined by their advanced age and [[EccentricMillionaire relation to the Family Fortune]]. If present in the story (even posthumously, including as a Ghost), a lot of drama often surrounds their LostWillAndTestament, while in life, their eccentricity can often reach the Mentally Deranged Person level.
149	# The '''[[BlackSheep Semi-Outsider]]''' is defined by their relation to the Gloomy House to the family occupying it: specifically, they have a connection to the latter but aren't part of it and don't live in the former (e.g., a distant cousin who visits often). Their loyalties are commonly murky, and they often turn out to be a Love Interest and/or the True Heir.
150	# The '''[[DelicateAndSickly Sickly Invalid]]''' is defined by their severe illness and their reliance on the Caretaker, who is commonly a Corrupt Doctor or an Abusive Guardian. Whether they treat their Caretaker with patience or cranky demands, they need constant care and hence rarely leave the Gloomy House. The Sickly Invalid is often also a Helpless Child, an Old Eccentric, a Naïve Bride, a True Heir, a Captive, or a Mentally Deranged Person.
151	# The '''[[RightfulKingReturns True Heir]]''' is defined by their relation to the Family Fortune or to the Gloomy House: specifically, their claim on these trumps every other Claimant's, once the circumstances and criminal conspiracies to defraud them of it are cleared up. The identity of the True Heir is rarely known from the start (unless they are a Helpless Child), so the fact that they have been the Semi-Outsider, the Loyal Retainer, the Love Interest, or even the Newly Arrived Outsider all along is usually save for the TwistEnding. Examples: [[Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto Theodore]], [[Literature/TheOldEnglishBaron Edmund Twyford]], [[Literature/WutheringHeights Catherine Heathcliff]].
152
153	Hall admits that the above list is non-exhaustive. For example, we could add '''TheGrotesque''': a character defined by their deformity that leads to social ostracism and alienation (examples: [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein's Creature]], [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Quasimodo]], [[Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera Erik the Phantom]]). Nevertheless, it is easy to see how Hall's roles combine to produce the most recognizable Gothic archetypes: the Tyrant is the Master of the Gloomy House who is also a Greedy Villain, an Evil Charmer, and often a Bigamist; the Maiden is commonly a Newly Arrived Outsider, a Naïve Bride, and a Captive; while the Hero is often a Semi-Outsider, a Love Interest, and the True Heir.
154
155	%%!!!Stunt Department
156	----
157
158	!!Extra Credit
159	!!!The Classics
160	* ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' (1667) by Creator/JohnMilton is not itself a Gothic work, predating the genre by almost a century, but deserves an honorary mention for the massive influence it had: Gothic fiction is ripe with references and allusions to Milton's epic and many of its protagonists are variations on the Miltonian archetypes of Adam, Eve, and, particularly, Satan.
161	* ''Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto'' (1764) by Horace Walpole is the original Gothic novel that introduced its most enduring tropes: HauntedCastle, [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghosts]], DramaticThunder, ancestral {{Curse}}s, {{Really Royalty Reveal}}s, and so on.
162	* ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho'' (1794) by Creator/AnnRadcliffe is the foundational novel of the Gothic romance subgenre, of the feminine Gothic tradition, of the Female Wanderer archetype, and of the [[ScoobyDooHoax "explained supernatural"]] school. It also [[TropeCodifier codified]] the Tyrant/Maiden dynamic (although Walpole [[UrExample did it first]]). In spite of its influence, however, the book was relegated to the GirlShowGhetto for much of the genre's history, and its PurpleProse was considered florid and overwrought even at the time, so use with some caution.
163	* ''Literature/TheMonk'' (1796) by Matthew Gregory Lewis helped codify the masculine Gothic and represents, perhaps, peak [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Catholicism anti-Papism]] in the British Gothic, going hard on the DirtyOldMonk, NaughtyNun, and CorruptChurch tropes to bring ReligiousHorror into the genre.
164	* ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' (1818) by Creator/MaryShelley [[TropeMaker gave us]] the FrankensteinsMonster trope[[note]]even though the original novel's Creature is [[UnbuiltTrope hardly an example of it]][[/note]] and introduced the ScaleOfScientificSins to the Gothic, so it is also often named as the origin of ScienceFiction.
165	* ''Literature/TheVampyre'' (1819) by John William Polidori is the origin of the modern [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire novel]], associating the bloodsuckers with [[ByronicHero Byronic tendencies]], [[VampiresAreRich nobility, riches]], [[VampiresAreSexGods sexuality]], and {{daywalking\|Vampire}}.
166	* ''Literature/MelmothTheWanderer'' (1820) by Charles Maturin is, perhaps, the purest expression of the masculine Gothic wanderer archetype in literature, as well as the last great work of pre-Victorian Gothic.[[note]]Many purists, including Creator/HPLovecraft, have viewed ''Melmoth'' as the last "true" Gothic novel, period, and everything that came later, as imitation.[[/note]]
167	* "Literature/TheRaven" (1845) by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe is, perhaps, the most famous Gothic poem, which codified CreepyCrows, SanitySlippage, and TheLostLenore (which it also named) in the genre.
168	* ''Literature/JaneEyre'' (1847) by Creator/CharlotteBronte [[GenrePopularizer codified]] the Gothic romance, as well as the MadwomanInTheAttic trope.
169	* ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' (1847) by Creator/EmilyBronte is the final piece of the great Gothic romance trifecta, but also a [[GenreDeconstruction thorough deconstruction]] of the "romantic paradigm", as well as of [[DeconstructorFleet many romantic tropes]] like AllGirlsWantBadBoys, the TallDarkAndSnarky ByronicHero, and LoveRedeems.
170	* ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'' (1872) by Sheridan Le Fanu gave us the LesbianVampire, as well as codifying many more vampiric traits, like SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, VoluntaryShapeshifting into animals, [[VampiresSleepInCoffins sleeping in coffins]], and living in the {{Uberwald}}.
171	* ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' (1886) by Creator/RobertLouisStevenson is the ''other'' famous ScienceIsBad novel, which created the JekyllAndHyde trope and can also be read as the first famous Gothic WolfMan novel.
172	* ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'' (1890) by Creator/OscarWilde codified {{Creepy Changing Painting}}s and AnomalousArt in general, as well as being perhaps the most {{homoerotic\|Subtext}} work of the Gothic -- so transgressive, in fact, that it got its author tried and convicted for it.
173	* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' (1897) by Creator/BramStoker is, in many ways, the ultimate Gothic novel, mixing transgression, family, romance, blood, castles, tyrants and maidens, dark pasts, secret histories, and so on under one cover, but also a stark departure from some old Gothic traditions, such as ScienceIsBad and CreepyCatholicism.
174
175	!!!The Honorable Mentions
176	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' makes an impressive use of Gothic imagery in almost every game and as such is an excellent visual primer, but in terms of story content only a select few of the games (namely, ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'', ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance'', ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'') are truly Gothic works; the rest are just DarkFantasy.
177	* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' (2015) likewise employs a massive number of Gothic tropes, particularly in the early game, as well as more subtle [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW6_0rr1IG8 Gothic]] [[http://ontologicalgeek.com/the-weird-science-of-bloodborne/ themes]] throughout the entire story. However, it also dives head-first into LovecraftLite by the mid-point, so most players end up seeing the Gothic in it as more of a RedHerring, despite the aforementioned themes.
178
179	!!!The Epic Fails
180	TBD
181
182	!!!Additional Reading
183	* Stephen Carver (2020). [[https://wordsworth-editions.com/blog/the-rise-of-the-gothic-novel "The Rise of the Gothic Novel"]]: A survey of the early (1764-1818) British Gothic novels.

Context SoYouWantTo / WriteAGothicStory