6. GOTHIC NOVEL

The Castle of Otranto Illustration, 1794.

The Gothic Novel was first developed into Romanticism by the writer Horace Walpole in the last 18th century with the work The Castle of Otranto (1764).

The Castle of Otranto Illustration, 1824.

 The Gothic novel, or Gothic fiction is one of the most  characteristic branch in Romantic literature.

The Gothic novel basically was based on terror, horror and the limit of the human mind regarding psychological aspects. Since it is a branch of Romanticism, obviously the Gothic novel shares its charactersitics. [You can learn more on Romantic characteristics clicking here!]

Frankenstein's original front piece.
Edition of 1831.

Another well-known author who wrote Gothic novels was Mary Shelley. One of her most remarkable and gothic novels is Frankenstein.
Some other Romantic authors that worked with the Gothic novel was the exceptional Edgar Allan Poe and the also exceptional Ann Radcliffe.

Oficial Dracula front page Illustration

Even going beyond Romanticism, in the Victorian Era, the gothic novel was still being famous and asked for the literary public. The best example of Gothic novel in the Victorian Era is the extraordinary novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker.






If you want to learn more on Gothic novel or Gothic Fiction you can watch the following videos that are very useful and perfectly explain the essence of this literature branch.

[* The last video has 15 parts. All of them are really interesting, useful and essential in order to learn about the Gothic novel or Gothic fiction.]