... 1820) by Charles Maturin, a narrative that suggested an argument for social change in early nineteenth century Britain, reproving Roman Catholicism in favour of the virtues of Protestantism. The instability of theology offered Gothic Literature the confidence to query the supremacy of religion in text, for example in The Monk, where there is, according to critic David Stephens '...in effect a conflation ... and attest to Christianity's influence in the literary Gothic. As Robert Kidd argues, 'Temptation and transgression are the central motifs of the Gothic'4. In religious literature, tem...

• Word Count: 4055
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to fascinate us with its depiction of one of society's overwhelming obsessions - the cult of youthful beauty. It was originally condemned as "a poisonous book, the atmosphere of which is heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction" and "a tale spawned from the leprous literature of the French decadents". Wilde offended the ... Dorian is Lord Henry's verbal creation as much as the portrait is Basil's visual creation, and all are dissolving elements in Wilde's literary creation. When Dorian embraces the life of the dandy which Lord Henry has mapped out for him, he e...

• Word Count: 3731
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the gothic novels value. He must have recognized that the gothic novels were able to capture the reader's attention with the elements that they possess. He may have felt that in order to gain readership he needed to include some gothic elements, but include them in a way that does not leave the writing mindless. Therefore, Coleridge is able to give the society ... actuality was they had nothing to worry about. Coleridge and Austen's opinion of gothic novels show a shift that was beginning in society. Novels were not having the gothic elements and there can reflect the reality of the soc...

• Word Count: 2803
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... in the Ile de la Cité. I wanted his blood flowing into me, wanted its taste and its smell and its heat."" (Rice, 149). Elements of homosexuality also lace the novel. Lestat's relationship with Nicholas is clearly that of a sexual one. Lestat gazes on his young friend and fantasised about drinking his blood, he describes the desire in sexual terms, he lusts after ... and thus is sheltered from unconscious fears or desires directly related to Dracula because they are projected in another person. Unlike much of the early gothic literature, as in Dracula, The Vampire Lestat is related by the...

• Word Count: 2816
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... on this definition "[A motif] is generally -that is, it can be seen to carry a meaning beyond the  one immediately apparent; it represents on the verbal level something characteristic of the structure of the work, the events, the characters, the emotional effects, or the moral or cognitive content." Along with the haunted castle or tomb like structure, ghosts, darkness, damsels ... control over his daughter is shown by his ability to put her to sleep at will. Patriarchal transgressions are an important underline theme on Gothic literature. Certainly many other of Shakepeare's plays pi...

• Word Count: 2655
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to fascinate us with its depiction of one of society's overwhelming obsessions - the cult of youthful beauty. It was originally condemned as "a poisonous book, the atmosphere of which is heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction" and "a tale spawned from the leprous literature of the French decadents". Wilde offended the ... Dorian is Lord Henry's verbal creation as much as the portrait is Basil's visual creation, and all are dissolving elements in Wilde's literary creation. When Dorian embraces the life of the dandy which Lord Henry has mapped out for him, he e...

• Word Count: 3731
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School