Scoop in the Gothic

Caution: Blog post may contain many obscene ideas and implications. Viewer discretion may be advised.

What comes to mind when you hear or see the phrase “gothic”? Are you even aware of a gothic genre (i.e.: gothic novels, movies, songs, etc.)? Maybe we have recalled gothic novels and movies, but songs…No idea. By now, you are probably thinking of the people who wear all black with an excessive amount of piercing or tattoos but that is just your ignorant conscious. Gothic genres reflect on the supernatural within real situations to have readers believe in the supernatural. Gothic literature entails powers, the uncanny, the sublime, humans’ psychological state of mind, vivid imagery (i.e.: haunted mansions, dark scenery, open tracts of land, etc.), and most importantly, the supernatural.

In our childhood, we have seen several instances of a gothic genre or even the occurrence of the supernatural.

Movies:

• The Haunted Mansion
•   Dracula
•   Frankenstein
• The Woman in Black

Often times, there are several works of gothic literature, but Emily Brontë’s gothic novel has to be the best by far. Wuthering Heights has to be the best gothic novel I have read this far (I have only read one gothic novel).

Warning: If you have read the novel, do not watch the movie. The movie is very…trash.

While reading the novel, Bronte’s adds an excessive amount of vivid imagery to relate with what is happening in the novel. Not only that but with setting, she brings up themes and topics about the novel and the characters within the novel… all through the use of setting. For example, readers are introduced to a dark house that experiences bad weather and assumes that it is simply just a dark house that experiences bad weather. Although, this dark house that experiences bad weather relate to the dark characters who live within this house, with their dark humor, and their dark attitudes.

In addition, the younger characters in the novel are somehow all related to each other whether it is through marriage (incest) or their parents (cousins). Personally, my favorite set of characters are the two Cathies. “Omg, how was she even able to read a novel with two different characters with the same name?” It was easy once you kept reading, keyword “kept”. Emily Brontë has a mother and a daughter, Catherine Earnshaw Linton and Catherine Linton Heathcliff who possess many of the similar character traits. Although, the loving nature of Catherine Linton Heathcliff (young Cathy) was what differed from her mother. Her mother having sought love through a social status did not experience the same love her daughter experienced. Through the topic of love was when the double nature within these two characters were found. Young Catherine was able to fulfill and continue the life her mother would have lived had she made better choices. Although this novel, written centuries ago, Emily Brontë addressed several themes that can relate to society today. Nobody should hinder a child’s or someone else’s growth and ability to learn from his or her mistakes. The life an older generation once lived is redundant, but the younger generation has the ability to fix the mistakes and make something better out of a previous life. 

More on Wuthering Heights (Highly Recommended) 

Thug Notes!!