Definition Of Gothic Literature

5 Pages 1348 Words

Literature can take many forms. It can be presented in many genres and styles. It is a way of communicating different ideas and theories by way of putting them on paper. One of the many popular forms of literature is Gothic. Gothic is a style of literature usually dealing with characters that will not let go of their own obsessions. Using this definition, I will use three examples of Gothic literature that meet the criteria of this definition and describe how these examples exemplify Gothic literature.
“Young Goodman Brown” is a story of a man who takes a journey through the woods while encountering many misfortunes along the way before realizing he was dreaming in the end. The story shows a Gothic characteristic in the way the setting is portrayed. As Goodman Brown walks through the forest, it is portrayed as dark and gloomy and frightening, “He has taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through (Hawthorne 53).”
The story deals mostly with Goodman Brown’s emotional state as he discovers his family, friends, and religious leaders are attending a Black Mass. Though reluctant to even go on his journey through the forest, Brown travels on to make these discoveries. His progress was halted numerous times by his indecision to go further. At one point on his way he halted in the forest with his emotions welling up, “Young Goodman Brown caught hold of a tree for support, being ready to sink down on the ground, faint and overburdened with the heavy sickness of his heart (Hawthorne 58).” Throughout the story, Goodman Brown dealt with his emotional state. Many times he thought his eyes and ears were playing tricks on him. One of them many examples of Goodman Brown becoming obsessed in the story was his whole traumatic encounter in the woods. What was Goodman Brown doing in the forest in the first place? It seems that Goodman Brown had an inter...