1 / 5

Fear in Gothic Fiction

What are we afraid of? . Fear in Gothic Fiction. Personal fear- Why are we scared of these things? Dolls The Dark Witches Mental illness/ insane people Death Deformities Twins or doubles Are there other personal fears that people commonly have? . Collective fear- Uncertainty

chipo
Download Presentation

Fear in Gothic Fiction

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What are we afraid of? Fear in Gothic Fiction

  2. Personal fear- • Why are we scared of these things? • Dolls • The Dark • Witches • Mental illness/ insane people • Death • Deformities • Twins or doubles • Are there other personal fears that people commonly have?

  3. Collective fear- Uncertainty • The Gothic fiction of the 18th Century is said to have been inspired by changes in science, philosophy and culture. The uncertainty that comes with change triggered many fears within people. • Advances in science contradict medieval superstitions • How far will science go? Is Man playing God? • Thinking about individual needs rather than social position • Industrialization causes people to shift to cities • Darwin creates the debate ‘How close are humans to animals?’ • Evolution brings religion into question • Rationalizing everything/ finding logical explanations- many people disliked this or thought we were wrong to assume we could do this. Wanted people to feel extreme emotions again. • Many Gothic books are close to science fiction, but setting and concentrating on emotions rather than plot action separates the genres.

  4. Highlight and identify the types of fears that are played upon on the first page of “The Red Room.”

  5. Discuss • What uncertainties do people in today’s society face? • What certainties could be challenged? • (Think about advances in technology, science, social sciences, values, religions etc.)

More Related