The Standard for a Forgotten Genre: A Review

In today's modern culture where classic literature is largely ignored, the literature that shaped the 18th and 19th centuries have been shelved at the back of the library, forgotten with no hope of rekindled interest. High school and college students may read a few classic pieces such as Shakespeare and Dickens, but beyond that, many popular works of the last few centuries are lost to time. Even as a History major, I only read a handful of classic pieces during my college career, and now one of my primary goals is to compensate for my lack of literary diversity.

In my mildly educated opinion, one of the greatest forgotten genres is Gothic romance. This isn't a single author who is lost to time, but a handful of authors who would have rivaled Stephanie Meyers, J.K. Rowling, and Suzanne Collins in their day. These were popular authors and popular books which the gentry would have raved about on Twitter and Facebook and written fan fiction about the plight of the heroine if the internet existed 200 years ago. But these authors lost their popularity with the passage of time, just like most modern authors will lose their esteem eventually, too. In fact, these authors have lost so much of their popularity that, while their novels are still in print, one can't easily walk into Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy of the book. The novel has to be special ordered, or ordered off Amazon. Two of my Gothic novels, including the one which this review will discuss, came from a stack of free books at my college's library. (I was going to see a professor directly after finding these, and expressed my excitement about finding the books for free, which I expected the professor to share my excitement, but only provoked a blank stare.) So as you see, the libraries don't even want to keep Gothic novels around, most likely to make room for more popular novels!

Not all Gothic novels have been forgotten. In fact, I would surmise that the vast majority of people have heard of individual novels before they have heard of the genre of Gothic romance. The overarching label of "Gothic literature" can be extended to include Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Northanger Abbey, Wuthering Heights, and Dracula, and even Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe are even thrown into this genre occasionally. Everyone has heard of (most of) these novels, I am sure, if only because of film adaptations of the original novels. Modern film producers love to exploit Gothic literature because of the allure of the dark, haunting feeling of the mid-19th century. A primary example of this is the upcoming film produced by Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak, starring Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, and Mia Wasikowska. (Del Toro actually described this movie as a "Gothic" romance, much to my excitement.)

With all these Gothic novels being adapted for film, why do I call Gothic romance a "forgotten genre"? Because the first Gothic novels, primarily the ones written in the 18th century, have been gathering dust as they sit on the shelves. So, since my life goal is to rebel against modern culture and trends, my most recent literary conquest was the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole.

Before I delve into a discussion of Otranto, I want to define the elements that comprise Gothic novels. Gothic novels traditionally occur during the Medieval Era, although recently the Gothic label has increasingly described the Victorian Era. As a traditionalist, I consider a Medieval setting as a primary tenant of a Gothic novel, which excludes most 19th century authors from this genre. Gothic novels normally occur in a desolate castle, monastery, or similar setting, and includes supernatural elements and unexplained, mysterious occurrences, a villain intent on projecting his desires on those around him, an imprisoned heroine who receives the brunt of the villain's wrath, a hero who embodies the Medieval chivalric ideal and saves the heroine, and a romance between the hero and the heroine that will almost definitely be forbidden by the villain. So the basic elements are eerie castles, ghosts, oppressive men, distressed females, forbidden or lost love, and lots of violence.

Gothic novels are the equivalent of modern horror novels, with Medieval tones (chivalry, ghosts, monks, etc.) The Early Modern Era, the time period which Walpole, Radcliffe and Lewis lived, was a clash of the Medieval and Modern ideas. This transition period prompted revolutions in France, Britain, and America, and laid the pathway for the Industrial Revolution among other foundations in the modern world. Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the Early Modern Era was the disillusionment of Medieval superstition, and authors such as Radcliffe in The Mysteries of Udolpho consciously strive to aid this disillusionment by explaining the supernatural occurrences.

The Castle of Otranto includes all the elements of oppression, romance, and supernatural occurrences discussed above. According to Walpole, a dream inspired him to write Otranto, and the novel was published in 1764. He published it, falsely, as an Medieval Italian novel written between the 12th and 13th centuries and printed in Italy in 1529 which was rediscovered, translated, and published. Walpole's style is straightforward; he is not descriptive about the characters or surroundings. He tells the story without embellishment. The only frustrating part of this book was Walpole's omission of paragraphs and quotation marks. Paragraphs may last for two or more pages, and the lack of quotation marks makes differentiating between speakers difficult.

The Castle of Otranto begins the morning ofthe marriage ceremony between Conrad, the heir of the Castle Otranto, and Isabella, the daughter of the Marquis of Vicenza. But Conrad never arrives at the altar; outside, he is crushed by an enormous helmet that fell from the sky. After Manfred, the Prince of Otranto, observes that his only son and heir has been killed, he remembers a prophecy stating "That the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it." (p.17) He plans to divorce his current wife, Hippolita, who has been barren for many years, and marry Isabella. When Isabella hears of Manfred's plans, she announces that she does not wish to marry him and flees from him. She is aided by a peasant boy as she escapes through a trap door and takes refuge at the church. Manfred finds the peasant boy, named Theodore, sentences him to death for helping Isabella escape, and locks him in one of the rooms in the castle. That evening, he talks with Matilda, the daughter of Manfred, through the open window and Matilda is smitten by the chivalric young man. As Theodore is about to be executed the following day, the local friar, Jerome, recognizes Theodore's birthmark and declares that Theodore is his son. Manfred forces Jerome to choose between his son and Isabella, but before he can decide, knights from another realm arrive and demand to see Isabella. The knights and Manfred race to go find Isabella and Matilda, meanwhile, frees Theodore. Theodore arrives to defend Isabella and wounds one of the knights. The wounded knight then reveals that he is Isabella's father. They rush back to the castle, where he begins to recover, and Frederic, Isabella's father, and Manfred agrees to Frederic's marriage to Matilda in exchange for his marriage to Isabella. Manfred begins to suspect that Isabella is consorting with Theodore, he sneaks into the church and stabs Matilda, who he thinks is Isabella. Shortly before Matilda dies, it is discovered that Theodore is the true heir of Otranto. Matilda's death fulfills the prophecy, and Manfred lives in sorrow for the rest of his life. Theodore takes the throne and marries Isabella because she is the only one who understands the loss of Matilda.

It is a melodramatic story with a somber ending, but Walpole drives home his point: the sins of the father affect the sins of the children. (p. 7) The wicked (Manfred) must pay for their sins, and the good (Theodore) will succeed. Walpole also introduced marriage for love in the romance between Theodore and Matilda. While they never married, they clearly wanted to, and in the end Theodore could only marry because Isabella understood his pain. But this notion of love was a new concept (compared to arranged marriages) and it is a concept that would gradually take hold more and more through the 19th century. Morally and romantically, it is a good story. But Walpole's success isn't in his morality or his literary style. Quite frankly, Walpole isn't very accurate. The only Medieval element is his portrayal of Theodore as a chivalric "knight in shining armor." The tale as a whole is clearly Early Modern. But he is a clever and skilled writer, so his historical inaccuracies (in a time before extensive historical scholarship and research) may be overlooked.

Walpole's success is what he created. Very few authors have the ability, let alone the creativity, to create an entirely new genre. Even fewer authors have the ability to create a genre with such a broad impact. Gothic novels were huge in the Regency Era, and many 19th century authors, such as Austen, were influenced heavily by Gothic novels. Before Walpole, nothing compared to this type of novel, and his novel set the tone -- the standard -- for future Gothic novels. He spawned an entirely new idea, an idea which still influences culture today.

So if you like horror or mystery novels and are looking for something a little different, I highly suggest delving into Gothic romance. While authors such as Walpole and Radcliffe are forgotten in most literary circles today, their works are just as much of classics as Austen, Bronte, and Dickens, and infinitely more original and clever than modern authors.

Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story. Edited by W S. Lewis. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford England: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity... or Death: A Review

Sometime between the end of high school and the beginning of college, I got into the habit of reading an Austen novel every winter and a Dickens novel every summer. I've finished all of Austen (except her short stories, which I am still working through) but I still have quite a few Dickens novels to finish.

This summer I chose A Tale of Two Cities, mainly because my copy is small and would be easier to move than a hardcover novel (Navy problems.) Normally I choose the novel according to the most recent BBC adaptation. For example, summer before last I read Great Expectations since two adaptations were coming out in the same year. Beforehand, I read Bleak House and Little Dorrit so that I could watch the lengthy seven hour adaptations which BBC masterfully produced. Unfortunately, there are no recent adaptations of A Tale of Two Cities, and no adaptations on Netflix.

A Tale of Two Cities takes place between London and Paris during the late 18th century. The novel is divided into three parts: Part One mainly occurs in pre-Revolution Paris; Part Two mainly takes place in London; and Part Three unfolds in Paris at the height of the French Revolution. All the main characters have connections with both cities, which is a major driving force behind the novel.

The novel begins when a banker named Mr. Lorry accompanies Lucie Manette to Paris to retrieve her father, a doctor who spent twenty years in the Bastille. Upon retrieving him and bringing him back to London, Doctor Manette regains his sanity. Through different means they meet Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, and quickly it becomes clear that both men are in love with Lucie. Lucie marries Darnay, and on their wedding day he tells Doctor Manette the secrets of his past. Here, the novel skips forward a few years. Darnay receives a letter from a friend in France who has been imprisoned, and Darnay embarks on a rescue mission to France. Before making it to Paris, he is imprisoned when it is discovered that he is the heir of a French nobleman. Lucie and Doctor Manette come to Paris as soon as they hear word of Darnay's imprisonment, and after a year a trial proceeds where Doctor Manette convinces the jury of Darnay's innocence. Darnay is released, but is later taken into custody again at the urges of Monsieur and Madame Defarge, two leaders in the Revolution. At the second trial, Monsieur Defarge produces a letter written by Doctor Manette during his imprisonment in the Bastille which identifies Darnay's family as the instigators behind the Doctor's unfair imprisonment. Darnay is sentenced to the guillotine the following day. Sydney Carton arrives in Paris and, displaying his love for Lucie, sneaks Darnay out of the prison and takes his place at the guillotine, allowing Lucie and Darnay to escape from France.

It is a morbid ending to an equally dark novel, but in that way Dickens captures the essence of the French Revolution. He incorporates those Romantic elements which are prominent throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in Gothic novels, and creates a terrifying tale of a period of bloodshed. The dismal, hopelessness experienced by Lucie and Darnay is similar to Emily's struggle in The Mysteries of Udolpho as she attempts to escape from the Castle Udolpho. While Dickens does not address elements such as the supernatural like are found in Gothic novels, the elements of death, hopelessness, imprisonment, terror, and a wicked villain are all driving forces behind Gothic novels.

Dickens is writing about seventy years after the beginning of the Revolution. The equivalent would be someone today writing about World War II. While he was not alive during this time and he did not have the advantage of extensive academic research, there were still people alive who lived through it, people who's families were affected by it, just like today the effects of World War II are still felt in small ways.

Dickens points out several aspects of the French Revolution which are sometimes overlooked by high school history classes, and even college history classes. History books focus on the annihilation of the French aristocracy: the deaths of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the murder of countless French nobles, and the pillage of French chateaus across the country. But Dickens reveals the depth of the wickedness of the French Revolution: death did not stop at the nobility.

One of the initial chapters of the novel portrays a cask of wine from the Defarge's wine shop breaking open on the streets, and the peasants flocking to scoop up the wine in any way possible. But, the street is stained red. Dickens continues this symbolism later in the book when the Revolution begins, as the streets are stained red with blood at the hands of Monsieur and Madame Defarge. Monsieur Defarge becomes one of the primary judges at the trials of the prisoners, at which Madame Defarge manipulates the outcome through her husband.

The tragic loss of life experienced during the French Revolution was expedited by the guillotine. And such a machine did not differentiate between male or female, rich or poor.

Lovely girls; bright women, brown-haired, black-haired, and gray; youths; stalwart men and old; gentle born and peasant born; all red wine for La Guillotine, all daily brought into light from the dark cellars of the loathsome prisons, and carried to her through the street to slake her devouring thirst. Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death -- the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine! (p.278)

How powerful are those words! Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death! Dickens' clever adaptation of the slogan of the French Revolution brings to light the true power of the Revolution. While the nobility was certainly the primary target, the peasantry did not escape suspicion. An act of treason could be conjectured at any point. Despite the fact that Darnay had renounced his family and his title because of his opposition to their treatment of the peasantry, Madame Defarge still demanded his death due to his association with the nobility. The frail seamstress who befriends Sydney Carton as they proceed to the guillotine was accused of "plots". Each day became a competition to see how many prisoners would be executed in a day, where the true Revolutionaries craved a higher death toll the following day. And just like the wine cask, the peasants could not shed enough blood to quench their thirst.

Despite the darkness of the novel, Dickens does end with one ray of light. The death of Sydney Carton allows Charles Darnay to safely escape France with his wife, child, and father-in-law. Sydney, who is not always positively displayed in the novel, sacrifices himself  for Lucie's happiness. He repeats a scripture passage as he approaches the guillotine, and it is clear that he is at peace with his fate. Despite his shortcomings, he dies for love and he dies in peace.

Dickens is often described as a genius, and this novel has been acclaimed as one of the best fictional works about the French Revolution. I can't argue with either of those assertions. He accurately demonstrates the blood lust which brought down the ancien régime, and sets the background for nearly a century of socio-political anarchy in France. A background that was rooted in the unfortunate ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity, or death.