Key Issue 3: Use of Setting ( Juliete, Noam, Raphael, Octavian)
Use and effect of Setting in Gothic writing
INTRO:
The setting of Dorian Gray is unusual. The scene takes place in London. It starts in a wealthy art studio (oriental furniture).
A typical gothic setting would be an abandoned dark place (often from the Middle Ages), where help cannot be found easily. The setting is crucial to create a special atmosphere which plays with tension and anxiety. Usually, gothic stories or films are set in old, isolated castles, graveyards, caves or mansions, during the night. The character wanders through this place and doors and windows are often half-opened, creating mystery and fear of the unknown.
The goal of the gothic setting is to scare the main character and by that the reader too. For example, shadows make the story creepy and scary because the reader is not able to see what is hidden in the dark (or behind half-opened doors).
Sources : https://freebooksummary.com/
https://www.mytutor.co.uk/
https://elifnotes.com/main-
1)Types of Setting
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Typical Gothic settings include buildings like castles, graveyards, caves, dungeons or religious houses like churches and chapels. They are often old, decaying buildings, usually set in remote, hidden places such as the wilderness of a forest or in the isolation of the mountains.
Castles are so central to Gothic literature, they essentially gave the genre its name (--> gothic architecture as a source of inspiration). Their massive size and labyrinthine structure, plus their usually remote location, make them perfect for plots involving isolation and confinement.
- Idea of : Isolation, old and abandoned building (sometimes haunted)
- loneliness/fear/ sadness
Examples :
- Transylvania in Dracula
- New York in Rosemary’s Baby
- Cornwall England in the Birds
- Venice Italy in Don’t look Now
- Scottish Highlands in The Thirty Nine Steps
- London in Dorian Gray
2)Use and effect of Setting
The setting is always present. It surrounds the whole story and puts the reader in a specific mood. It is used to create a scary and suspenseful atmosphere. It puts him in a place of anxiety and fear of the unknown. The reader is eager to know more about the place. He is in the eyes of the main character and feels his emotion before these ones are mentioned. He sympathizes with the main character. Indeed, the reader, who doesn’t always know the feelings of the protagonist, fears the setting like him. In fact, setting helps us to understand the character better.
Another important aspect is that the character cannot be helped. He is alone with himself and isolated from the outside world. Moreover, some living creatures, like crows, reinforce that something bad is going to happen and create an atmosphere of tension.
The protagonist is sometimes in places that are directly linked to mystery. These places would not have the same impact on the reader in a classic book, but here they scare him because of the anxious atmosphere created before. For example, attics are closed and dark places where you don’t go very often. It is isolated from the rest of the house. In a romantic book, an attic could be a place to bring characters closer to each other. However, in a gothic story, the reader will fear that something bad is going to happen.
To finish, the setting can be a character in itself. Indeed, it can move without any reason and evolve according to the emotions of the characters. For instance, lights can fade when the character is frightened. The setting is like an opponent for the main character.
Key elements:
- “Gothic novels are characterized by an unsettling, threatening feeling - a fear that is linked to the unknown” (https://www.mytutor.co.uk/
answers/18701/A-Level/English- Literature/What-is-a-Gothic- Setting/) - “The purpose of setting in Gothic literature is to set up an environment that is full of grandeur, darkness, and decay” (https://www.ipl.org/essay/
Examples-Of-Setting-In-Gothic- Literature-FJVYFEMGZT)
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