Key Issue 7: Power and Menace (Riley, Benjamin, Raja, Noemie)

Key issue 7: Power and Menace in Gothic writing

Last years group work:

https://oibwithmrsc.blogspot.com/2021/11/key-issue-seven-power-and-menace-in.html

Our work:

Power

• ability to control people and events

• Man over man/nature over man

• Comes in different forms: violence, fear, psychological 

• It is said that usually villains hold the power→dominance→abuse of the power they hold

• Influence: application of power to accomplish a specific power

Menace

• Something that is likely to cause harm

• Usually an omniscient presence 

• Threat/danger 

• Menace comes in different forms: characters (usually brought by the villains→psychological aspect can bring uncertainty=> a character’s psychological instability which can transform to a dangerous aspect for the surrounding),inner fears, setting (brings tension) 

Power and menace can be considered essential in gothic literature. Power; which can be defined with the ability to control people and events, is in the heart of humanity as a whole and evidence of that is present in all of history. Gothic literature was a controversial genre in the Victorian era that was built on the basis of taking contemporary elements present in the real world that no one dared to write about and incorporating them into a genre seen as ‘diabolical’ and ‘satanic’ because of the supernatural elements present. It can be said that power is in the heart of almost every decision made in life, whether consciously or not, and Gothic literature shows not only the most obvious forms of power, such as physical and governmental power of the State, but also the psychological element of it and how it can be used for what people consider ‘the greater good’ as well as pure evil, depending on the point of view of the narrator and the reasoning behind every decision. 

Menace is a show of intention to inflict harm. It is also fundamental in the gothic genre. Menace, unlike power, is probably only seen with negative connotations. It can be seen also with a psychological aspect, it is also usually an omniscient presence. Menace is usually  an act of intimidation 

Gothic literature makes a difference between terror and horror. Terror could be morally troubling; it implyed something without precisely describing it. Horror on the other hand is profoundly disturbing, its sole objective is to freeze and annihilate the reader’s senses. Where terror might suggest sexual assault or rape, horror will explicitly describe the action like in The Monk.

In some gothic works such as ‘Dracula’, there is always a link between power and the menace because the menace holds a lot of power. In ‘Dracula’, the supernatural menace; Dracula, is higher on the power chain than most of the humans hunting him which makes hunting them back and killing them so much easier. Dracula is a vampire that needs to hunt and kill humans for the blood to keep him alive because he’s an ‘undead’, a human who stays alive even after his death by killing people back and sucking all the blood from them for his personal needs. He’s physically stronger and more able than a human being, and he possesses powers like his ability to transform himself into different creatures which he uses to his advantage.

His physical power is not the only power he has. He’s a count, so he comes from a wealthy and noble background which entitles him a higher social class, and a lot of power to begin with. 

 The power of influence is the application of power to accomplish a specific purpose.

Characters use four influence tactics to lead others:avoiding, manipulating, intimidation, threatening. In Dorian Gray, the tactic that is essentially used is manipulation. As a matter of fact, Lord Henry, the main external force/figure, causes Dorian to become corrupt. Lord Henry holds the power over Dorian for the first few chapters and Dorian holds the power over Basil, the painter, throughout the whole novel.

The use of power and menace in gothic literature can be interpreted in many different ways. 

Sources:

-https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gothic-motifs

- Raja’s brain