Jane Eyre
The gothic
, The gothic
The Gothic is a literary genre which explores the dark and macabre and was spearheade
Horace Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’ in 1764.
This genre gained popularity during the Victorian era with famous novels such as ‘Dracu
‘Frankenstein’ and ‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’.
Gothic novels tend to have bleak and desolate settings e.g. old castles, dark forests.
They also tend to have a Byronic hero e.g. Mr Darcy in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice
Key gothic elements in ‘Jane Eyre’ include:
• THE BYRONIC HERO
• SETTING – dark, sombre landscapes, the supernatural
• SENSE OF FOREBODING – visions and dreams, premonitions, the fortune-teller
• THE SUPERNATURAL – description of Bertha, the Red Room, Jane’s dreams, the Gytras
cry across the moors
• THE FEMALE GOTHIC – the explained supernatural style
The gothic
, The gothic
The Gothic is a literary genre which explores the dark and macabre and was spearheade
Horace Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’ in 1764.
This genre gained popularity during the Victorian era with famous novels such as ‘Dracu
‘Frankenstein’ and ‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’.
Gothic novels tend to have bleak and desolate settings e.g. old castles, dark forests.
They also tend to have a Byronic hero e.g. Mr Darcy in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice
Key gothic elements in ‘Jane Eyre’ include:
• THE BYRONIC HERO
• SETTING – dark, sombre landscapes, the supernatural
• SENSE OF FOREBODING – visions and dreams, premonitions, the fortune-teller
• THE SUPERNATURAL – description of Bertha, the Red Room, Jane’s dreams, the Gytras
cry across the moors
• THE FEMALE GOTHIC – the explained supernatural style
