Essays on Gothic

Gothic literature encompasses horror stories as well as darker supernatural forces. Such literature focuses on the destructive desires and irrational aspects of human nature. The term Gothic literature is derived from the unrestrained, majestic, grotesque or savage medieval architectural styles. Gothic literature is, therefore, associated with barbarism or savagery. “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga is an example of gothic literature.

Vampirism

The blood -sucking spider-like creature in The Feather Pillow depicts elements of vampirism. The awful spider-like blood sucking creature, which is swollen with victim’s blood, depicts clear aspects of vampirism. Specifically, the creature inhabiting the feather pillow ...

Gothic Literature Gothic novel originated in England, in the last quarter of the XVIII century. It opens up a world, freed from the everyday plausibility. This world is fantastic, with a gloomy color and plot, covered with historical and geographical romance and sinister atmosphere. Gothic novel is more than two hundred years; it has changed, has become modern, but have not lost its essential characteristics – pleasant horror, tension and excitement.

British Gothic Novel

Gothic novel in England has been very popular since the XVIII century. The “father” of this genre of literature is considered to be Horace Walpole, with the novel The ...

Retrieved from http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/9133113 Retrieved from http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/9133113 Trusses are engineering structures common for wide-span buildings like industrial buildings and sports centers with the purpose of reduction the consumption of materials and lightweight design. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the first SANAA’s industrial building located at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. The architects of the building were Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, and its project commissioner was Rolf Fehlbaum, chairman of Vitra. It has a diameter of 160 meters and is 11 meters in height. Inside, the building is divided into two parts for safety reasons. As ...

Literature

Edgar Allan Poe and his most predominant themes Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet, writer, and editor. He is also known for literary critics. He is one of the most important literary figures in Romanticism from 1840 to 1849. Poe’s work was of such dynamic nature that it has resulted in “massive impact” (3). He has also associated nature with good. Poe’s well-known fiction works are Gothic, and "Metzengerstein" was his first published Gothic tale. Some of his works were also satiric and comic such as “A Tale of Jerusalem”, “The Duc de L’Omelette” (humorous ...

Edgar Allan Poe, the celebrated American writer, critic and editor, holds a prominent place among the literary circle. He is famous for his excellent short stories and poems, surrounded by an aura of anonymity and obscurity. He can rightly be termed as a Romantic who is often recognized as the forerunner of the detective fiction and science fiction. His personal life endured many ups and downs. The tremors of love and feelings find persuasive expression in most of his works. The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell- Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death are some ...

In the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the director employed varied techniques to bring about a valuable motion picture. Out of the many techniques evident in the movie, gothic symbols and motifs are paramount as these techniques bring about other aspects of the film such as thematic expressions. This paper explores different motifs and gothic symbols in the movie “The Sixth Sense.” Ultimately, the paper highlights the meaning or importance of the identified technique. Shyamalan (the director of the movie) consistently employs visual motifs through reflective objects such as glasses, windows, mirrors and many others. The visual motifs in “The ...

One of the key differences in the film Interview with the Vampire and some of the other films in the vampire genre is that Neil Jordan’s adaptation of the Anne Rice novel is about what life for a vampire would be like. Through the experiences of the ancient Lestat, his novice Louis, and through the poignant eyes of Claudia, one sees both the joys and the frustrations of life inside a body that is immortal – without aging – but also without many of the consolations, particularly emotional in nature, that humans get to experience but are beyond the reach ...

Works of art can communicate critical information on the times in which they were created. Different time periods and different cultural backgrounds provide the stylistic and media elements of a work of art. There may be no specific intent to portray the times, but that is what happens when the artist creates a work of art in a particular artistic period. Examples of art works from two distinctly different times and cultures will demonstrate how the art in the Medieval period of European history and Pop Art from the late mid-20th century differ. The Medieval period in art history ...

Children have been implemented in literature for a long time. Artists have used them in many different ways, from fantasies and folk tales, to myths and science fiction. The Others is a supernatural horror film, where a mother and her two children form part of the main characters of the story. It is based in an isolated, dark mansion. The children also form a very important part in the story, as they inspire both sympathy and fear throughout the movie, the first progressively decreasing as the movie develops. They also add a surge of gothic sensibility to the film, ...

Social Module: Venice

1) What is the name of your city, town or village and where did this name come from? Note, there may also be an informal name, that is a name that local people refer to it. You may also discuss any name changes over time and the reasons for these name changes. In that case, if the word Veneti has the Indo-European origin, it means “famous”, but if we consider this word with the pre-Indo origin, it means “foreigners” or “new comers” (nuovi venuti). Perhaps the name of the Veneto is from the word “new comers”. In this case, ...

Biography of the Sainte Chapelle

The Sainte-Chapelle, French for Holy Chapel, is located in Paris, France. It was built in the traditional gothic style for the time, and it was accomplished over the span of seven years . Cohen mentions Sainte-Chapelle’s original purpose was to be a religious temple for previous Christian vestiges, it is rumored that should Christ’s Holy Grail ever have been found it would have been placed here. Moreover, The Shroud of Turin likely would have been put here, as well . The supposed crown of thorns worn by Christ at the time of his death, according to Weiss, was housed ...

The Crucifixion by Jativa Master

In the 15th century in Spain completes the centuries-old struggle with the Arabs (the Reconquista). Soon Spain extends among Europe's most powerful states; it becomes the richest colonial power. In Spain, the absolutist system installed; the mainstay of Spanish absolutism, which had a much more narrow social base than absolutism in most other European countries, was the Catholic Church. Fomenting revolutionary fanaticism during the war with the Moors, the church in previous centuries has acquired in Spain only a great influence. With the rise of absolutism, the church was made dependent on the royal power in the hands of ...

The stories presented by Lawson are characterized by realistic illustrations of limited desires and needs of common domestic life and many hardships. Isolation is a very prolific theme in this the Drover’s Wife because the whole story explores the issues of loneliness, separation from mates and hard work by the women characters in the absence of their husbands. The woman is used to being left alone and it even states that she was once left alone for eighteen months. As a young lady, she desires to live like a princess and have a good life, and that is ...

Angel Heart is a psychological thriller and crime mystery that was filmed in 1987, and based on a book titled Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg. After first viewing the film Angel Heart, i didn't think it was so interesting at first. I'll admit i was a little confused, the plot of the film was a little puzzling to me, but eventually i caught on to what was really happening in the movie. I thought the movie was actually very cool to watch. The input of the voodoo scenery and all the extra subjugations added a controversial curiosity to the ...

Physical Module: Venice

I have chosen the city, Venice for this assignment. As I mentioned in the introduction, I have been in Venice previous summer and I want to explore this site in more detail.

Geomorphology and Climatology

1) How did your selected city, town or village’s physical landscape form? i) What are the geological processes that contributed to the formation of your site? ii) What are the climatic processes that contributed to the formation of your site? The place, where Venice is located, is characterized by the transitional climate type between the continental and Mediterranean climate zones. The place of the city is ...

Introduction

Christina Rossetti’s poem, “Goblin Market,” is allegorical in the sense that it is an extended metaphor in which key social fears of the period are expressed. Rossetti sets her characters against the lures of the world, which in this case are represented by the goblin men and their fruit. Children are voyeurs who are always analyzing and watching. Rossetti features two main children characters and contrasts their response to the lures. Against these lures or temptations, Laura succumbs, while Lizzie is headstrong. One may argue that the poet uses character foils to contrast the characters, Lizzie and Laura. ...

Physical Module: Venice

I have chosen the city, Venice for this assignment. As I mentioned in the introduction, I have been in Venice previous summer and I want to explore this site in more detail.

Geomorphology and Climatology

1) How did your selected city, town or village’s physical landscape form? i) What are the geological processes that contributed to the formation of your site? ii) What are the climatic processes that contributed to the formation of your site? The place, where Venice is located, is characterized by the transitional climate type between the continental and Mediterranean climate zones. The place of the city is ...

Romanticism. Introduction. As many got tired of regularity and rationality of Classicism, people of art started to try to find a way to express their emotions and attitudes through methods more free from canons. They found such possibility in Romanticism. Romanticism replaces the Age of Enlightenment, and coincided with the industrial revolution, that was marked by the advent of the steam engine, locomotive, ship, photos, and factory suburbs. While education was characterized by the cult of reason, and was based on its principles of civilization, romanticism advocated the cult of nature, senses and all the natural in man. It ...

Recently, the cable television station HBO aired the first season of a series called True Detective which was filled with uncanny, eerie, and weird imagery, symbols, and dialogue. The show became a major hit, and brought a great deal of attention to the various American literary traditions of horror and weird fiction. One of the major writers mentioned as an influence on the show was H.P. Lovecraft, one of the most famous of American horror writers. However, H.P. Lovecraft was himself part of a tradition that went back to nineteenth century American writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote dark ...

William Falkner is an American novelist who was very popular with his essays, poems, short stories and was known to be one of the best screenwriters. Faulkner was also known for his works which exposed the corruptions and exploitations happening in the Southern America; his works were popular for being so complex and profound as well. In addition, he usually worked on showing the unbridled history and consequently giving a wide range of ideas for the development of exploring the characters of human being. Moreover, Faulkner used grotesque, melodrama, bizarre and even violent imagery especially in sensationalizing the decay ...

Chartres, France

The monuments and architecture in ancient times allow talking and narrating about the historical background from the angle of time in which they were built. Through various signs, they inform us about the prosperity, decline of the reigns and empires as well. Thus, they are the major means of communication. They can tell us a lot about the economic, political and religious circumstances of the specific region. They also narrate the contemporary architectural trend. In medieval Europe, especially in France, the Gothic architecture was at its pinnacle. Cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres is one of the Gothic architecture examples in ...

The 19th-century architecture was significantly affected by architectural movement and exotic foreign styles which resulted from the new technology of the modern age (Idriss 15). Various architects used different engineering methods and materials to realize the construction of most outstanding buildings in the era. The leading types of 19th-century architectural styles include; Gothic revival (1836-1870), and Richardson Marsha field (1885). The 19th-century architecture is characterized by the development of a variety of historical styles and introduction of new materials and structural methods. These architects also embraced traditional styles of architecture in the construction of their buildings. As a result ...

Trans-World Flight Center, John F. Kennedy Airport (1956-1962)

Opened in 1962, the Trans World Flight Center of the John F. Kennedy Airport is one of the finest structures belonging to the Organic Modern Period that emerged in the mid-20th century.1 What makes this style truly remarkable was the fact that it is based on neo-futuristic designs as well as embodying strict adherence to geometrical proportions, the creation of functional space for the passengers, aircraft, employees, and maintaining harmonious interaction of the structure in its environment.2 The structure was designed by Eero Saarinen, a notable architect and one of the prolific figures that proposed designing the concept of ...

Abstract

'Gothic' term represents medieval art that carries a strange history. The style of art developed in Northern France and spread to the rest of Western Europe. Late Gothic art expanded well into the 16th century before getting consumed by the Renaissance art. Gothic period carries splendid examples of sculptures, stained glass, fresco, panel painting, ivories and illuminated manuscripts. The essay offers a perspective on the popularity of Gothic ivories and how they encouraged the devotional practice. The ivory diptychs were used as sophisticated tools and were seen as physical vestiges of the divine. Gothic ivories were the visual cues ...

The Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Notre-Dame Cathedral located eighty kilometers to the southwest of Paris is perhaps the best-preserved example of Gothic architecture. It stands in the town of Chartres next to the Eure River. The Cathedral has two contrasted spires that are visible from a distance (See figure 1). It was built for a period of 26 years between the years 1194 and 1220 and is the fifth cathedral to stand on its site (visual-arts-cork.com 1). The Chartres Cathedral stands 34 meters high and 130 meters long (visual-arts-cork.com 1). The architecture of the Chartres Cathedral amazes ...

Frankenstein is the main character in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s gothic novel also known as Modern Prometheus. She is influenced by ideas and a dream from a summer holiday in Switzerland. During the summer holiday, she and her companions had shared and read German ghost stories, and then one of them, Bryan Lord suggested that they have a competition to see who would come up with the best horror story (Mary 15). One of them had suggested that corpses could also be re-animated, this brought to Shelley’s mind the idea of galvanism. During one of the nights she ...

The primary purpose of this essay is to explain how Cathedral of Notre-Dame, also referred to as Chartres Cathedral relates to the culture of the time and how the building was a product of its cultural and political conditions. Chartres Cathedral is situated in Chartres, towards the northwestern France and one of the prime examples of French Gothic architecture. It is well famous for its stained glass and different sculptures ranging from column statues to miniatures. A fire in1194 destroyed most of the cathedral, which was later reconstructed (Chartres Cathedral 2016). The church is made of limestone and displays ...

1. Name two powerful forces molding the development of Romanesque (and Gothic) art and architecture: a. Pilgrimage b. Monastic movement 2. Which cathedral was the starting point to the pilgrimage to Santiago, Spain?

Vezelay cathedral in France

3. What was at Santiago (or maybe who)?

The church in Santiago was believed to house the bones of St James

4. Why did people go on pilgrimages? Cite five reasons. a. to plead for divine help b. to ask for the cure revealed c. to give thanks for favors given d. to ask to forgive their sins e. for the salvation of their souls 5. Whose relics were at Vezelay?

The relics of Mary Magdalene

6. What 3 objects or garments marked ...

The short fiction work of turn-of-the-century author Kate Chopin regularly deals with the recurring themes of womanhood, agency and identity, usually telling stories of women trapped in stifling lives due to the patriarchal expectations placed on them to live a certain way. Through these explorations of gender roles, particularly through marriage and motherhood, Chopin uses these central themes to explore the imbalances found between men and women in terms of power and agency. At all turns, the protagonists of Chopin’s stories must make unconventional, taboo decisions to reject the white, male-dominated judgments and expectations placed on them. Two ...

Literature: Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find.

Introduction The play, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is an interesting play based on a real life situation occurrence. The story is not only interesting, but also exemplary due to the unique stylistic devices used (Gooch 61). The storyline is captivating and out rightly capture the mind of any reader. The story was written by a renowned writer in the United States of America, the ever amazing Flannery O’Connor in the year 1953. Despite the story’s old age, it still remains an outstanding work in the field of literature. Furthermore, the story was a major ...

Edgar Allan Poe’s fiction used symbols and intense imagery to tap into the dark and unknown parts of human existence. Hit gothic tales sought to redefine the ultimate human experience by showing the prevalence of horror in everyday life. Normal individuals are driven to rage and madness and they get to commit the most heinous crimes without reasonable justification for their actions. In “Legia” and “The Black Cat”, Poe relies on symbolism and imagery to show humanity’s relationship with nature and death. Poe explores man’s attempt at rationalizing the irrational. This paper seeks to compare and ...

The Notre Dame De Chartres Cathedral is located in Northwestern France in a small town known as Chartres. Chartres is about 80 kilometers from the French Capital, Paris (Pierre 1). Chartres is a market town with many manufacturing firms. This building is in the French Gothic architectural style. It is famous not only for the many sculptures that it has but also on the extent to which it captures innovation. In terms of historical context, the building was built during the early Middle Ages in 1194 after fires had ravaged other previous cathedral in which the Sancta Camisia- Virgin ...

Guillermo Del Toro’s Spanish horror-fantasy film The Devil’s Backbone is a unique ghost story for its time, given the film’s setting during the Spanish Civil War and the morally ambiguous nature of the ghosts found in the film. In telling the story of a small orphanage in rural Spain in the early 1930s, haunted by a small boy named Santi whose death provides one of the central mysteries, The Devil’s Backbone mixes the high fantasy of fairy tales with the gritty despair of one of Spain’s most tumultuous historical periods. As evidenced in the ...

Casta painting is a genre of visual arts that was popular during the late 18th century in Spain and Mexico. The Spanish word casta roughly translates to the English word, ‘breed’; in other words, the genre of casta painting meant painting based on breed or one’s racial identity. (Frederick 496-499; Carrera 6). In order to understand the original meaning and tradition of the casta, it is important to trace back the roots why the culture of castas even existed in both Mexico and Spain. According to history, Spain was one of the countries in Europe that started the ...

Introduction

The paper will examine Germany’s culture and include various different aspects of the overall countries circumstances. One of the economically most successful European countries will be presented through the aspects of political makeup and background of the political system, the most important holidays and celebrations, their religion, art and architecture, the country’s customs and practices and their cultural contributions to a global society. One of the most successful countries in the world has a specific culture, customs and practices in which the diverse art and architectural designs can be found from different periods in history.

Political system in Germany

The Federal ...

Van Helsing as a Protector: The Role of the Vampire Hunter the Present-Day Vampire Culture

Abstract The vampire culture grew out of the Gothic genre and became extremely popular throughout the world. The first and most famous representative of the vampire cast is Dracula, who first appeared as a protagonist in Bram Stocker’s book with the same name. Dracula was created as a predator that hid within his threatening castle, and attacked helpless women. The author also introduced Van Helsing, the hero who acted as a protector of women and fought to destroy the monster. However, Van Helsing remained a less popular and well-known character as compared to the monster he hunted. In ...

The story is about the narrator and an old man. The narrator has an illness that increases his senses and image. He is friends with an old man but does not like the old man’s eye. He thinks the eye is evil because it is blue with a clear substance over it. The eye makes the narrator angry, and he wants to kill the old man to be rid of the evil eye forever. After a week, he sneaks in to kill the old man, but the old man dies of a heart attack. The narrator explains in ...