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Renascence, v. 1, issue 1, August 1950

Page 7

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE GOTHIC TALE
By HAROLD BERTRAM

The term "Gothic romance" is actually the appropriate title for the literary phenomenon which appeared in England in the latter half of the 18th century. These tales were essentially romances, typical products of the Romantic Age, utilizing Gothic type themes and subject matter. The romantic element in literature, and in thinking as well, was a product of the middle class revolt against the rationalism and classic disciplines of the Age of Reason. This revolt, as exemplified by the writings of Rousseau, had as its philosophical basis the concept of the 'natural man', the 'unspoiled savage', the 'child of nature', and most important of all a profound belief in emotion as the only trustworthy guide for human behavior. Reason, science and formal education became suspect in the popular mind, a state of affairs which still exists to no small degree. This surging tide of emotionalism and sentimentalism slopped over into the 19th century and laid the foundation for the Victorian Age. The mental character of these two periods, the Romantic and the Victorian, can best be appreciated by examining the literary tastes of the time. Such works s Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, Keat's Eve of St. Agnes, Tennyson's The Holy Grail, and Wordsworth's poem eulogizing an idiot boy are fairly representative of the beliefs and opinions and romantic notions held by the people of that day and age. In early 19th century America we find the same element in the novels of James Fennimore Cooper and the poetry of Whittier and Longfellow. In literature, as elsewhere, this sentimental and emotional approach to all phases of life, an expression of the prevailing beliefs and tastes of the new merchant and middle classes, eventually permeated the whole structure of society, from Queen Victoria down to 'arry Atkins. I am not emphasizing this point because of my dislike for the values of the middleclass (of which I am one), but because of the profound effect this trend had upon the literary tastes of that era and of our own. It is well to keep this background material in mind whenever we analyze modern literature in general and horror-fantasy in particular. The modern weird and horror story is not new; its lineage can be traced directly back to the social conditions and cultural values of the middle of the 18th century. We cannot fully understand the evolution and growth of these literary forms without a comprehensive knowledge of the social soil in which they first sprouted.
Along with this developing trend of romantic thought, or perhaps because of it, came a growing interest in the history of both England and of the Middle Ages. It was not the rational, investigative spirit of the scholar that prompted this interest, but the avid desire of a nation of bored shopkeepers to lose themselves and their boredom in ths bygone glories of English history and the chivalric nonsense of the Middle Ages. This attempt to escape the humdrum of daily living made necessary the creation of a pseudo histiry. a mythological golden age. peopled with valiant knights, fair queens, stalwart kings, wicked villians and all of the other stock characters commonly associated with the days when knighthood was in flower. History which actually happens, perhaps because of its apparent unrelatedness to everyday life and its uncompromising air of reality, never seemes to be satisfying enough for those with romantic inclinations.  However, it is difficult to deny the fact that it is much more enjoyable to view the past when its harsh outlines are softened and slightly obscured by a bright, golden haze of romance.
Naturally, the Romantic Age developed a great many misconceptions concerning the Middle Ages. This distorted viewpoint of history can be attributed to two factors; the desire to create a romantic romantic history palatable to the tastes of the time, and a general lack of knowledge about the Middle Ages. Strangely enough. the 18th century knew much less about the Middle Ages than does the 20th, although it was much closer to it in time. This lack of knowledge permitted the writers of the Romantic Age to pick and choose those historical facts which best suited them. As an example, they picked as one of their many sources of information Spencer's Fairie Queen, disregarding the fact that it was written during the reign of Queen Elisabeth. The language of this epic work was thought to be representative of the Middle Ages, and provided a rich source of information for many Romantic writers. However, they conveniently overlooked the fact that Elizabethan English was pretty much the same as modern English. Actually, Spencer had been writing his version of Middle English and had himself created many of the words and phrases used in the Fairie Queen. This is only one of the many instances of the lack of historical perspective which afflicted the Romantic writers were from their historical origins.
So far we have roughly outlined two of the major factors involved in the development of the Gothic tale. The third, the Gothic element itself, has its own distinct genesis, but itis so closely related to the other two factors that we must consider all three as developing simultaneously and interdependently. The dictionary tells us that the term 'Gothic' refers to that which is crude and primitive. that which is Germanic or Teutonic, and that it is a term applicable to the Midde Ages in general. As we have already noted, the Romantic Age preferred the primitive and 'natural' to the sophisticated or 'unnatural'. It was only natural that the 'primitive' aspects of the Middle Ages became highly popular, probably due to their superiority to the productions of a more civilized age. In conjunction with this interest in the primitive and the Middle Ages was a growing concern with Northern Europe, expecially Germany and Scandinavia. The fact that the English royal family was German during this period had much to do with the developing interest in German history, folklore, architecture and fairy tales. There was a great deal of interest in the supposedly dark and gloomy, and therefore, mysterious, backgrounds of the northern countries, and eventually the term 'Gothic' became associated not only with the Middle Ages and the Gothic countries, but also with the weird, the supernatural, the grotesque and the horrible. The mysterious and spine-chilling qualities of anything Gothic were a source of endless delight to the ormantic era. The avid fascination in the strange and terrible displayed by the people of that age probably indicates their degree of boredom and their dissatisfaction with the commonplaces of everyday life. The reading public was looking for thrills and chills, as well as an escape from reality, and it is only natural that when the first Gothic romance appeared it became extremely popular and remained so well into the 19th century.
When Horace Walpole published the first Gothic rmance in 1764 he had no intention of founding a whole new school of literature. He was an urbane, sensible man with a sense of humor. His novel, The Castle of Otranto, is in itself somewhat of a satire upon the Gothic fashions which were being so seriously considered by many people at that time. Walpole, however, had another motive for writing the book. He felt that the novel of the day was too dull, that it lacked imagination and fancy, with the result that The Castle of Otranto was as much a novel of protest against the unimaginative and so-called realistic domestic novel of the 18th century as it was a horror story. Little did he realize that he was creating not only a best seller, but a new and importan form of literature and a pattern for almost two hundred years of Gothic tales. Walpole used almost all of the devices which became standard procedure during the following decades and are still being used eoday. These consist of a great, crumbling castle, riddled with hidden
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THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE GOTHIC TALE By HAROLD BERTRAM The term "Gothic romance" is actually the appropriate title for the literary phenomenon which appeared in England in the latter half of the 18th century. These tales were essentially romances, typical products of the Romantic Age, utilizing Gothic type themes and subject matter. The romantic element in literature, and in thinking as well, was a product of the middle class revolt against the rationalism and classic disciplines of the Age of Reason. This revolt, as exemplified by the writings of Rousseau, had as its philosophical basis the concept of the 'natural man', the 'unspoiled savage', the 'child of nature', and most important of all a profound belief in emotion as the only trustworthy guide for human behavior. Reason, science and formal education became suspect in the popular mind, a state of affairs which still exists to no small degree. This surging tide of emotionalism and sentimentalism slopped over into the 19th century and laid the foundation for the Victorian Age. The mental character of these two periods, the Romantic and the Victorian, can best be appreciated by examining the literary tastes of the time. Such works s Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, Keat's Eve of St. Agnes, Tennyson's The Holy Grail, and Wordsworth's poem eulogizing an idiot boy are fairly representative of the beliefs and opinions and romantic notions held by the people of that day and age. In early 19th century America we find the same element in the novels of James Fennimore Cooper and the poetry of Whittier and Longfellow. In literature, as elsewhere, this sentimental and emotional approach to all phases of life, an expression of the prevailing beliefs and tastes of the new merchant and middle classes, eventually permeated the whole structure of society, from Queen Victoria down to 'arry Atkins. I am not emphasizing this point because of my dislike for the values of the middleclass (of which I am one), but because of the profound effect this trend had upon the literary tastes of that era and of our own. It is well to keep this background material in mind whenever we analyze modern literature in general and horror-fantasy in particular. The modern weird and horror story is not new; its lineage can be traced directly back to the social conditions and cultural values of the middle of the 18th century. We cannot fully understand the evolution and growth of these literary forms without a comprehensive knowledge of the social soil in which they first sprouted. Along with this developing trend of romantic thought, or perhaps because of it, came a growing interest in the history of both England and of the Middle Ages. It was not the rational, investigative spirit of the scholar that prompted this interest, but the avid desire of a nation of bored shopkeepers to lose themselves and their boredom in ths bygone glories of English history and the chivalric nonsense of the Middle Ages. This attempt to escape the humdrum of daily living made necessary the creation of a pseudo histiry. a mythological golden age. peopled with valiant knights, fair queens, stalwart kings, wicked villians and all of the other stock characters commonly associated with the days when knighthood was in flower. History which actually happens, perhaps because of its apparent unrelatedness to everyday life and its uncompromising air of reality, never seemes to be satisfying enough for those with romantic inclinations. However, it is difficult to deny the fact that it is much more enjoyable to view the past when its harsh outlines are softened and slightly obscured by a bright, golden haze of romance. Naturally, the Romantic Age developed a great many misconceptions concerning the Middle Ages. This distorted viewpoint of history can be attributed to two factors; the desire to create a romantic romantic history palatable to the tastes of the time, and a general lack of knowledge about the Middle Ages. Strangely enough. the 18th century knew much less about the Middle Ages than does the 20th, although it was much closer to it in time. This lack of knowledge permitted the writers of the Romantic Age to pick and choose those historical facts which best suited them. As an example, they picked as one of their many sources of information Spencer's Fairie Queen, disregarding the fact that it was written during the reign of Queen Elisabeth. The language of this epic work was thought to be representative of the Middle Ages, and provided a rich source of information for many Romantic writers. However, they conveniently overlooked the fact that Elizabethan English was pretty much the same as modern English. Actually, Spencer had been writing his version of Middle English and had himself created many of the words and phrases used in the Fairie Queen. This is only one of the many instances of the lack of historical perspective which afflicted the Romantic writers were from their historical origins. So far we have roughly outlined two of the major factors involved in the development of the Gothic tale. The third, the Gothic element itself, has its own distinct genesis, but itis so closely related to the other two factors that we must consider all three as developing simultaneously and interdependently. The dictionary tells us that the term 'Gothic' refers to that which is crude and primitive. that which is Germanic or Teutonic, and that it is a term applicable to the Midde Ages in general. As we have already noted, the Romantic Age preferred the primitive and 'natural' to the sophisticated or 'unnatural'. It was only natural that the 'primitive' aspects of the Middle Ages became highly popular, probably due to their superiority to the productions of a more civilized age. In conjunction with this interest in the primitive and the Middle Ages was a growing concern with Northern Europe, expecially Germany and Scandinavia. The fact that the English royal family was German during this period had much to do with the developing interest in German history, folklore, architecture and fairy tales. There was a great deal of interest in the supposedly dark and gloomy, and therefore, mysterious, backgrounds of the northern countries, and eventually the term 'Gothic' became associated not only with the Middle Ages and the Gothic countries, but also with the weird, the supernatural, the grotesque and the horrible. The mysterious and spine-chilling qualities of anything Gothic were a source of endless delight to the ormantic era. The avid fascination in the strange and terrible displayed by the people of that age probably indicates their degree of boredom and their dissatisfaction with the commonplaces of everyday life. The reading public was looking for thrills and chills, as well as an escape from reality, and it is only natural that when the first Gothic romance appeared it became extremely popular and remained so well into the 19th century. When Horace Walpole published the first Gothic rmance in 1764 he had no intention of founding a whole new school of literature. He was an urbane, sensible man with a sense of humor. His novel, The Castle of Otranto, is in itself somewhat of a satire upon the Gothic fashions which were being so seriously considered by many people at that time. Walpole, however, had another motive for writing the book. He felt that the novel of the day was too dull, that it lacked imagination and fancy, with the result that The Castle of Otranto was as much a novel of protest against the unimaginative and so-called realistic domestic novel of the 18th century as it was a horror story. Little did he realize that he was creating not only a best seller, but a new and importan form of literature and a pattern for almost two hundred years of Gothic tales. Walpole used almost all of the devices which became standard procedure during the following decades and are still being used eoday. These consist of a great, crumbling castle, riddled with hidden (Continued Next Page)