Four Gothic Novels by Horace Walpole
Macabre and melodramtic, set in haunted castles or fantastic landscapes, Gothic tales became fashionable in the late eighteenth century with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). Crammed with catastrophe, terror, and ghostly interventions, the novel was an immediate success, and influenced numerous followers. These include William Beckford's Vathek (1786), which alternates grotesque comedy with scenes of exotic magnificence in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek's journey to damation. The Monk (1796), by Matthew Lewis, is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest, set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid. Frankenstein (1818, 1831) is Mary Shelley's disturbing and perennially popular tale of young student who learns the secret of giving life to a creature made from human relics, with horrific consequences. This collection illustrates the range and the attraction of the Gothic novel. Extreme and sensational, each of the four printed here is also a powerful psychological story of isolation and monomania.Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818) was an English novelist and dramatist who became known as Monk Lewis after the success of his Gothic novel The Monk, published in 1796. Lewis, along with Charles Robert Maturin and Mary Shelley, is usually categorized as a Gothic horror author. The Secrets of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe and Caleb Williams by William Godwin were undoubtedly influential on Lewis. In fact, Lewis wrote a letter to his mother a few months before starting to write The Monk in which he remarked that the villain Montoni from The Mysteries of Udolpho and himself had a striking likeness. Lewis' literary approach contrasted from Radcliffe's fascination with the supernatural and Godwin's narrative drive and emphasis in crime and punishment.
Unlike Radcliffe, who used the terror-Gothic genre to hint to imagined horrors, Lewis distinguished himself by revealing the details of the terrible events, garnering him the moniker of Gothic horror novelist. Lewis creates a more novelistic experience for the reader by providing actual details rather than the scared sensations prevalent in Radcliffe.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780192823311 |
| ISBN 10 | 0192823310 |
| Title | Four Gothic Novels |
| Author | Horace Walpole |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 1994-07-07 |
| Number of pages | 624 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |