Discuss. Cite text (Walpole and/or Burke) to support your claims.
Deadline: Friday (4/24), 10am.
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Welcome to the course blog for English 427 (Later Eighteenth-Century Literature) at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign.
Contributors
Castle of Otranto Backgrounds and Context
Third Assignment
Unit 7: The Sublime
Unit 6: Rights of Women
Unit 5: Slavery and Abolition
Unit 4: Children's Literature
Unit 3: The Theater
Unit 2: Folklore and Fakery
Unit 1: Empire and Exploration
Independent Units
Course Readings
- Butler, Arts in the Age of Revolution
- Cowper on Omai
- Boswell on Johson, Omai, and savages
- Burney on Omai
- Brooke, Preface to The Excursion
- Johnson, Rambler No. 4
- Johnson, Rambler No. 23
- Johnson, By the River at Stowe Mill
- Sterne, The Northwest Passage to the Intellectual World
- Sterne, Obadiah's Cow
- Sterne, True Shandeism
- Sterne, Uncle Toby and the Fly
- Frye, "Towards Defining an Age of Sensibility"
- The Bard. A Pindaric Ode (Thomas Gray)
- Joseph Warton's Dying Indian
- Gray's Elegy 1751
- Gray's Elegy 1768
- Gray's Elegy modern edition
- Mary Jones, Holt Waters (1750)
- Minds of Winter (Seward and Stevens)
Second Assignment (due 2/18)
First Assignment (due 2/2)
The First Map
Map of Western North American, c. 1785
3 comments:
The Gothic, and therefore the Castle of Otranto as one of the fist Gothic novels is clearly an example of the Burkeian sublime. The manner in which darkness and mystery obscures the plot of the work and the setting is a dangerous place with a curse on it embodies the concepts Burke pressed upon his readers. For example " Everyone will be sensible of this (obscurity and fear), who considers how greatly the night adds to our dread,m in all cases of danger, and how much the notions of ghosts and goblins, of which non can form clear ideas, affect minds which give credit to the popular tales concerning such sorts of beings". These "popular tales" are what spawned the graphic novel and are clearly a part of the sublime.
I definitely believe that Castle of Otranto is an example of the sublime. As Burke mentioned in his writings, "terror is in all cases whatsoever...the ruling principle of the sublime." Castle of Otranto, and indeed any type of Gothic fiction, incorporates images and and ideas that evoke feelings of terror. As Alyssa mentioned, the novel creates a dark and obscure setting and this is perfect for creating a foreboding sense of terror in the reader. Burke also discussed the idea of terror and pleasure being dual components of the sublime. Castle of Otranto, while evoking terror in the reader, also creates a sense of excitement and pleasure. I think the novel is a great example of Burke's idea of the sublime.
I agree. As The Castle of Otranto evolves, it becomes larger and larger, and more and more obscure. It has moments that fall from the sky or awaken behind picture frames to jolt the reader.
If I weren't already disillusioned by horror films, the book would be a frightening read alone at 3 o'clock in the morning by candlelight.
Finally, we see terrible passions, especially from Manfred. These passions start in his mind, but are revealed to the reader through his words and actions and we can feel the grand rage of his loss, especially in the first two chapters.
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