From terror to horror: gothic prose through horace walpole’s the castle of otranto and Thomas Disch’s The Priest
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Date
2018
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University of Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
This study examines the notions of terror and horror in Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto and Thomas Disch's The Priest: A Gothic Romance; two works which belong to two different centuries, in order to investigate whether there has been a shift from terror to horror over time through analysing the two works critically. Gothic fiction draws its elements from social anxieties, therefore, social changes affect Gothic narratives and the devices that are used to excite the desired feelings. Hence, this study delves into the narratives in order to examine the presence of both notions as well as how both are expressed. Its main theoretical framework is based on Ann Radcliffe's distinction between the two notions as well as the notion of the sublime. It aims to further explore the difference between terror and horror and to delineate the elements of fear that range from getting lost in dark labyrinths to anti-Catholicism and lascivious behaviour. This study finds that the focus shifts to horror and explicit depiction of horrid events with a faint presence of terror which serves to build up anticipation to elevate the mind and experience the sublime. It concludes that the focus shifts slightly towards horror while preserving terror as a means of apprehension which, with the right events, may lead to horror.
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Keywords
Gothic fiction, Terror, Horror