Post on 13-Dec-2015
Journal:Create a very short
story (5 – 7 sentences) that explains the
character depicted. Think: Why is she
sitting like this? What is the tone of the
picture? Make sure you use the same tone
in your short story!
DARK ROMANTICISM
This is where it gets
weird…
As the second piece to the
Romantic literary movement, Dark
Romanticism explores the
potential evil in the
individual.
Characters are
fueled by anxiety
and guilt.
Characters are in
psychological or
physical torment.
CHARACTERS
SETTINGSBleak or remote places
Ominous
(something bad is
coming…)
Large, drafty old houses
that have "been in the
family for years."
Morbid or violent incidents
A supernatural or
otherworldly element is
often present. (Think:
ghosts, doors that open
themselves, unexplained
sounds, etc.)
PLOT
GOTHIC ELEMENTSGrotesque, mysterious, desolate
Atmosphere of mystery and suspense
Omens, foreshadowing, and dreams
Highly charged emotional states like: terror, a feeling that
one is on the brink of insanity, anger, agitation, an
exaggerated feeling of some impending doom, and
obsessive love.
Words designed to evoke images of gloom and doom: dark,
foreboding, forbidding, ghostly, etc.
MAIN IDEAS
Triumph of evil over good
Inevitability of sin and guilt in
humanity
Perverse and self-destructive
nature of mankind
Extremes of individualism
What about this image makes it Dark Romantic?
What about this image makes it Dark Romantic?
What about this image makes it Dark Romantic?
Henry Fuseli,The Nightmare
One of the first painters to show the
darkness within the
human subconsciou
s.
EDGAR ALLAN POE(1809 – 1849)
“A BIBLE OF FEAR”
Born in Boston, MassachusettsMother dies, father leavesLives with Allan family, but never adoptedMarries Virginia, his 13 year-old cousin (not as weird as it is today).Travel, job instability, alcoholismVirginia dies at 25…Poe goes downhillDies at age 40 in Baltimore (The cause of his death is unknown and has been attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.)
CAREERS
Joined the U.S. military; eventually,
attended West Point for a short time
until he found a way to be dismissed.
He was the first well-known
American writer to try to earn a living
through writing alone, resulting in a
financially difficult life and career.
POE’S WRITINGA truthful, often vicious, editorWorked hard at horror elements to affect readerCreated detective story at age 32 (“Murders in the Rue Morgue”)Very influential (worldwide) and very debatedWrote about extreme situations & settings to expose true human nature
POE’S WORKS
“The Raven”
“Annabel Lee”
“The Black Cat”
“The Cask of Amontillado”
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE (1804 – 1864)
A BIOGRAPHY
Born in Salem, Massachusetts (related to Judge Hathorne)
Father dies early, mother becomes recluse
12 years of intense reading & writing
Added a “w” to his last name
Married in his 30s
Scarlet Letter cements his popularity
Friend to Franklin Pierce, Herman Melville, Emerson,
Longfellow
HAWTHORNE’S WRITINGCautionary talesSuggest that sin, guilt, and evil are the most natural human qualitiesInspired by Puritans
HAWTHORNE’S WORKS
“Young Goodman Brown”
“Dr. Heidigger’s Experiment”
“The Minister’s Black Veil”
“The Birth-mark”
The Scarlet Letter
The House of the Seven Gables
VIEW…
View “The Life of Vincent Malloy” by Tim Burton
Reflection: How is “Vincent” an example of Dark
Romanticism?
“Vincent Malloy”
At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From the fourth the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior recess, in depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use in itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.
--Edgar Allan Poe“The Cask of Amontillado”