Northanger Abbey

             The novel Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen is by far the best gothic novel I have read in this class so far.  The story as a whole was a lot easier to read then the others and it usually kept my attention.  I actually read ahead of the reading because I was eager to finish the book.
             The protagonist in the novel is Catherine Morland and the entire novel is following her maturing as an individual.  In the beginning of the narrator calls her, "inattentive , and occasionally stupid." Throughout the novel though, Catherine learns from her mistakes and becomes a better judge of character from that.  She eventually begins to lose her naive character and matures as an individual.  I believe this is what the whole book is really about, the wedding between Catherine and Henry at the end was just a way for the author to satiate the interests of her readers.  It is a book about a young girl growing up and developing into a strong woman.
             Along with that though, the whole concept of a gothic novel was not really present in the book, it was just present in the mind of Catherine. She enjoyed reading a lot of gothic novels so the whole gothic idea was imprinted into her imagination.  Her imagination would play tricks on her and form a kind of gothic atmosphere in certain situations. An example of this is when Catherine conjured up the idea that General Tilney killed his wife.
            The climax of the novel would be,in my opinion, when General Tilney forced Catherine to leave their house abruptly because John Thorpe told him that she was poor.  Following this the rest of the novel would be the falling action where the loose ends are tied up and the problem is resolved.  As a whole I thought this book was a much easier read then the previous novels and I look forward to reading more Gothic novels.
           

The Romance of the Forest (The conclusion)

          I finally finished the novel and I have to say I am somewhat pleased with the ending.  It was a long drawn out book that in some parts was not very appealing to me, but in the end all of the loose ends were tied up and it made sense of everything.  It was interesting that the skeleton and manuscript that Adeline found in the old abbey was that of her father's. Also to figure out why Adeline was at the old house on the heath in the first place was very good. Through all the loneliness and solitude Adeline has faced throughout her life it is also good to know that the Marquis is convicted of his crime and Adeline and her lover Theodore could be reunited. The novel as a whole does convey the major gothic element of a damsel in distress and a plot of opposition of good and evil.
         Still the one large down fall of the book was the intricate writing style of the author.  It got very confusing at times and I hated having to reread the sentences over and over again. On top of that the book was already a significant amount of reading so that just added to the trouble. In all though, I enjoyed the book more than the Castle of Ontrato and look forward to seeing what the next novels have in store for me.

The Romance of the Forest

             The Romance of the Forest has so far, been a lot more interesting than the Castle of Otranto.  It shows many elements of a gothic novel such as a skeleton in a chest and its set in an old abbey. In this story though, the supernatural, which is such a key part of a gothic novel, is not as far fetched as in the Castle of Otranto. In The Castle of Otranto their are huge helmets crushing people and other unrealistic features that make the novel unappealing in a sense to me.  This novel seems to have more realistic supernatural features and makes it a lot more believable. When a story is more believable it makes it easier for me to feel immersed in the story.
             The novel is a lot longer than the previous novel, Castle of Otranto, and seems to drag on uneccesarily. The novel also is a little overly romantic at times and kind of corny. At the moment though I am not completely done with the novel and I am excited to finish.  I am looking forward to clearing up the questions that are still unanswered. This makes the novel more enticing to read and I definitely have enjoyed this book more than the previous novel.

Analysis of The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

           The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole was my first taste of Gothic literature and definitely was not a good one.  The first scene starts off exciting with the death of Conrad and mass hysteria by the people, but then it dies off and becomes a slow developing story.  I feel like the book needed more substance, without it the book became difficult to follow at times. Some parts failed to capture my attention, I would read a page and forget what I read, then have to repeatedly go back and reread it.
          Another problem I had with the book was that the characters in the story were so naive and irritating, they would believe anything Manfred, the king, told them.  He told the public that Theodore was the one that killed Conrad and they instantly believed him. I hope in the next novel the characters have a much higher mental capacity so that I may have a much more intellectually stimulating experience.  In addition to this I was not a fan of the incest and other taboo actions that went on through the story.  For two old men to agree to let each other marry their daughters is sick.
          On the contrary, I did enjoy the fight between Theodore and Fredric.  I am big into action so any kind of fight is good one, but I am especially into one when the loser is a perverted old man.  Also the ending in which Theodore and Isabella were united after the sad death of Matilda made the story a little more bearable.  Some of the gothic elements in this book also added an interesting side to the book which I am not used to experiencing.  The weird hermit creature, trap doors, candles blowing out, dark rooms, blood dripping from paintings, just to name a few.
           In all, I did not really enjoy the novel as a whole but felt as though it was a good introduction to the genre of Gothic literature. I am looking forward to what other interesting tales are present in the books to come.
        
         

Introduction

          Hey guys! My name is Dustin Corbett and I am a sophomore here at TCU.  I am majoring in Movement Science and hope to one day be a physical therapist and run my own sports clinic. I am really not too much of a reader, I usually just stick to watching movies and reading the occasional magazine that happens to catch my attention.
          As far as Gothic literature, I really dont know to much about it to make an accurate judgement of it.  From what I have learned so far it does sound pretty interesting though. I am a fan of horror movies so I feel that the reading we will be doing throughout this semester will have some of the same characteristics that I enjoy in movies.
         I am really excited to get this year going and look forward to learning about a topic that is unfamiliar to me as well as very intriguing!