Midterm Flashcards

1
Q

Romanticism (5)

A

1) 18th Century
2) Return to emotions
3) Interest in altered states
4) Romanicization of Medieval period in the gothic
5) Beyond reason

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2
Q

The Sublime

A

Makes pain delightful by introducing elements of distance

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3
Q

How does the sublime work in the Gothic?

A

Pain is fictitious, making it not unethical to derive pleasure from it

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4
Q

The Uncanny (2)

A
  • Something being strangely familiar rather than simply mysterious
  • Occurs when an everyday object/event is experienced in an unsettling way
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5
Q

Characters in the Castle of Otranto (7)

A

1) Manfred - Duke of Otranto
2) Hippolita - his wife
3) Matilda - his daughter
4) Conrad - his sickly son
5) Isabella - Conrad’s fiance
6) Frederic - her father
7) Theodore - young peasant, true ruler

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6
Q

What are the major themes of the Castle of Otranto? (3)

A

The Return of the Repressed

  • restoration of “just” order
  • which Manfred is guilty of resisting
  • tainted justice (both the innocent and the guilty suffer)

The Gothic Hero

  • Manfred is dark, troubled, and conflicted
  • not evil, just out of options
  • why does he cling to his power?

Horror

  • a result of the uncanny
  • fragmented ghostly body/helmet
  • reanimated statue and painting
  • sexual violence and incest
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7
Q

Characters in Vincent (3)

A

1) Vincent Malloy
2) Abercrombie (dog)
3) Aunt

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8
Q

Themes in Vincent

A

1) The uncanny - zombie dog
2) Return to emotions (deprived of the women he loves)
3) Intrest in altered states (delusions)

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9
Q

Characters in The Witch (7)

A

1) Thomasin
2) William - father
3) Katherine - mother
4) Caleb - son
5) Mercy and Jonas - twins
6) Samuel - killed son
7) Black Philip - goat/Satan

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10
Q

Themes in The Witch (3)

A

Witches

  • feminist or subversive symbol
  • always old, ugly and resentful of younger women
  • abandonment of reason
  • women are dangerous, if they are not controlled they will renounce all aspects of femininity

New England Gothic

  • violence against women
  • concerned with secrets of the past
  • utopianism and its discontents

God and Puritan Theology

  • everyone deserves to go to hell unless chosen by God
  • if the devil is real, God must be too (God is absent in the film)
  • a united Puritan family with a loving father instead of a dismissive patriarch
  • Thomasin strays from her family and joins a coven
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11
Q

Characters in Olalla (4)

A

1) Scottish soldier
2) the mother
3) Felipe - son
4) Olalla - daughter

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12
Q

Themes in Olalla (3)

A

Vampirism as Biology

  • human decay and degeneration
  • Olalla is aware that she is just a bump in her family’s decline
  • biological rather than supernatural

Repetition

  • constant repetition of traits eventually produces a fatal flaw
  • Olalla’s love of the soldier may be a repetition of her family’s past

Gothic Pastiche

  • dramatic setting (crumbling home)
  • Catholic background (crucifix, doesn’t fear religion)
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13
Q

Characters in Carmilla (6)

A

1) Laura
2) Laura’s father
3) Bertha - killed by Carmilla
4) the General - friend of Laura’s father, Bertha’s uncle
5) Doctor Hesselius - the authenticator
6) Carmilla

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14
Q

Themes of Carmilla (3)

A

Carmilla: Female Vampire

  • comes across as gentle and loving
  • enters Laura’s life twice
  • does she do this by her own will?

Laura: Innocence

  • hopeless confusion toward her relationship with Carmilla
  • her life pre-Carmilla is an idealization of a young Victorian girl’s life
  • Carmilla is a mental and physical danger to Laura

Female Desire and Sexuality

  • vampirism as eroticism
  • mostly about women, men are secondary characters
  • Carmilla is a seductress and sexually emancipated
  • an example of a Freudian hysterical narrative
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15
Q

Characters in Frankenstein (4)

A

1) Victor Frankenstein
2) The monster
3) Robert Walton
4) the De Laceys

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16
Q

Themes of Frankenstein (5)

A

The Limits of Ethics and Science

  • Frankenstein’s intentions are pure: to cure death
  • studies life in order to understand death

The Status of Humans in the Natural World

  • what is the monster’s life form?
  • if he is physically and mentally stronger than humans, what does that mean for us?
  • the struggle to find a sense of identity

Parenthood

  • Frankenstein abandons the monster out of an irrational fear
  • sense of guilt, plays victim
  • an unnatural parent, God-like figure

Nature vs Nurture
- what caused the monster’s behaviour?

Otherness

  • the monster is impossible to rationalize/comprehend (the uncanny)
  • never will be accepted into society
17
Q

5 step analysis

A

Look for

1) Repeated words/phrases
2) Semantic clusters
3) Contrasts (implicit or explicit)
4) Anomalies
5) Pick one that is the most significant and write about it