Gothic Readings
The First Wave, 1764-1840
Published on 1. May 2000
Book
Paperback/Softback
388 pages
978-0-7185-0217-1 (ISBN)
Description
Gothic Readings: The First Wave, 1764-1840 is an anthology of Gothic literature, set within the context of contemporary criticism and readers' responses. It includes selections from the major practitioners - indcluding Horace Walpole, William Beckford, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew Gregory Lewis, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Godwin, Mary Shelley, Charles Robert Maturin and Edgar Allan Poe - and many of their followers, as well as contemporary reviews, private letters and diaries, chapbooks, and anecdotes about dramatic performaces and the design of theatre sets. The volume provides representative samples of the major genres: historical Gothic, the Radcliffe school of terror, the Lewis school of horror, tragic melodrama, comic parody, supernatural poetry and ballads, book reviews and literary criticism and anti-Gothic polemic. Also covered are the major Gothic issues such as the aesthetics of the sublime, religionn and the supernatural and the influence of ancient Romance, 'hobgoblin machinery' (including vampires, spectres, orphans, the Inquisition, banditti, nuns, storms and ruined castles), and social and political themes.A general introduction reviews the major approaches to Gothic literature, and short introductions place individual selections in context.
All the texts are based on first editions. The collection is suitable as a textbook for courses on the Gothic novel or on Romantic literature and will appeal to all Gothic enthusiasts. Rictor Norton is the author of Mistress of Udolpho: The Life of Ann Radcliffe.
All the texts are based on first editions. The collection is suitable as a textbook for courses on the Gothic novel or on Romantic literature and will appeal to all Gothic enthusiasts. Rictor Norton is the author of Mistress of Udolpho: The Life of Ann Radcliffe.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
12 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
588 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7185-0217-1 (9780718502171)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Rictor Norton
Content
Part 1 Historical gothic: the castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole; Sir Bertrand, John Aikin; the old English Baron, Clara Reeve; the recess, Sophia Lee; Vathek, William Beckford. Part 2 Radcliffe and the school of terror: Velina de Guidova, Mary Ann Radcliffe; the castle of Wolfenbach, Eliza Parsons; the mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe; Camilla, Fanny Burney; the fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe. Part 3 Lewis and the school of horror: Caleb Williams, William Godwin; Frankenstein, Mary Shelley; the vampyre, John Polodori; Melmoth the wanderer, Charles Robert Maturin; the adventure of the German student, Washington Irving. Part 4 Drama: the mysterious mother, Horace Walpole; Fontainville forest, James Boaden; Bertram, Charles Robert Maturin; on German drama, Samuel Taylor Coleridge; the vampire, James Robinson Planche; the minstrel, James Beattie; written on the seashore, Charlotte Smith; Alonzo the brave and fair Imogine, M.G. Lewis; song and ballad, Percy Bysshe Shelley; Eugene, Anna Maria Porter. Part 5 Parody: Azemia, William Beckford; Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen; the heroine, Eaton Stannard Barrett. Part 6 Criticism: on the pleasures derived from ... terror, Al Aikin; review of Radcliffe's "Mysteries of Udolpho", Ann Radcliffe; review of Maturin's "Fatal Revenge", Sir Walter Scott; monk Lewis and his coterie, David Macbeth Moir; readers' responses; late 18th century; early 19th century.