Beneath the Candlelight: The Gothic Soul of Victorian Prose
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69760/gsrh.0250205012Keywords:
Victorian Gothic, 19th-century literature, supernatural, fin de siècle, BrontëAbstract
The Gothic literature of Victorian England was a labyrinth of candlelit corridors, ghostly apparitions, and psychological dread that reflected the anxieties of a rapidly changing 19th-century society. This article explores the evolution and characteristics of the Gothic genre in Victorian prose, examining how writers from Mary Shelley to Bram Stoker revitalized and transformed Gothic conventions. It discusses major figures of the era – including the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, and others – who infused their narratives with supernatural encounters, haunted spaces, and disturbed minds. Through a literary analysis of key themes such as the supernatural versus rationality, madness and the divided self, decay and degeneration, and repression of secrets and desires, the study illustrates how Victorian Gothic prose mirrored its cultural context. The historical development of the genre is traced from early 19th-century precursors through mid-Victorian domestic and sensation fiction to the fin-de-siècle Gothic revival, highlighting how the genre both upheld and subverted Victorian values. Drawing on twenty scholarly sources, the article situates Victorian Gothic literature within its social and publishing history and demonstrates its lasting impact on English prose.
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