Summary:
How terror is achieved in classic Irish Gothic literature such as Bram Stoker's "Dracula," Robert Maturin's "Bertram," and William Carlton's "Wildgoose Lodge." All three works start with an air of evil foreboding, create terror through obscurity, and the expectation of evil is realized.
Terror is certainly perhaps the most important aspect of any Gothic work, let alone that of the Irish fiction. However, it does appear that the more terrifying a text is, usually, the more obscure it also tends to be. Though in suggesting this, we may also have to question what actually is meant by the term 'obscure', and especially what may be deemed 'obscure' in each text's context. Clearly what may have frightened or terrified readers of the nineteenth-century may no longer have the same effect on modern readers. Similarly, it may also help to understand a little about the cultural and perhaps even political background which shrouds nineteenth-century Irish fiction, however we may reflect on this as we progress.
However, here we shall deal with Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), William Carlton's Wildgoose Lodge and Charles Robert Maturin's Bertram (1816).
What we could say, before we begin to analyse each text for examples of how obscurity creates terror, is that all three of these texts, as they are set in the same century in Ireland, may be deemed intertextual. There are certain themes and motifs that run through all Gothic fiction let alone Irish work. This is not to suggest that each is directly related to the other, simply that there be a 'collective undercurrent' of ideas and imagery passing through this genre of literature, and perhaps to suggest where 'terror' exists in one may be to suggest where it exists in all.
For example, if we were to look briefly at the openings of each text, we can see that each is introduced under the same 'typical' Gothic style. The use of pathetic fallacy is usually employed for maximum effect, for example in Dracula, Stoker opens with Jonathan Harker being driven towards Dracula's castle amidst 'ghost-like clouds' and later 'dark rolling clouds overhead, and...the heavy, oppressive sense of thunder' . This, mixed with the circling park of wolves adds to the anticipation of what is to come.
Similarly, Wildgoose Lodge begins in matching vein. The narrator is summoned to a secret meeting at midnight but feels 'a sense of approaching evil hang heavily upon me' . Mixed again with how 'the appearance of the heavens was lowering and angry', we, as readers, can foretell the sense of foreboding that is to come.
Maturin's Gothic play, Bertram also begins with the typical 'Gothic scenery' set in a convent at night with lightening flashing through the windows.
So, in a sense, obscurity can be seen from the opening of all three texts. The surreal introductions, aided by pathetic fallacy, almost predicts the terror that is to follow.
Moving on, what may be deemed 'obscure' is perhaps what is portrayed as different, or simple outside the ordinary at any given time. For example, critic Edmund Burke also stated that:
"The passion caused by the great and sublime in nature . . . is Astonishment; and astonishment is that state of the soul, in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror. In this case the mind is so entirely filled with its object, that it cannot entertain any other."
In reference to this quote, we may now consider how terror is actually created by both the authors and the playwright concerned. This 'astonishment' that writers of Gothic texts subject their audiences or readers to is achieved in different ways. First of all, there may be the more obvious examples of horror depicted throughout all texts, which are more ample in Stoker's Dracula, for example. However, as Burke seems to suggest, it is not just the graphic depiction of some of these scenes that shock an audience, but an innate sense of uneasiness left by any underlying message that may relate directly to the context in which the writer writes. This will become more apparent as we progress.
Beginning with Carlton's Wildgoose Lodge, there are certainly numerous scenes throughout the text in which terror is created through obscurity. Relating to what was previously discussed, the tone is set from the very beginning with the anticipation of the narrator surrounding the secret meeting. However, once he finally decides to brave the storm, withstanding the 'death-like lustre' of the evening, he comes to the parish chapel. What may be deemed frightening here is the fact that the chapel, a symbol of peace and repose, is portrayed in such a demonic fashion. Certainly, the narrator later contrasts how the whole night resembles a church sermon. This mixed with the Captain's 'satanic expression' and how he acts 'with the triumph of some hellish determination' under what we assume is mostly darkness, a trait in Gothic prose, may have created a huge sense of uneasiness, perhaps due to Ireland's strong influence under Catholicism at the time.
As the story progresses though, the imagery becomes more obscure to the point of surreal. For example the supernatural aspects of the sudden laugh ringing 'wildly from the darkness of the chapel' and later the inexplicable event of the candle being blown out, which the narrator convinces himself was the work of pigeons.
This expectation of evil finally comes to a climax when the gang burns the house of the devoted man, aided by Carlton's gripping use of narration. Beginning with the retrospective line, 'Merciful Heaven! How I sicken at the recollection of what is to follow!', we are told of how 'hell itself could hardly present anything more satanic' . Here the tone somewhat shifts as terror now becomes portrayed through graphic violence, for example they call 'No quarter - no mercy,' before viciously stabbing the helpless inhabitants of the house as they try to escape the flames. Similarly, the devoted man is forced to watch on as his child, perhaps representing the degradation of innocence, turns to 'coal' before his eyes.
Although Wildgoose Lodge certainly has its own elements of obscurity throughout the text, it may actually be Carlton's message behind the work, the unwritten text, which may prove most terrifying. Firstly, we are left with images of the decay of religion, represented through the parish chapel and how the Captain is continually cast in the same, though more sinister, light as a priest. This, aided with how the members of the gang are fed whiskey before they commit their deeds, may perhaps be an example of an extended metaphor for how Catholicism, and religion in general, use naïve worshippers' blind faith to carry out it's own work.
Secondly, Carlton tells us how the Captain became almost like a saviour: 'God be good to the sowl of my poor martyr' . Again, this may represent how Carlton, along with others, disagree with how criminals of this nature where perhaps received by the society in which they lived. It seems that no matter how drastic the crime, forgiveness would always be shown by some - perhaps another criticism Carlton has of Christianity.
Moving on, we can now show how obscurity is directly linked with the manifestation of terror in Bram Stoker's Dracula. What may be most significant in understanding the effect that Dracula had over it's readers is that fact that it was written towards the end of the Victorian era in England. While England becomes the scene in which most of the novel is set, it may prove necessary to understand that the Victorian's were renowned for there strict views on many topics, with the two most important being that of sex and religion. Although, due to the previous release of Charles Darwin's The Origin of the Species, the day's society also had a keen, if not fearful, interest in life and death and how Darwin's work may have upset a delicate balance, thus even questioning the very existence of God. This is later alluded to in the text when the character of Van Helsing tells of the 'fascination of the wanton Un-dead'
Thus, Stoker's work involves the vampire, Dracula, who is somewhat the embodiment of these fears, or in other words, his whole character is so removed and so obscure from the society in which Dracula was written that it becomes terrifying. Though he is neither dead nor alive, but 'undead' and has an innate fear of Christianity, as we discover.
Literary Critic, Michael Foucalt comments on the sexual issue in Victorian England, saying that 'Sex in erection is the image of man in revolt against God . If so, then the sexual episodes in Dracula would prove quite horrific for readers at the time who felt that it was a subject that should be suppressed. Certainly, Jonathan Harker seems to feel the same way in that his opinion varies on the lust of the sisters in the basement of the castle. For example on his first encounter with them he mentions he feels 'the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the supersensitive skin of my throat' and how he anticipated the 'languorous ecstacy and waited - waited with beating heart' . While here he seems to give in to his temptation, an idea that a Victorian audience would have publicly thought terrible, he later deems them 'devils of the Pit' in comparison to Mina - his esteemed image of virtue. This image is held in contrast again to the sisters during the episode where they capture a child in a bag. The impression that they will devour the infant may show terror due to the death of innocence and disruption of purity.
There are also numerous animal references in Stoker's novel, many of which remain totally unexplained and ambiguous, which simply adds to the Gothic terror throughout the text. We first notice this at the beginning when the wolves surround Harker on his way to the castle. However the idea that they are simply normal expires when we notice the Count's relationship with them. He calls them his 'children of the night' and later uses them as a means to persuade Jonathan to stay longer in the castle.
This relationship between man and beast is again manifested in the Count's own character and his anthropomorphism littered about the book. For example how 'there were hairs in the centre of his palm' and the nausea his breath causes Jonathan . Again, this is later brought to our attention in quite a dramatic way when Harker, imprisoned at night in his room, sees the Count scale the walls of the castle 'just as a lizard' .
The final text we shall examine for how obscurity leads to terror is Maturin's Bertram. Although, as Maturin was a Reverend and uses a lot of religious connotations throughout the play, for purposes of this essay, let us only examine dialogue and imagery that express the typical Gothic traits in terms of obscurity and terror. Held in great esteem, Maturin 'excels in depicturing the dark, the terrible, the mysterious' in that Bertram holds all the traits of a typical Gothic play. Athough years before it Dracula was written, Maturin's play contains some unusual comparisons in that it too questions matters of life and death, but using the lovers Imogine and Bertram. For example, we are repeatedly reminded of how dead and empty the lovers feel since they have been separated, for example:
'That lovers love so well - strange joy is thine.....
The loved, the lost, the distant and the dead,
Are with me now, I will mingle with them'
Here, and throughout the play, Imogine expresses her longing for her lost love. The idea that 'youth and happiness are gone from her' and later how she asks her husband, Aldobrand, to stab her shows the depths of her depression. The language, as we have seen, is constantly reflected in the props and background of the play which can only heighten the audiences' apprehension.
When Bertram's finds out which island his ship has been wrecked on we are again given a sense of tension which builds to the climax of the play with the death of Imogine and Aldobrand. He seems only too aware of the actions he will later commit when he says to the Prior
'Plunge me into the waves from which ye snatched me' .
Bertram is continually portrayed as quite an ominous character in that we are never fully aware of his actions and motivations. 'I was a man, I know not what I am' he explains, while later proclaiming 'The wretched have no country' . It seems that having lost his love to his fated enemy, Aldobrand, Bertram has lost his own identity and become almost mechanical. Certainly, his earlier name of 'Stranger' would suggest his loneliness at sea having been banished.
The tragedy of the play though, is that while both Imogine and Bertram are deeply in love, they know that they can never be together. Though both seemingly lifeless apart, the play turns drastically into madness as both lovers obscurely think it best if they kill each other. It is Imogine who first says
'There is no human heart can bide this conflict
All dark and terrible - Bertram must die' .
On conclusion, in all three of the texts, there are certain elements that seem totally obscure in that they may represent views the writer outside the norm, for example religion, nation or sexual relations. These obscurities are heightened by the typical Gothic themes of darkness and ambiguity. Similarly, the subliminal text running concurrent with the often graphic scenes of horror and even violence show that obscurity, in the context of each text, often leads to terror.
Adorno, Theodor. On Lyric Poetry and Society, pg 115 from Modern Literary Theory.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula, pg 15.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 1.
Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 2.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 6.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 7.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 5.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 10.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 12.
Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge, pg 14.
Stoker, Bram, Dracula, pg 393.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula, pg xviii.
Skoker, Bram. Dracula, pg 45-46.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula, pg 61.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula, pg 25.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula, pg 25.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula, pg 41.
The Theatrical Inquisitor 1816, pg 375.
Robert Charles, Maturin. Bertram, Act II, scene iii.
Robert Charles, Maturin. Bertram, Act I, scene v.
Robert Charles, Maturin. Bertram, Act I, scene iii.
Robert Charles, Maturin. Bertram, Act II, scene i.
Robert Charles, Maturin. Bertram, Act II, scene iii.
Robert Charles, Maturin. Bertram Act IV, scene i.
Primary Bibliography
- Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Ed Maurice Hindle (Penguin Classics - Penguin Books 2005)
I used my own copy of this book.
- Maturin, Charles Robert. Bertram or The Castle of St Aldobrand; a Tragedy in Five Acts. Fifth Edition (London 1816)
Obtained and read at University Library, Special Collection: x PR4987.M7/BERT Spec Coll.
- Carlton, William. Wildgoose Lodge.
Read from an offprint from Queens online.
Secondary Bibliography
- Van Leeuwen, Steven H. Bartleby.com, Inc. Website http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/202.html. Consulted 23/3/06.
- Extracts from Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful.
- Part 3, chapter 2 : Terror (http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/202.html)
- Part 3, chapter 4 : Of the Difference Between Clearness and Obscurity with Regard to the Passions (http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/204.html)
- Part 3, chapter 11 : How Far the Idea of Beauty May be Applied to Virtue (http://www.bartleby.com/24/2/311.html)
- Rice, Philip and Patricia Waugh, eds. Modern Literary Theory: A Reader. (Hodder Arnold, 2001)
- The Theatrical Inquisitor 1816, pages 375-377.
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