THE RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF FITZ-MARTIN

There many Gothic tropes in this story; A decaying abbey, forced marriage, secret love and identity, ghost, evil men, religious persecution, and the list goes on. All of these thing surround the death and unheard story of Anna.

Anna is part of the story within the story. The story explains how the naive Anna falls in love with a Stranger and marries him. He leaves telling her he will return soon. However, in the mean time Anna's father the Knight has arranged Anna's marriage to a Lord, to help secure the Knight's financial welfare. So of course Anna being married the the Stranger cannot marry the Lord. Her husband returns to tell her to take refuse in the church. After being in the church for sometime, the church insist that she become a nun. After becoming a nun, it is discovered that she is with child, which is punishable by death, if your a nun. Before her death she writes a letter explain the events of her demise and why she haunts the decaying abbey, which is never found until the young Rosaline discovers it.

Anna's letter also allow her to warn Rosaline of the true and evil nature of men. That being good is a curse upon a woman, and that she should never to trust a man. Anna is also able to torture her husband the Stranger, who in a twist of the story is the Baron at the beginning of the story, by haunting the abbey that he now owns until he goes insane. Got to love that revenge.

We know that in the 20th/21st century that evil does not discriminate when it comes to who or what can be evil. You have women (Lizzy Borden, true story), men (Helter Skelter: Charles Manson, true story), children (Fire Starter or Children of the Corn), animals (Cujo) and toys (Chuckie) that are evil. I know these are all from the 20th century but I haven't really seen or read enough horror in the 21st century to evaluate.

The Castle of Ortranto

                        
                         

In the book The Castle of Otranto, the author Horace Walpole, displays many fears that haunted the people of the 17th century Europe. The fear of the continuation of the family, the lack of power of women in a men dominated world, the fear of the supernatural; ghost, unexplainable events and curses, and the fear of the dark. These things were of great concern during this time and things that Walpole draws attention to in his story.

The thing that I felt must strongly about we're the suppression of women. The character Manfred, is the main male in charge, he is determining the lives of three of the women in the story: Hippolita, his wife, Matilda, his daughter, and Isabella, the fiancé of his late son. Due to the loss of his only male heir he believes that he must do something to continue his line. So Manfred comes up with a plan to divorce Hippolita so that he can marry Isabella. Hippolita is so oppressed that when she finally hears about the plan that she is more than willing to submit to the terms. However, Isabella is not willing, escapes from Manfred aggressive grip. Fearing for her virtual she flees into the darkness,not knowing what to expect. Poor Matilda devoid of her fathers affection believes she is destine for the convent, but falls in love with a handsome stranger. Despite Matilda finding true love, her father offer her in a trade to Frederick, Isabella's father, for Isabella. As a woman of the 21st century I find all of this disturbing, so I have to assume that this is a fear that Walpole was trying to shine a light on. During the 17th century.

However, I believe that this same fear is what made this book so popular. Women could live vicariously through Isabella or relate to the pious Matilda or feel sorry for the totally oppressed Hippolita. Isabella tried to take control of her unfortunate situation showing great strength for a woman of this period. Even Matilda showed periods of strength; the release of Theodore and meeting him in the cemetery. This would have been intriguing reading for the time and after reading it myself loved the drama.

Personal Definition of Gothic

What does the word Gothic mean to me? I have always associated it with deep dark emotional thoughts, dark clothing and make-up, and the occult. It's not joyful, colorful, or sunshine and puppies, a least that was my opinion.
However, what I have recently learned, is that there were actually tribes of Gothic people; Vandals, Ostrogoths and the Visigoth.

The Sack of Rome, by Alaric I.

Gothic also refers to a type of architectural design. You may have seen those building with the pointed roofs and the gargoyles sitting on the ledges and rooftops, those building are of Gothic design. However, in contrast to the Goth are the Neo-Classical designs which have a rounded rooftops and columns. Here are two pictures, one of each design.                                                        

The Dexter Mausoleum, at Spring Grove Cemetery and the Union Terminal Museum Center, both
structures are located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Each of these buildings are equally artistically beautiful, yet, the mausoleum has a creepy feel to it. Cincinnati has many Gothic buildings, which I have never truly acknowledged until now.



I was right about it being a sense of style. The dark dramatic make-up and clothing are greatly associated with the Gothic culture. Black is often the basic color but you will also see deep red, purples, blues and grays.

Although some of the people appear to be out on sunny days, their clothes are heavy and dark, not light, bright and colorful which is what makes it Goth. The make-up on both the men and women is very dramatic, not what you would expect to see in the middle of the day.

Goth is also a form of entertainment from music to movies. from haunted houses to literature. I don't know a lot about any of these forms of entertainment, but I do know of some. Bram Stroker's Darcula both a book and a movie. The Vampires Chronicles book produced two movies; Interview with the Vampire and The Queen of the Damned. I know that Stephen King was very popular in the 1990's with his books, often turned movie, but I am not a big fan of Goth or I should say that I never real gave it an opportunity.

Goth is not just one thing, it crosses into many arts and style, it is not right or wrong it simply is. I will admit that there was a time when I would look at certain people, things or ideas and think that is weird, but to each their own.
I will keep you posted as I become more enlighten regarding the literature of Goth.


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