8. Gothic Literature Today [Interview]

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this final module, Elly answers a few questions about what she thinks the legacy of Gothic literature is today: 'What is the impact of Gothic literature on today's literary and visual culture?', 'Why has Gothic proved so popular with young adult fiction in particular?', 'Why does Gothic-inspired literature like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre remain so popular today?'

Course

For many, the genre of gothic horror is epitomised by the novels Frankenstein and Dracula. In this course, we explore the origins of the genre through lesser-known, but no less influential works, the Castle of Otranto (1764) and The Monk (1796): the former is generally regarded as the first gothic novel, and the latter (which was described by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as “the offspring of no common genius”) one of the most important gothic novels of its time - decades before Frankenstein, and over a century before Dracula.

Lecturer

Elly is a second-year DPhil student at the University of York. While her thesis is on the reception of Arthurian legend in children's literature, she is au fait with all Victorian literature. In her spare time, she writes a food blog called 'Nutmegs, seven'