...overwrought emotion. The way the author narrate the feeling may be highly sentimental. Characters are often overcome by anger, sorrow, and terror. Crying and emotional speeches are frequent. Ex: In The Mysteries of Udolpho, Emily's reaction to the object concealed behind the mysterious black veil - arguably the most potent mystery at Udolpho - is a vivid portrayal of the heroine's sensibilities. Overcome by the 'horror' of what she had seen, she drops "senseless on the floor" (2, 6, p.249). Emily faints many times throughout the narrative, a typical trait of sentimental heroines when they are overwhelmed with emotion. 7. Women in distress. As an appeal to the sympathy of the reader, a lonely and oppressed heroine often becomes a central figure. Ex: Annabelle Lee in Edgar Allan Poe Main heroine in Dracula 8. Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male. Ex: Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Heathcilff is a mysterious figure who destroys the beautiful woman he pursues. Gothic fiction continues to attract new readers. Each generation reconstruct the gothic in its own image. A perfect example would be Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. She modernized the vampire myth to appeal to contemporary teenagers. Another example would be from Harry Potter. Hogwarts represents a gothic castle with its secret chambers and the swarming ghosts. Gothic fiction is still popular in contemporary times simply because its elements appeal intellectually People have this curiosity to things...
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...is and was portrayed in a number of ways. In the early days when they were just folklore, vampires were blood sucking predators and feared pale stalkers. In Vampire God: the Allure of the Dead in the Western Culture (2009), discussing the popularity of vampires in society, Mary Y. Hallab says that the folklore vampire is constantly compared to the other supernatural beings like witches and werewolf’s, and today’s concept is also a confused being, a zombie? A lover? Hallab states that “vampires are only those figures—folkloric, mythical, or literary—who are dead humans who are still capable of behaving as though they are alive.” Today, vampires have become a culture of their own, and are a huge part of mainstream pop culture. The Twilight Cullen’s and Sesame Street’s Count Dracula have a whole new appeal on adults and children. The appeal is not always good. According to Vampire Gothic, which is about vampire gothic cultures in United States, Teresa A. Goddu discusses a teenage vampire clan that was discovered in Murray, Kentucky, that was found participating in role-playing games such as drinking each other’s blood and killing puppies. Goddu explains that it’s the raw supernatural aspect of vampires that drew the teenager’s attention. We will discuss the gothic culture and how it relates to vampires later on in the paper. Looking back, no matter how these creatures are portrayed they have proven to be remarkably adaptable...
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