“Back to School” doesn’t look quite the same this year. Whether you’re attending virtually, in person, hybrid, or still waiting on your school administrators to figure that out, things are sure to be rather chaotic as we try to navigate this new reality of educating during a pandemic. I figured I would try to reintroduce a little normalcy to this fall season by bringing back my old tradition of putting together a mini-syllabus of classic Gothic works for the start of the school year. In my initial Back to School Reading List, I highlighted a few Gothic novels you’re most likely to come across in class. I followed that post up with a Short Story Edition, Drama Edition, and Poetry Edition of the reading list. Today, I’m returning to novels to spotlight a few more classics that didn’t make it into the initial post:
1) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, famously inspired by a horror story contest among literary greats at Villa Diodati, is usually one of the first books to come to mind when you hear the phrase “Gothic novel” and is particularly popular to teach in schools. One thing to keep in mind as you go into it, is that Shelley’s original novel is quite different from the many film adaptations that spawned out of it, and you won’t find any green, shuffling, moaning monsters in these pages. The novel follows the story of Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious young scientist whose determination to create life out of death soon turns to fear and guilt as he faces the consequences of his successful experiment. Abandoned, the unnamed creature tries to learn to live among humans but is met only with fear and hatred and eventually turns to violence as his only recourse. Victor and the creature pursue each other across varied landscapes, each seeking justice for the wrongs that the other has done. The novel has an interesting framing device: Victor’s story is bookended by letters written by a sea captain named Robert Walton, who encounters Victor in the Arctic while on a mission to explore the North Pole. The creature’s perspective is also nested within the larger story told mainly from Victor’s point of view. Frankenstein is fairly unique among Gothic novels and is also often considered to be one of the first science fiction novels. There are many different themes and angles from which you can approach your study of this text.
2) Dracula by Bram Stoker
Of course, on any Gothic reading list we can’t skip the most famous vampire story of all. Bram Stoker was far from the first author to fixate on these blood-sucking monsters from myth, but his 1897 novel really cemented the vampire’s place in popular culture. Dracula centers mainly on a young British lawyer named Jonathan Harker, who is hired by the mysterious Count Dracula to assist with his plans to move to London. Upon arriving at Dracula’s estate in Transylvania, Harker learns that the superstitions of the townspeople are true: Dracula and his three brides are blood-sucking fiends! While Harker barely escapes the castle with his life, Dracula makes his way to England where he preys upon Harker’s friends and loved ones. Dracula is an epistolary novel written in the form of letters, diary entries, newspaper articles, and ships’ logs from the perspective of a variety of characters. Like Frankenstein, Stoker’s story has spawned a great many adaptations for both the stage and the screen, as well as inspired other vampire stories that followed. If you want to do a deep dive into the history of the vampire genre, you can’t skip this classic.
3) Wuthering Heights by Emile Brontë
Emilie Brontë is one of the three Brontë sisters who each published novels under male pen names in the year 1847. Emile published Wuthering Heights under the pen name Ellis Bell. Wuthering Heights plays with the tradition of the Gothic Romance, but don’t be led astray by the term “romance” into expecting depictions of healthy loving relationships that end happily ever after. The novel is a tragic tale centering on an orphan named Heathcliff and his ill-fated love for Catherine. Each passionate but flawed, Heathcliff and Catherine hurt each other by denying their love and enter separate unhappy marriages, instead. The next generation then deals with the fallout from their parents’ flaws. All the while after Catherine’s death, Heathcliff is haunted by her ghost (which may very well be a manifestation of his guilt and tormented mind). The story is told from the perspective of an outsider character named Lockwood, who hears most of it from the housekeeper Nelly Dean. Wuthering Heights is so emblematic of high school reading lists, that Edward and Bella read and reference it in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. However, Edward and other teenagers may need to be reminded not to take Heathcliff as a role model or romantic ideal….
4) The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
No American literature curriculum is complete without some Nathaniel Hawthorne. You’ll usually encounter his historical novel The Scarlet Letter or his fantastical short story “Young Goodman Brown” on classroom syllabi, but his most Gothic work, The House of the Seven Gables (1851), is also worth studying. At the center of this novel is the Pyncheon family and their titular ancestral home. Several generations before the events of the story, Colonel Pyncheon had wrongfully seized the land from an accused witch named Matthew Maule, who then cursed the family. The house’s current inhabitants are haunted by the sins of their ancestors, until a young relative from the country, Phoebe Pyncheon arrives to liven up the old estate. Old wrongs are uncovered, deceptions are revealed, and the family curse is finally broken. This story of witchcraft accusations and inherited guilt shows clear parallels to Hawthorne’s own history. His ancestor was one of the judges at the Salem Witch Trials, a sin which haunts many of Hawthorne’s writings.
5) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Lastly, what better way to understand the Gothic than by making fun of it? Northanger Abbey (1817) by Jane Austen is a satirical novel that pokes fun at fans of Gothic literature and the genre’s many tropes. The story’s protagonist is a naïve young woman named Catherine Morland, who imagines herself as the heroine of a Gothic novel. When she visits her friends’ home, Northanger Abbey, she imposes her Gothic worldview onto the estate, dreaming up dark tales of murder and betrayal. However, she ultimately learns that, though she does not live in an exciting world of murderers and ghosts, there is still plenty of danger and deception in her own mundane reality. Northanger Abbey has the same drawing room drama that Austen’s other works, like Pride and Prejudice, are known for, as well as containing a coming-of-age story about learning to separate one’s fantasies from reality, and false friends from true ones.
What are you reading in school this year? Any Gothic works on the syllabus? Let me know in the comments!