Authenticity of the Gothic Genre Madeline BUrleson College

The most appealing aspect of the Gothic genre is its ability to scare the reader, without actually having a physical or harmful affect on her. However, in order to inflict terror upon the reader, the author must create realistic settings, characters, and plots. The Castle of Otranto and The Italian are two Gothic novels that attempt to terrifying the reader, although in different ways. Yet both authors offer unique prefaces that bring the reader into the story, by making the novel realistic. In The Castle of Otranto, the book has an opening title page that would make the story much older than it actually is, and translated several times. This allows the reader to question the novels authenticity, and one may ask if it is really a true story, heightening one’s levels of fear. The Italian, begins with a different approach however as Ann Radcliffe incorporates a frame narrative in a more modern time. This scene is much more relatable and realistic to the reader, which once again causes the reader to question whether the novel is authentic and the probability of whether it could occur in real life. Radcliffe’s approach generates a similar feeling in the reader, to Walpole’s preface. By incorporating a preface or frame narrative at...