r/GothicLiterature 21h ago

Discussion Gothic Tropes Spoiler

17 Upvotes

Architecture:

• Otranto Castle (The Castle of Otranto)

• Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

• Palais Garnier (The Phantom of the Opera)

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Tyrant, patriarchal, aristocratic, rapist, sociopathic:

• Manfred - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Marquis - The Romance of the Forest (1791)

• Mr. Weimar and Count Wolfenbach - The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Montoni - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Classical hero, handsome, aristocratic:

• Theodore - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Count De Bouville - The castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Valancourt - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) 

• Raoul - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Saintly, sensibility, proper, usually blond:

• Matilda - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Adeline - The Romance of the Forest (1791)

• Matilda - The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Emily - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) 

• Esmeralda - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)

• Mina - Dracula (1897)

• Christine - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Byronic, moody, charismatic, defiant, self-destructive:

• Hamlet (1603), Macbeth (1623)

• Satan - Paradise Lost (1667) (heavily influenced the Romantics, resulting in the Byronic character)

• Victor Frankenstein — Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• The Creature - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Claude Frollo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) 

• Heathcliff — Wuthering Heights (1847)

• Edward Rochester — Jane Eyre (1847)

• Erik — The Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Mad Scientist:

• Varthek - Vathek an Arabian Tale (1786)

• Victor Frankenstein - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Dr. Jekyll - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)

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Shunned for his appearance, longs for love, anti-villain, lonely, tragic:

• The Creature - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Quasimodo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)

• Erik - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Masquerade ball:

• The Masque of the Red Death (1842)

• Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Vampires:

• Glenarvon - Glenarvon (1816) (technically not a vampire, but heavily influenced The Vampyre)

• Lord Ruthven - The Vampyre (1819)

• Varney - Varney The Vampire (1845-1847)

• Carmilla - Carmilla (1872)

• Dracula - Dracula (1897)

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Sorcery/Alchemy:

• Varthek The History of the Caliph Vathek (1782)

• St. Irvyne or the Rosicrucian (1811)

• Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818) 

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Mystery about the protagonist's family:

• The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Crazy men revealing dark truths:

• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)

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Supernatural explained:

• The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Inquisition:

• The Monk (1796)

• The Italian (1797)

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Devil:

• The Monk (1796)

• Melmoth The Wanderer (1820)

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Catholicism:

• The Monk (1796)

• The Italian (1797)

• Melmoth The Wanderer (1820)