Question

In 3–5 sentences, explain one characteristic of a gothic theme present in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Answer 1

Gothic (goth-IK): a literary style popular during the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. This style usually portrayed fantastic tales dealing with horror, despair, the grotesque and other “dark” subjects. Gothic literature was named for the apparent influence of the dark gothic architecture of the period on the genre. Also, many of these Gothic tales took places in such “gothic” surroundings. Other times, this story of darkness may occur in a more everyday setting, such as the quaint house where the man goes mad from the "beating" of his guilt in Edgar Allan Poe's “The Tell-Tale Heart.” In essence, these stories were romances, largely due to their love of the imaginary over the logical, and were told from many different points of view. This literature gave birth to many other forms, such as suspense, ghost stories, horror, mystery, and also Poe's detective stories. Gothic literature wasn't so different from other genres in form as it was in content and its focus on the "weird" aspects of life. This movement began to slowly open may people's eyes to the possible uses of the supernatural in literature.

Answer 2

Basically asking you to explain a dark theme present in the story.

Answer 3

The recurring transition (man to monster, and back) can be treated as a Gothic theme. A similar reference is drawn out more explicitly in "The Metamorphosis" (deals with turning into a beast and what follows), from an existential point of view the same is also explored, albeit in a heavy handed manner, in "Nausea".

Answer 4

What They Said ^ cx