ENG 3407, Gothic Lit, Fall 2019

Connect- Blog Post 2 Afeisha Parris

When shelly writes How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

In the “uncanny” Freud suggests the idea of arousing horror and fear yet familiarizing all aspects of the known. When presented with the familiar we should not show fear. In other words experiences, faces, places or things we’ve seen before will likely draw minimal reaction or emotions because they are known to us. This monster Frankenstein had created bore familiar features of a human but still presented a contributing horror. The projection of self has been overcome by fear. There’s unfounding horror is the human like features of the creature vs the unknown. Frankenstein is a scientist, a logical thinker he knows the structure and make up of human body. Yet the monster Frankenstein created looked like him but still wasn’t him and that frightened him, this projection of self had been overcome by fear. Such facial and structural details was so overwhelming he began to question himself as to the actual creature he had created. This must be a fragment of his imagination. Obviously Frankenstein knows what he’s created he will soon come to the realization of his creation.

Announcements, Sept 10

Thanks for engaging in today’s class and pushing past our “uncanny” experience of a malfunctioning computer…!

Here’s a recap of tasks for Thursday:

–Read + annotate “Fall of the House of Usher.” Even if you’re not writing a critical response, read the prompts (hover over “Critical Response Prompts”) before you start reading Poe’s story.

-Bring one important fact about American history 1800-1839. It could be a key battle, the passing of a law, an acquisition of a state, a politician coming to power, etc.

-Blog group 3 members write a 250 word response to one of the prompts by Thursday at 11 am.

–Blog group 1 members have comments on this week’s responses due Friday at 5 (2 comments minimum)

Finally, I decided not to count today’s quiz! Hopefully now you have a sense of the format for next time.

Create – Blog Post 2 Freddie Feria

Felix’s encounter with the monster

As I came back home from my walk with Safie and Agartha. I was shocked by hearing my father scream out. “Great God!” I hear from inside the cottage. I quickly hurried with swiftness to take care of what could have possibly been an emergency to take care of my blind father. I burst through the door to see this huge and disgusting monster grab my father’s arm. In pure horror, I can’t believe my eyes seeing this creature and how it looks. I turn to see that Safie has gone and Agartha also tremble to see this creature. As quickly as I had to make my move and try to save my father. I grabbed whatever I had and quickly attacked this beast before my father would get injured. I tackled this great monster to the ground with force and started to beat him with a stick. I looked at him with a fury of protecting my family. He didn’t look normal to me, he had weird features that I’ve never seen. But I continued to attack this monster before I realized my attacks looked like it didn’t affect him but until he left the cottage in fear. My encounter with this beast was the most horrifying experience that I’ve never felt. I try to talk with my father and my sister Agartha to see if both were alright.

So the context of this paragraph is the idea of Felix being a man of the house. He is taking care of his father and his sister. But after coming from a walk with his love Safie and his sister Agartha, he hears his father exclaim out something, he’s quick to his aid and not understanding what’s going on. He acts upon saving his father from an intruder that he isn’t exactly sure what is. He saves his father and sister after he has the monster leave the cottage and to reconcile with his father and sister.

group 2 Fahima Hossain Connect

‘The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created,…I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel.”

This phrase or paragraph can be related to the idea of Freud in the article The “Uncanny”. In his article, he mentions that “uncanny” “the class of terrifying which leads back to something long known to us” as he had created something that probably took him a while to achieve. In other words as far as my understanding he most likely has tried to experiment this creation before which may have been a failure in the past. He clearly states he has been working on this for about two years. To get to this state of goals as any other scientists he has tried and failed to achieve his task. When we think of the definition that Freud has provided we also know that due to the reason of no such encounters in the past, Frankenstein might be afraid of what he is about to experience. He is not impressed with the monster he had created as he had a whole other picture in his head which turned out to be so hideous. Frankenstein created something that looked like death and that was what frightened him. He wanted something that could give him the feeling of life and instead he did the opposite. His mother died and as per his dream he saw that he held the corpse and it had worms which can mean it was decomposing and that can be related to the monster he made as we know he described it as hideous. Obviously Frankenstein knows what happens to a corpse after it’s death and he had to experience the live features of this and it was his creation.

Critical Response Prompts: The Fall Of The House of Usher

Each of the prompts should be answered by at least 1 member of blog group 3: Katie, Tran, Angel, Christina, Fareena.

Please confer amongst yourselves as to who will write which prompt (use the discussion forums). Responses should be at least 250 words and posted by 11 am on Thursday, September 12.

CONNECT. In his essay on the American Gothic, Allan Lloyd-Smith describes some of the “American pressures” that “invited a gothic style.” Connect one of the “pressures” he lists to the narrator’s description of the physical house of Usher. In what sense might the house metaphorize one of the issues that haunted America at that time?

CLUE. The wilderness plays a prominent role in the American imagination. During the first half of the 19th century, America’s westward expansion involved treating nature as a realm that Americans were destined to conquer and tame.

In that context, Roderick Usher offers an intriguing theory about “organic sentience” and the power of nature. Locate a sentence or group of sentences that offers a clue as to the significance of Roderick’s theory. Is he deluded, or does the house actually possess sentience? Either way, what does the depiction of nature say about Poe’s views on whether the wilderness can be mastered?

CREATE. Like Alfonso’s painting in The Castle of Otranto, works of art in “Usher” seem to harbor an uncanny power. From the narrator’s perspective, write a paragraph describing another one of Roderick Usher’s paintings. The subject and style of the painting should be in keeping with what we learn of Usher’s interests, psychology, and medical issues. After the paragraph, include a quote that offers a basis for the details you include in your paragraph.

Connect

I get the sense of loneliness, repentance and betrayal. The scene where Matilda free Theodore and Theodore finds Isabella wondering in the woods and hid her in the cave promising that he would vow to protect her is a sublime scene because you have a dark, cold, wet cave we can see this same setting in Caleb Williams Excerpt that the Cell he was imprisoned in was small, damp no light and beneath the ground. These locations are more macabre than majestic because the settings around both stories are feeling alone or aggravating sense of discouragement. The characters in each story have their own sense of loneliness. Manfred had his own sense of loneliness after his son, Conrad, dies. He then becomes envious of Theodore for taking the throne. Manfred kills his own Daughter by accident and immediately wants to repent and be forgiving but by his past actions. Isabella is the damsel in Distress and is physically alone after she fled from the castle. Matilda has a sense of Isolation because her father wont approve of her to be betroth to Theodore. Theodore is completely isolated after he is put into the tower waiting to be killed until Matilda frees him. “The Castle of Otranto” has a Macabre spectrum because the sites and scenes are terrifying for the characters but they always seem to make the beauty out of it which also makes it majestic.

Announcements, September 3

Thanks for a stimulating discussion today!

Please consult the class schedule for the readings due next week. Post 2-3 annotations of “Frankenstein” to the shared Google doc. Use the Critical Response prompts as a pre-reading guide, and consult the Annotation instructions for further guidance.

Comments on Blog Group 1 are due Friday, 9/6 at 5 pm (2 per student, 20-30 words each)*. As always, comments are due only from everyone who *didn’t* write a blog post this week.

*Information updated. Sorry for confusion!

Critical Response Prompts: Frankenstein Excerpts

Each of the prompts should be answered by at least 1 member of blog group 2. Please confer amongst yourselves as to who will write which prompt (use the discussion forums). Responses should be at least 250 words and posted by 11 am the day of class.

CONNECT: This week, you read Freud’s essay on the Uncanny alongside this excerpt. Focusing on Chapter 5, select 1 passage that invites comparison to Freud’s theorizing about the uncanny as “that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us.” Connect Freud’s theory of the uncanny to Dr. Frankenstein’s narration: how might the chapter illustrate Freud’s thesis?

CLUE: Steven writes that Gothic “represents” the revolutionary ideas + emotions of the 18th century, while also trying to “contain” those ideas + emotions within a “conservative structure” (17). There is thus an ambivalence within Gothic literature towards political radicalism.

Analyze the Monster’s self-education and interaction with cottage-dwellers in ch. 15-16. To what extent does his narration provide a clue as to Shelley’s political intentions? Is the Monster a sympathetic figure for an oppressed underclass? Or are his actions presented as a horrific product of “revolutionary” activity (i.e. Dr. Frankenstein’s experiment)?

CREATE: Stevens writes that the Gothic’s supernatural content provoked controversy. Some experienced it as a positive reawakening of spiritual sensibility; others denounced it as a perversion of Christianity; and still others derided it for encouraging belief in superstition.

Create a paragraph from Felix, Safie’s, or Agatha’s perspective describing their reaction to seeing the Monster. Based on what you know of them, do you think they see him as a demon? Are they moved to call for divine aid? Is there a chance they recognize him as an experiment gone wrong? After your creative paragraph, include 1-2 sentences explaining its content.

Create- Group 1

Frederic’s encounter with the spirit

As I, King Fredrick climbed the stairs to the apartments of Princess Hippolita, in hopes to find my dear sweet Matilda and to gaze upon her once again, my heart pounded with anticipation. I hope that Lady Hippolita would not find me forward, but for what a care might I have? The tyrant, that usurper… has taken the home that is rightfully mine. Yet, in his care I find the most virtuous woman to ever beheld my eyes. I care not what anyone may think of me this hour, I will sway Lady Hippolita to divorce, and make Matilda mine and mine alone. As I pushed the door ajar, I was not amazed to find Lady Hippolita not within sight but this stranger person who of solemnly seeming to be in prayer within. I had wished not to be discovered, so I quickly began to turn away once more and see of whom my mind desires, but the person stood, to my embarrassment of being discovered. I quickly formulated an excuse in my mind “Reverend Father, I sought the Lady Hippolita.” When the person responded, the room and all the air within seemed to stiffen at the sound of his voice. “Hippolita!” replied a hollow voice; “camest thou to this castle to seek Hippolita?” And as he turned it was as if my heart had stopped its beat, all ice within my veins had come to bear its fruit, as my eyes beheld a great horror of a skeleton man wrapped in the hermit’s cowl stood facing me. “Oh death, have you come for me?” my mind thought as my mouth screamed for the protection of the saints, my soul had tried to leave my body indeed

Jeremy Eisner(Group 1)- Clue

The story behind Fredric’s past seemingly represents a negative perspective of royalty and kingdoms as a whole. While Fredric himself, fights for his honnor and his bloodline to have his daughter returned to him, we learn that Isabella’s relevance to Manfred was completely built upon a dark temptation. At the beginning of chapter three, specifically on pages 57-58, we learn that Isabella had guardians that we’re bribed by Manfred in order to get closer to Isabella. He wanted to tempt her into marrying his son, but for more than believing his son was his prodigy and successor. We learn that he knew that Isabella’s father was the true Heir to the throne as he was directly related to Alfonso himself. So he intended to have his son marry her so he may take over the rule of all of Otranto, and by extent, Manfred would have all the power he wanted. Presumably, the author made this fixed wedding as a parallel to how he saw royalty at the time. He must have seen them as one rich family trying to sway those beneath them to do their biding in a quest for everlasting power. From a modern day perspective, his interpretation seems like a cliche of a pure evil villain that wants nothing but power and world domination. Overall, the brief details about the arrangements for Isabella’s wedding to Conrad actually adds a whole new layer to how the author felt about the political ruling at the time of writting the novel.