Why Twilight is NOT Gothic Literature
Through my escapades of reading the scoop on Twilight (and why most of us hate it, to be more precise), I’ve come across a lot of annoying comments on how Stephenie Meyer is “the next Anne Rice” and how Twilight is “the ideal piece of Gothic Literature for teens”. Most of these claims have been made by the media, of course. Sadly, since the media has a way of getting any average schmuck to blindly follow them with no question at all, most people agree with them that Twilight is, indeed, “gothic”: a safe gothic novel for teens to enjoy everywhere.
Bullshit.
Alas, another misconception of the elements of the Gothic subculture, made by the “all-knowing” media - the same media that insisted that America should be weary of goths after two supposed goths killed and injured several in the Columbine High shootings in 1998. As a goth, I’m getting sick of people not doing their research about anything that contains the word goth/gothic, on what is goth and what is not. I could get into the age old discussion of “what is ‘goth’?” , but it is quite lengthy and complicated, so I’m going to stick to the discussion of why Twilight isn’t gothic.
Well, why isn’t Twilight considered Gothic Literature?
First, you must define “gothic literature”. I suppose most people assume that gothic literature is anything that is spooky with vampires or ghosts in it, which is only a quarter correct. Wikipedia defines “gothic literature” as a genre of literature that combines elements of horror and romance. That definition satisfies enough people, but it’s still a very vague definition and does not contain the entire picture. Gothic literature is rather a combination of other genres of literature, mainly these four principle genres: horror, romance, Dark Romanticism, and supernatural. To get a clearer picture, you must define each of these genres.
What is Horror Fiction?
The simplest definition, horror fiction is a genre of fiction that is suppose to instill a sense of fear, dread, and/or paranoia upon the audience. Since the 1960s, anything that pertained gruesome, morbid, surreal and/or suspenseful details is considered “horror fiction”, yet, the definition is in itself a broad term: certain fantasy books can be considered scary to one person but not to another. Author and critic Douglas Winter said, “Horror is not a genre, like the mystery or science fiction or the western. It is not a kind of fiction, meant to be confined to the ghetto of a special shelf in libraries or bookstores. Horror is an emotion.”
Alas, many self proclaimed horror novelists have succeeded in horrifying their audience at one point of time or another. Good examples of horror authors are Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft.
What is Romance Fiction?
When one thinks of “romance”, they think a Harlequin romance novel: full of true love and hot sex. But when referring to the genre of high culture (mostly pertaining to Medieval and Early Modern Europe), romance or chivalric romance, is a literary genre that is narrated as a fantastic story of the adventures of a chivalrous and heroic character, often a knight. It does indeed often have elements of romantic love in it, but often with ironic, satiric, or burlesque intent. A more refined and pure form of romance would be in the form of “courtly love”, where the white knight is committed to a certain lady, usually an upper class woman such as a princess or aristocratic lady. When his love interest is in trouble, he’ll go and save her. Romance literature can often be the retelling of a legend or fairytale, so it can either be realistic or not.
Famous examples of romance literature from the medieval era are the tales of King Arthur. Other examples are The Lord of the Rings, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and The Faerie Queene.
(It should be briefly noted at this point that most connotations of romantic literature from ca.1800s shifted from fantastic and whimsical elements to more eerie elements (I.e. Gothic Literature)).
What is Dark Romanticism?
This definition is a bit more complex, and you need to know another definition in order to fully understand it. Dark Romanticism is actually a sub-genre of Transcendental literature. Transcendentalism was a group of ideas in literature, religion, culture in philosophy that emerged in New England in the mid-19th century. The movement’s core belief was that the principles of reality should be discovered by the processes of thought, and that the spiritual state was above the empirical and scientific states and could only be realized by one’s own intuition. Basically, transcendentalism believed that one must find the answers to life on their own, rather than being led by science or established religious doctrines or beliefs established by general society. Another goal in life is to reach one’s potential of being a human being, which everybody has the right to. Transcendental literature includes elements of self discovery and optimism towards mankind, nature, and divinity. Some good examples of transcendental writers are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and to a lesser extent, Walt Whitman.
Dark Romanticism took elements of the Transcendental Movement, but on a darker level. Dark Romantic literature took a pessimistic view on mankind, nature, divinity, and the self. It showed how prone man was to sin and corruption; instead of viewing nature as a divine, organic mediator, it viewed it as mysterious and sinister, ready to swallow man into a pit of hell. Mankind is doomed in Dark Romanticism, and one who tries to reform it for the better often fails. Examples of Dark Romantic authors are Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville.
What is Supernatural Fiction?
Supernatural fiction is a term in literature that is often thought of as “broad”, in which it is often described as “fantasy fiction” to give it more meaning, though usually it is incorrect. Supernatural fiction is a genre of literature that uses plot devices or themes that contradict the commonplace of the natural world. When we think “supernatural”, we often think vampires, werewolves, ghosts, psychics, and monsters, which, can be found in fantasy fiction. The only difference is that wherein fantasy fiction, these elements are often the norm in the setting - and are, therefore, considered “natural” - when the elements are placed in supernatural fiction, they are still questioned and a mystery to general society. A good way of describing supernatural fiction is as a “ghost story”: a ghost story can be the telling of a true life experience, but is still looked upon with skepticism both in the story and the audience.
Also, one must note that just because a piece of literature may feature supernatural elements, such as a ghost or a vampire, does not necessarily make it, “horror”. Supernatural fiction can have elements on a horrific or a comical level. A good example would be Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Recap on Gothic Literature
Now that all four of these definitions have been defined, we can now correctly define Gothic Literature.
Gothic Literature is genre of fiction that is a combination of horror, romance, Dark Romanticism, and supernatural literature. The common elements in this genre are as followed: terror, adventure, pessimism, darkness, death, madness, curses, haunting, and the like, along with stock characters such as maniacs, tyrants, Byronic heroes, vampires, witches, exiles and outcasts, werewolves, ghosts, villains, wizards, warlocks, the Wandering Jew, demons, femme fatales, and even the Devil. Though I’m not a literary expert, I will say that in order for a piece of literature to be considered “gothic”, it has to have at least three of the four elements.
So what is an example of Gothic Literature? Here I will give you an example of a classic piece of Gothic Literature and a modern piece of Gothic Literature.
Probably the most famous piece of Gothic Literature is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, written in 1897, which contains all of the criteria of for a Gothic novel. The book’s main antagonist is the infamous Count Dracula, a vampire: a fiend who sucks the blood from the living, turns into mist and wolves, and spreads pestilence and insanity. The main protagonists of the books, mainly Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, and Dr. Van Helsing, are on an quest: to slay the vampire and his evil intentions on humanity. Along the way, they encounter sickness, madness, deception, pain (emotional and physical) and death. To give a list interpretation of the elements present:
Horror: Many of Dracula’s actions were and still are considered terrifying, or in the least bit, creepy. One particular example that sent chills down my spine was when Dracula was seen crawling down his castle wall as if he were a lizard.
Romance: Dracula is told as a epistolary novel, meaning that instead of it being a narrative from a particular point of view, the novel is written from the views of several through diary entries, newspaper clippings, letters, and reports. Each clip has the point of view from a different person, which when put together, is actually a large epic adventure. Like stated above, the adventure in this novel is to slay Count Dracula. Also, many influences of romantic courtly love are present throughout, mainly Jonathan and Mina’s love and devotion to each other. However, the form of romantic love is dark and often doomed.
Dark Romanticism: While on this journey, the characters must deal with many pessimistic aspects: a doomed humanity, loss of loved ones, cursed relationships, and conflicts in the mind (such as maniacs, most notably Renfield). The protagonists’ goal is achieved at the end - but at a price.
Supernatural: VAMPIRES!
Because of these elements, Dracula is often thought of as the archetype of Gothic Literature.
A more modern example of a Gothic novel would be Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, written in 1973. To give a list of the interpretations of the elements present:
Horror: I personally was not frightened or creeped out while reading this novel, with the exception of Louis and Claudia’s run-in with the old world vampire in Eastern Europe. So whether Rice’s intent on horror was successful is up to the reader.
Romance: Though the main characters have no particular quest in life, and are not exactly heroes (rather, anti-heroes, which is appropriate in Gothic Literature) the story follows Louis’s journey in his beginning years as a vampire in the 18th century, from his plantation life to city life in New Orleans, to his journey across Europe, and is being told in the 20th century as an interview. So, it is in some way epic.
Dark Romanticism: Dark Romanticism plays a crucial role in this novel. Interview with the Vampire is ground breaking in which the story is told from the vampire’s point of view as opposed to the vampire slayer’s. From this point of view, we see that there is a lot more to being a vampire than what mortals are led to think. Louis, the title character, is plagued with an existential crisis, even before he is turned. He questions his belief in God and the afterlife throughout the novel, as a being who will “live to see the world end”. He is also in turmoil for having to kill in order to live. All in all, there are pessimistic views on life and the self in general.
Supernatural: Like with Dracula, vampires!
With me, the scale of “Gothic” in Interview with the Vampire is 3 out of 4. To some others, it might be 4 out of 4. Either way, to say the least, Interview with the Vampire is considered Gothic Literature.
So, is Twilight considered Gothic Literature?
Well, let’s break it down. To give a list of the interpretations of the elements present:
Horror: With all the rest, we must look at the definition of horror as the intent and the emotion. Stephenie Meyer proclaimed the Twilight Series as being a “suspense romance horror comedy” but a “romance over anything else.” Let’s focus on the “horror” part. Now, Stephenie Meyer intended the book to be a horror, meaning that she intended us to feel suspense, fear or paranoia while reading the books. I don’t know about you, but not once did I ever feel scared, suspenseful or paranoid while reading Twilight. I don’t think anyone did (well, maybe a few of us had a sense of paranoia while walking down the street, a sense of being stalked; and quite a few of us felt appalled and grossed out in the events of Breaking Dawn, so I‘ll give Meyer that). So the intent of being a horror book failed in most cases. How about the feeling of horror? Well, that depends. Do you feel scared at the idea of vegetarian, sparkly vampires? Remember, this is coming from an author who claims to have never read, watched, or liked anything horror related (albeit, she has stated that she read some of Anne Rice). That said, most horror authors have a muse or inspiration of some sort, whether from another literary work or personal experience. Bram Stoker got his inspiration from the legends of Elizabeth Bathory (a.k.a. the Blood Countess), Vlad the Impaler, and a real life “vampire” account from New England during the time he wrote Dracula. Stephen King drew influence from H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker. Stephenie Meyer, however, drew no influences from any horror or suspense novel, including Anne Rice. However, she did say that she inspired to write the book from a dream - which was in no way a nightmare.
Romance: Meyer also stated that the Twilight Series (though, it is officially called the Twilight Saga, which I will bring up later) is a romance above all else. From what I can tell, Meyer did not intend Twilight to be related to the genre of romance from the medieval era, a narrative of heroic adventures with romantic/courtly love (and in turn does not have the genre’s eerie influence of the 19th century). She more likely interpreted the romance to be of a more modern usage, as in a “romance novel”, where the focus of the story is on the romantic love of a couple and has to have a “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending”. The latter definition seems to hit Twilight spot on. Could Twilight be considered the original romance genre? As we know, Twilight is centered around the romance between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, rather than an adventure or epic life story. Already, Twilight does not fit the criteria of the romance genre of high culture. Twilight also, does not focus on any particular quest, a prime goal in the series. Rather, it just follows the tale of a teenager and her love for a boy (whether or not he is considered a hero is up to the reader to decide), and the problems that they encounter every so often. There is no overall goal present throughout the entire series. Therefore, Twilight is not the genre of romance that pertains to Gothic Literature.
Some may argue that the Twilight “Saga” is a story on epic proportion, which couldn’t be more wrong. First, you must define what a “saga” is. One definition of a saga are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history which are epic tales in prose, often written in an old Norse language. Already, Twilight is not a saga for the obvious reasons (to make it fair, a lot of modern book series that are deemed a “saga” but lack epic prose or origins in ancient Scandinavian/Germanic history are incorrect). However, there is a more modern definition of the word “saga”, taken from Dictionary.com: A saga, or saga novel, is “a form of novel in which the members of or generations of a family or social group are chronicled in a long and leisurely narrative.” Yes, there is a family present in the Twilight Series. Are they chronicled from generation to generation? No. Is there story chronicled in the form of a long and leisurely narrative? No. In conclusion, the Twilight Series is neither a romance genre of high culture or a saga.
Dark Romanticism: To make a discussion that could become more complicated than it needs to be, I will just say that Twilight was not written for the audience who intends to figure out complex situations of the human psyche or for an audience who wants to deal with the topic of realism. Basically, like many have said before me, the main demographic for the Twilight series are girls from ages 13-18, who think they have problems and that nobody understands them but are too caught up in the blissful ignorance of their relatively stable life - and the Twilight series - in order to acknowledge the events and lessons in the real world. To put it in less offensive terms, Twilight is the type of book written for girls who aren’t ready to see the world as it really is, and want to read a book that is directed toward their demographic, ends in the way that they want their premature life to lead, and requires little to no extensive thinking. So already we know that Twilight doesn’t have Dark Romanticism in it. Maybe some Transcendentalism, but not much Dark Romanticism. In the book, Bella as a more or less positive outlook on her relationship with Edward: she believes that their love is predestined and that they belong together forever. So, there is optimistic intent on the subject of predestined love (which is debatable as being part of the Transcendental movement, since Transcendentalists were against that way of thinking), and what do you know? It happens! Optimism wins over all in the Twilight Series, and comes through towards the end. Now there is debate on whether the struggles to get that optimism is classified as Dark Romanticism. Yes, there is a huge amount of teenaged angst - the best kind of angst - present throughout the series, that serves as a problem to the characters. But it never gets the better of any of the main characters. They all have a happy ending, with no regretful sacrifices or lingering pain or anything like that. Only the bad people die, not the good guys. No one tries to escape a potentially abusive relationship (hint hint): it’s love, remember? Anybody who had their heart broken is okay in the end. Where is the pessimism? Okay, Bella goes into this zombie-like state in New Moon, Sam dumps Leah to imprint on her cousin, and at least three characters have threatened or attempted suicide. Edward has this on-again-off-again stint where he says that Bella isn’t safe around him because he is a dangerous (sparkly), blood-sucking fiend. Sure, the vampires hate werewolves, and the werewolves in turn hate vampires, but none of them hate humans. There is no pessimistic view on humanity (or, at least not enough to make them steer clear of humans). Any angst that the characters feel toward themselves goes away, and none of it lingers. Social reform? Well, just about everybody seems pretty happy with their gender roles. And what about self-discovery? Well, Bella discovered that she wanted to be a vampire within a week of dating Edward, and shows no second thoughts on the consequences or repercussion of such a decision. What does that say? That there is little to no Dark Romanticism present in the Twilight series, let alone Transcendentalism (and to a lesser extent, Romanticism).
Supernatural: This is the only element where I can give no argument, since the Twilight series does in fact focus on supernatural beings, which include vampires with assorted powers and werewolves, in a setting where such supernatural beings are looked upon with skepticism to general society. Yeah, the vampires are probably the most non-vampiric representation of vampires in modern literature (what with the “sparkling in the daylight“ and being “vegetarian”, whatever the hell that means), and the werewolves aren’t “true” werewolves (only shape-shifters that like taking the form of wolves), but nonetheless, these beings contradict the natural world.
That finally being said, is Twilight considered a piece of Gothic Literature?
No way in the seven chambers of hell NO.
Twilight only has one of the four elements of Gothic Literature, the supernatural aspect. In case you skipped through the lengthy explanation, Twilight basically has:
- No intent to horrify the audience or to bring up feelings of fear
- No epic storyline of heroic adventures with a side dish of romantic love
- Little to no pessimistic views on humanity, the self, divinity, or nature
Therefore, Twilight does not complete the criteria for being consider Gothic Literature.
But why do people call Twilight “gothic”?
Well, for starters, like I have stated in the beginning, the people who like using the term “gothic” do so without researching the meaning behind the word.
Sure, gothic vaguely means “dark and gloomy”, but then again, isn’t that what “emo” basically means too? And no: emo and goth are not the same.
Secondly, people assume that just because there are vampire and werewolves present in a book, that means it is “gothic”. As I have also stated above, just because there are vampires present in a book, doesn’t make it gothic, or even horror.
Third, being goth sells. Or rather, impersonating goth sells. As much as mainstream society likes scrutinizing and ostracizing goths and the subculture, the mainstream has to admit that what we have going is pretty damn neat (in their own little pit of shame and self hate). Secretly, they admire how we embrace the side of life that people don’t like to regard, how some of us proudly dress in a neo-nostalgic fashion that others would be embarrassed to wear in public, how we go with or own trends and set rules of life instead of blindly following the crowd. And, black looks good on a lot of us. So, what better way to appreciate this dark movement than to publicize it, and profit off of it!? Remember, society’s definition of goth/gothic is anything with darkness, angst, and vampires in it. Who cares if the definition is accurate or not? It’s good enough to sell some skimpy black and red tank tops and black chain pants to some fifteen year olds who think that their life is full of despair and darkness when they actually live a comfortable middle to high class life. Who cares if the original modern-day goths are becoming alienated from their own subculture? They’re freaks anyway! So what if Twilight has nothing to do with Gothic literature or the gothic subculture in general? It has teen angst and HOT teen vampires in it, so that’s got to be gothic! Let’s make an entire franchise off of Twilight, targeted at teenaged girls who think they live a dark, gloomy life of despair and turmoil but have enough money to buy this shit and show it off to their equally obsessed friends!
Need I use more sarcasm?
You can see why this whole Twilight/Vampire trend is getting on my nerves. Everything with death, vampires, and angst is considered goth, when it is most likely not. People don’t even think “emo” in a lot of cases, they just directly go to goth (no offense emo kids). Seriously, the Twilight series is more emo than gothic. It tells the story of a group of teenaged/teenage-looking people who wallow in their own pubescent angst. That’s not gothic: that’s high school.
To say the least, the Twilight craze is not helping the literary world at all. It’s a disappointment to gothic literary standards and a disgrace vampire-based literature. This disgraces even most well-written fan fiction and works published on Fictionpress.com. Back in the day, parents didn’t want their darling children reading about vampires: it caused them to do horrible, satanic things (just for the record, I’m not saying that vampire books make you want to kill people and drink their blood, but there have been isolated incidents where there have been cults of people who claimed to have been “vampires” and killed people in order to drink their blood). Vampires use to be a cult-following, much like how anime use to be in the West. Now, it’s everywhere, and has lost its meaning.
I weep for literature, the underground subcultures, and humanity as a whole for accepting this book with praise.
Thanks.
P.S. Most goths hate Twilight. For real.
Bullshit.
Alas, another misconception of the elements of the Gothic subculture, made by the “all-knowing” media - the same media that insisted that America should be weary of goths after two supposed goths killed and injured several in the Columbine High shootings in 1998. As a goth, I’m getting sick of people not doing their research about anything that contains the word goth/gothic, on what is goth and what is not. I could get into the age old discussion of “what is ‘goth’?” , but it is quite lengthy and complicated, so I’m going to stick to the discussion of why Twilight isn’t gothic.
Well, why isn’t Twilight considered Gothic Literature?
First, you must define “gothic literature”. I suppose most people assume that gothic literature is anything that is spooky with vampires or ghosts in it, which is only a quarter correct. Wikipedia defines “gothic literature” as a genre of literature that combines elements of horror and romance. That definition satisfies enough people, but it’s still a very vague definition and does not contain the entire picture. Gothic literature is rather a combination of other genres of literature, mainly these four principle genres: horror, romance, Dark Romanticism, and supernatural. To get a clearer picture, you must define each of these genres.
What is Horror Fiction?
The simplest definition, horror fiction is a genre of fiction that is suppose to instill a sense of fear, dread, and/or paranoia upon the audience. Since the 1960s, anything that pertained gruesome, morbid, surreal and/or suspenseful details is considered “horror fiction”, yet, the definition is in itself a broad term: certain fantasy books can be considered scary to one person but not to another. Author and critic Douglas Winter said, “Horror is not a genre, like the mystery or science fiction or the western. It is not a kind of fiction, meant to be confined to the ghetto of a special shelf in libraries or bookstores. Horror is an emotion.”
Alas, many self proclaimed horror novelists have succeeded in horrifying their audience at one point of time or another. Good examples of horror authors are Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft.
What is Romance Fiction?
When one thinks of “romance”, they think a Harlequin romance novel: full of true love and hot sex. But when referring to the genre of high culture (mostly pertaining to Medieval and Early Modern Europe), romance or chivalric romance, is a literary genre that is narrated as a fantastic story of the adventures of a chivalrous and heroic character, often a knight. It does indeed often have elements of romantic love in it, but often with ironic, satiric, or burlesque intent. A more refined and pure form of romance would be in the form of “courtly love”, where the white knight is committed to a certain lady, usually an upper class woman such as a princess or aristocratic lady. When his love interest is in trouble, he’ll go and save her. Romance literature can often be the retelling of a legend or fairytale, so it can either be realistic or not.
Famous examples of romance literature from the medieval era are the tales of King Arthur. Other examples are The Lord of the Rings, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and The Faerie Queene.
(It should be briefly noted at this point that most connotations of romantic literature from ca.1800s shifted from fantastic and whimsical elements to more eerie elements (I.e. Gothic Literature)).
What is Dark Romanticism?
This definition is a bit more complex, and you need to know another definition in order to fully understand it. Dark Romanticism is actually a sub-genre of Transcendental literature. Transcendentalism was a group of ideas in literature, religion, culture in philosophy that emerged in New England in the mid-19th century. The movement’s core belief was that the principles of reality should be discovered by the processes of thought, and that the spiritual state was above the empirical and scientific states and could only be realized by one’s own intuition. Basically, transcendentalism believed that one must find the answers to life on their own, rather than being led by science or established religious doctrines or beliefs established by general society. Another goal in life is to reach one’s potential of being a human being, which everybody has the right to. Transcendental literature includes elements of self discovery and optimism towards mankind, nature, and divinity. Some good examples of transcendental writers are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and to a lesser extent, Walt Whitman.
Dark Romanticism took elements of the Transcendental Movement, but on a darker level. Dark Romantic literature took a pessimistic view on mankind, nature, divinity, and the self. It showed how prone man was to sin and corruption; instead of viewing nature as a divine, organic mediator, it viewed it as mysterious and sinister, ready to swallow man into a pit of hell. Mankind is doomed in Dark Romanticism, and one who tries to reform it for the better often fails. Examples of Dark Romantic authors are Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville.
What is Supernatural Fiction?
Supernatural fiction is a term in literature that is often thought of as “broad”, in which it is often described as “fantasy fiction” to give it more meaning, though usually it is incorrect. Supernatural fiction is a genre of literature that uses plot devices or themes that contradict the commonplace of the natural world. When we think “supernatural”, we often think vampires, werewolves, ghosts, psychics, and monsters, which, can be found in fantasy fiction. The only difference is that wherein fantasy fiction, these elements are often the norm in the setting - and are, therefore, considered “natural” - when the elements are placed in supernatural fiction, they are still questioned and a mystery to general society. A good way of describing supernatural fiction is as a “ghost story”: a ghost story can be the telling of a true life experience, but is still looked upon with skepticism both in the story and the audience.
Also, one must note that just because a piece of literature may feature supernatural elements, such as a ghost or a vampire, does not necessarily make it, “horror”. Supernatural fiction can have elements on a horrific or a comical level. A good example would be Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Recap on Gothic Literature
Now that all four of these definitions have been defined, we can now correctly define Gothic Literature.
Gothic Literature is genre of fiction that is a combination of horror, romance, Dark Romanticism, and supernatural literature. The common elements in this genre are as followed: terror, adventure, pessimism, darkness, death, madness, curses, haunting, and the like, along with stock characters such as maniacs, tyrants, Byronic heroes, vampires, witches, exiles and outcasts, werewolves, ghosts, villains, wizards, warlocks, the Wandering Jew, demons, femme fatales, and even the Devil. Though I’m not a literary expert, I will say that in order for a piece of literature to be considered “gothic”, it has to have at least three of the four elements.
So what is an example of Gothic Literature? Here I will give you an example of a classic piece of Gothic Literature and a modern piece of Gothic Literature.
Probably the most famous piece of Gothic Literature is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, written in 1897, which contains all of the criteria of for a Gothic novel. The book’s main antagonist is the infamous Count Dracula, a vampire: a fiend who sucks the blood from the living, turns into mist and wolves, and spreads pestilence and insanity. The main protagonists of the books, mainly Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, and Dr. Van Helsing, are on an quest: to slay the vampire and his evil intentions on humanity. Along the way, they encounter sickness, madness, deception, pain (emotional and physical) and death. To give a list interpretation of the elements present:
Horror: Many of Dracula’s actions were and still are considered terrifying, or in the least bit, creepy. One particular example that sent chills down my spine was when Dracula was seen crawling down his castle wall as if he were a lizard.
Romance: Dracula is told as a epistolary novel, meaning that instead of it being a narrative from a particular point of view, the novel is written from the views of several through diary entries, newspaper clippings, letters, and reports. Each clip has the point of view from a different person, which when put together, is actually a large epic adventure. Like stated above, the adventure in this novel is to slay Count Dracula. Also, many influences of romantic courtly love are present throughout, mainly Jonathan and Mina’s love and devotion to each other. However, the form of romantic love is dark and often doomed.
Dark Romanticism: While on this journey, the characters must deal with many pessimistic aspects: a doomed humanity, loss of loved ones, cursed relationships, and conflicts in the mind (such as maniacs, most notably Renfield). The protagonists’ goal is achieved at the end - but at a price.
Supernatural: VAMPIRES!
Because of these elements, Dracula is often thought of as the archetype of Gothic Literature.
A more modern example of a Gothic novel would be Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, written in 1973. To give a list of the interpretations of the elements present:
Horror: I personally was not frightened or creeped out while reading this novel, with the exception of Louis and Claudia’s run-in with the old world vampire in Eastern Europe. So whether Rice’s intent on horror was successful is up to the reader.
Romance: Though the main characters have no particular quest in life, and are not exactly heroes (rather, anti-heroes, which is appropriate in Gothic Literature) the story follows Louis’s journey in his beginning years as a vampire in the 18th century, from his plantation life to city life in New Orleans, to his journey across Europe, and is being told in the 20th century as an interview. So, it is in some way epic.
Dark Romanticism: Dark Romanticism plays a crucial role in this novel. Interview with the Vampire is ground breaking in which the story is told from the vampire’s point of view as opposed to the vampire slayer’s. From this point of view, we see that there is a lot more to being a vampire than what mortals are led to think. Louis, the title character, is plagued with an existential crisis, even before he is turned. He questions his belief in God and the afterlife throughout the novel, as a being who will “live to see the world end”. He is also in turmoil for having to kill in order to live. All in all, there are pessimistic views on life and the self in general.
Supernatural: Like with Dracula, vampires!
With me, the scale of “Gothic” in Interview with the Vampire is 3 out of 4. To some others, it might be 4 out of 4. Either way, to say the least, Interview with the Vampire is considered Gothic Literature.
So, is Twilight considered Gothic Literature?
Well, let’s break it down. To give a list of the interpretations of the elements present:
Horror: With all the rest, we must look at the definition of horror as the intent and the emotion. Stephenie Meyer proclaimed the Twilight Series as being a “suspense romance horror comedy” but a “romance over anything else.” Let’s focus on the “horror” part. Now, Stephenie Meyer intended the book to be a horror, meaning that she intended us to feel suspense, fear or paranoia while reading the books. I don’t know about you, but not once did I ever feel scared, suspenseful or paranoid while reading Twilight. I don’t think anyone did (well, maybe a few of us had a sense of paranoia while walking down the street, a sense of being stalked; and quite a few of us felt appalled and grossed out in the events of Breaking Dawn, so I‘ll give Meyer that). So the intent of being a horror book failed in most cases. How about the feeling of horror? Well, that depends. Do you feel scared at the idea of vegetarian, sparkly vampires? Remember, this is coming from an author who claims to have never read, watched, or liked anything horror related (albeit, she has stated that she read some of Anne Rice). That said, most horror authors have a muse or inspiration of some sort, whether from another literary work or personal experience. Bram Stoker got his inspiration from the legends of Elizabeth Bathory (a.k.a. the Blood Countess), Vlad the Impaler, and a real life “vampire” account from New England during the time he wrote Dracula. Stephen King drew influence from H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker. Stephenie Meyer, however, drew no influences from any horror or suspense novel, including Anne Rice. However, she did say that she inspired to write the book from a dream - which was in no way a nightmare.
Romance: Meyer also stated that the Twilight Series (though, it is officially called the Twilight Saga, which I will bring up later) is a romance above all else. From what I can tell, Meyer did not intend Twilight to be related to the genre of romance from the medieval era, a narrative of heroic adventures with romantic/courtly love (and in turn does not have the genre’s eerie influence of the 19th century). She more likely interpreted the romance to be of a more modern usage, as in a “romance novel”, where the focus of the story is on the romantic love of a couple and has to have a “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending”. The latter definition seems to hit Twilight spot on. Could Twilight be considered the original romance genre? As we know, Twilight is centered around the romance between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, rather than an adventure or epic life story. Already, Twilight does not fit the criteria of the romance genre of high culture. Twilight also, does not focus on any particular quest, a prime goal in the series. Rather, it just follows the tale of a teenager and her love for a boy (whether or not he is considered a hero is up to the reader to decide), and the problems that they encounter every so often. There is no overall goal present throughout the entire series. Therefore, Twilight is not the genre of romance that pertains to Gothic Literature.
Some may argue that the Twilight “Saga” is a story on epic proportion, which couldn’t be more wrong. First, you must define what a “saga” is. One definition of a saga are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history which are epic tales in prose, often written in an old Norse language. Already, Twilight is not a saga for the obvious reasons (to make it fair, a lot of modern book series that are deemed a “saga” but lack epic prose or origins in ancient Scandinavian/Germanic history are incorrect). However, there is a more modern definition of the word “saga”, taken from Dictionary.com: A saga, or saga novel, is “a form of novel in which the members of or generations of a family or social group are chronicled in a long and leisurely narrative.” Yes, there is a family present in the Twilight Series. Are they chronicled from generation to generation? No. Is there story chronicled in the form of a long and leisurely narrative? No. In conclusion, the Twilight Series is neither a romance genre of high culture or a saga.
Dark Romanticism: To make a discussion that could become more complicated than it needs to be, I will just say that Twilight was not written for the audience who intends to figure out complex situations of the human psyche or for an audience who wants to deal with the topic of realism. Basically, like many have said before me, the main demographic for the Twilight series are girls from ages 13-18, who think they have problems and that nobody understands them but are too caught up in the blissful ignorance of their relatively stable life - and the Twilight series - in order to acknowledge the events and lessons in the real world. To put it in less offensive terms, Twilight is the type of book written for girls who aren’t ready to see the world as it really is, and want to read a book that is directed toward their demographic, ends in the way that they want their premature life to lead, and requires little to no extensive thinking. So already we know that Twilight doesn’t have Dark Romanticism in it. Maybe some Transcendentalism, but not much Dark Romanticism. In the book, Bella as a more or less positive outlook on her relationship with Edward: she believes that their love is predestined and that they belong together forever. So, there is optimistic intent on the subject of predestined love (which is debatable as being part of the Transcendental movement, since Transcendentalists were against that way of thinking), and what do you know? It happens! Optimism wins over all in the Twilight Series, and comes through towards the end. Now there is debate on whether the struggles to get that optimism is classified as Dark Romanticism. Yes, there is a huge amount of teenaged angst - the best kind of angst - present throughout the series, that serves as a problem to the characters. But it never gets the better of any of the main characters. They all have a happy ending, with no regretful sacrifices or lingering pain or anything like that. Only the bad people die, not the good guys. No one tries to escape a potentially abusive relationship (hint hint): it’s love, remember? Anybody who had their heart broken is okay in the end. Where is the pessimism? Okay, Bella goes into this zombie-like state in New Moon, Sam dumps Leah to imprint on her cousin, and at least three characters have threatened or attempted suicide. Edward has this on-again-off-again stint where he says that Bella isn’t safe around him because he is a dangerous (sparkly), blood-sucking fiend. Sure, the vampires hate werewolves, and the werewolves in turn hate vampires, but none of them hate humans. There is no pessimistic view on humanity (or, at least not enough to make them steer clear of humans). Any angst that the characters feel toward themselves goes away, and none of it lingers. Social reform? Well, just about everybody seems pretty happy with their gender roles. And what about self-discovery? Well, Bella discovered that she wanted to be a vampire within a week of dating Edward, and shows no second thoughts on the consequences or repercussion of such a decision. What does that say? That there is little to no Dark Romanticism present in the Twilight series, let alone Transcendentalism (and to a lesser extent, Romanticism).
Supernatural: This is the only element where I can give no argument, since the Twilight series does in fact focus on supernatural beings, which include vampires with assorted powers and werewolves, in a setting where such supernatural beings are looked upon with skepticism to general society. Yeah, the vampires are probably the most non-vampiric representation of vampires in modern literature (what with the “sparkling in the daylight“ and being “vegetarian”, whatever the hell that means), and the werewolves aren’t “true” werewolves (only shape-shifters that like taking the form of wolves), but nonetheless, these beings contradict the natural world.
That finally being said, is Twilight considered a piece of Gothic Literature?
No way in the seven chambers of hell NO.
Twilight only has one of the four elements of Gothic Literature, the supernatural aspect. In case you skipped through the lengthy explanation, Twilight basically has:
- No intent to horrify the audience or to bring up feelings of fear
- No epic storyline of heroic adventures with a side dish of romantic love
- Little to no pessimistic views on humanity, the self, divinity, or nature
Therefore, Twilight does not complete the criteria for being consider Gothic Literature.
But why do people call Twilight “gothic”?
Well, for starters, like I have stated in the beginning, the people who like using the term “gothic” do so without researching the meaning behind the word.
Sure, gothic vaguely means “dark and gloomy”, but then again, isn’t that what “emo” basically means too? And no: emo and goth are not the same.
Secondly, people assume that just because there are vampire and werewolves present in a book, that means it is “gothic”. As I have also stated above, just because there are vampires present in a book, doesn’t make it gothic, or even horror.
Third, being goth sells. Or rather, impersonating goth sells. As much as mainstream society likes scrutinizing and ostracizing goths and the subculture, the mainstream has to admit that what we have going is pretty damn neat (in their own little pit of shame and self hate). Secretly, they admire how we embrace the side of life that people don’t like to regard, how some of us proudly dress in a neo-nostalgic fashion that others would be embarrassed to wear in public, how we go with or own trends and set rules of life instead of blindly following the crowd. And, black looks good on a lot of us. So, what better way to appreciate this dark movement than to publicize it, and profit off of it!? Remember, society’s definition of goth/gothic is anything with darkness, angst, and vampires in it. Who cares if the definition is accurate or not? It’s good enough to sell some skimpy black and red tank tops and black chain pants to some fifteen year olds who think that their life is full of despair and darkness when they actually live a comfortable middle to high class life. Who cares if the original modern-day goths are becoming alienated from their own subculture? They’re freaks anyway! So what if Twilight has nothing to do with Gothic literature or the gothic subculture in general? It has teen angst and HOT teen vampires in it, so that’s got to be gothic! Let’s make an entire franchise off of Twilight, targeted at teenaged girls who think they live a dark, gloomy life of despair and turmoil but have enough money to buy this shit and show it off to their equally obsessed friends!
Need I use more sarcasm?
You can see why this whole Twilight/Vampire trend is getting on my nerves. Everything with death, vampires, and angst is considered goth, when it is most likely not. People don’t even think “emo” in a lot of cases, they just directly go to goth (no offense emo kids). Seriously, the Twilight series is more emo than gothic. It tells the story of a group of teenaged/teenage-looking people who wallow in their own pubescent angst. That’s not gothic: that’s high school.
To say the least, the Twilight craze is not helping the literary world at all. It’s a disappointment to gothic literary standards and a disgrace vampire-based literature. This disgraces even most well-written fan fiction and works published on Fictionpress.com. Back in the day, parents didn’t want their darling children reading about vampires: it caused them to do horrible, satanic things (just for the record, I’m not saying that vampire books make you want to kill people and drink their blood, but there have been isolated incidents where there have been cults of people who claimed to have been “vampires” and killed people in order to drink their blood). Vampires use to be a cult-following, much like how anime use to be in the West. Now, it’s everywhere, and has lost its meaning.
I weep for literature, the underground subcultures, and humanity as a whole for accepting this book with praise.
Thanks.
P.S. Most goths hate Twilight. For real.