| dc.description.abstract | I denne oppgaven har jeg sammenlignet de gotiske romanene The Romance of the Forest (1791) av Ann Radcliffe og Zofloya (1806) av Charlotte Dacre, og analysert hvordan de portretterer de kulturelle verdiene i opplysningstiden. I denne sammenhengen har jeg sett på hvordan natur og det overnaturlige er skildret i begge romanene. I analysen min har jeg benyttet meg av flere metoder for å se på temaet. Jeg har kombinert historisk metode med sjangerteori med bruk av Williams (2017) Crawford (2013), Chard (2009), Davison (2009), Frank (2008), and Miles (2002). I tillegg har jeg sett på Hoevelers (1997) kjønnsteorier når det kommer til Zofloya. Den siste metoden jeg har brukt er nærlesing med utdrag fra begge romanene, som har bidratt med å illustrere argumentene gjennom oppgaven. | |
| dc.description.abstract | In this paper, I have compared and contrasted the gothic novels The Romance of the Forest (1791) by Ann Radcliffe and Zofloya(1806) by Charlotte Dacre, and analysed how they portray the cultural values of the Enlightenment. In relation to this, I have looked at how nature and the supernatural is portrayed in both novels. In my analysis, I have used many methods to look at this topic. I have combined historicist approaches with genre theory, with the use of Williams (2017) Crawford (2013), Chard (2009), Davison (2009), Frank (2008), and Miles (2002). Additionally, I have looked at Hoeveler´s (1997) gender theory when it comes to Zofloya. My final method has been close reading, with ecerpts from both novels that have helped illustrate the arguments made throughout the paper.
As they were both written within the same genre, Gothic fiction, there are similarities regarding how they use features such as the sublime and terror, sometimes combining them. However, whilst the “mysteries” in Radcliffe is often rationally disclosed without the need for a supernatural explanation, Dacre does the opposite when emphasising on the dangers of the supernatural. The most prominent example of this is the character Zofloya, who at first is introduced as a human before later revealing himself to be the devil. Furthermore, I have looked at how both authors incorporate politics in their novels. A point of significance here is the fact that The Romance of the Forest was written at the end of the eighteenth century, whilst Zofloya was written at the start of the nineteenth century. According to many critics, this affects the authors´ view and portrayal of their contemporary politics, especially their view of the French revolution and its revolutionary ideas. The findings show that there is a noticeable “shift” in political views, where Radcliffe seem to write more liberally and more sympathetic to the revolutionary ideas, whilst Dacre´s writing is affected by increasing anxieties that such ideas will lead to chaos and disorder. This is described by Miles, as he distinguishes between pre-1794 Gothic and post-1794 Gothic. It is clear, however, that the anxieties relating to the possibility of such events happening in England, were also present in 1791, but that they were amplified later. Nevertheless, it is clear that they both reflected aspects of the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, exploring the terror and fear felt by their contemporaries, and thus in the process trying to rewrite the values of the society around them. | |