Gormenghast and the gothic edifice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature at Massey University

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dc.contributor.authorEllis, Damon Kyle
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-28T00:02:38Z
dc.date.available2017-03-28T00:02:38Z
dc.date.issued2003
dc.description.abstractThe Gothic genre is most commonly defined according to a diverse range of character types, themes, and devices of plot, mood, and setting, and this diffusion has made its application as a unified description a contentious one. This thesis develops a cohesive vocabulary for describing Gothic literature, and applies that vocabulary to a series of novels whose categorization has proven controversial, due to the ambiguities of the popular perception of the Gothic genre. Derived from a close reading of four iconic Gothic texts - Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" - and from various perspectives of Gothic criticism I argue that the archetypal setting of Gothic works, the edifice, plays a central role in Gothic literature through its role in creating the fundamental Gothic properties of verticality, interiority, and pastness. I then argue that Peake's Gormenghast series - comprising Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Alone - demonstrates in the first two novels this centrality of the edifice to Gothic literature and in the third novel the fact that the physical edifice is not a compulsory component of Gothic literature, but rather acts solely as the most effective expression of the underlying Gothic properties and the point whereby they interrelate. Furthermore, I demonstrate that these properties are applicable not only to the works of the genre itself, but to the critical perspectives that are used to explain it.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10179/10637
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMassey Universityen_US
dc.rightsThe Authoren_US
dc.subjectPeake, Mervyn Laurence, 1911-1968en_US
dc.subjectGormenghasten_US
dc.subjectArchitecture in literatureen_US
dc.subjectGothic revival (Literature)en_US
dc.subjectCriticism and interpretationen_US
dc.subjectHistory and criticismen_US
dc.titleGormenghast and the gothic edifice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature at Massey Universityen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
massey.contributor.authorEllis, Damon Kyleen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEnglish Literatureen_US
thesis.degree.grantorMassey Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (M.A.)en_US
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