The Gothic movement has been something which I have been very interested in throughout my career as an English student. After all of the other stuff we’ve read, when I noticed that we were going to be reading some Gothic stuff, I was quite excited. I was very surprised to find out, however, how similar the gothic movement is to the literature that has dominated this course. I enjoyed doing our pr
esentation because it allowed me to discover this link that I would never have acknowledged otherwise. When I pictured traditional 18th Century prose, I typically imagined texts which were haughty and a bit bland,but it was a pleasant surprise to find out that these author often enjoyed pushing the boundaries of social convention. Gothicism, in this respect, merely takes what these folks were doing and expands on it. I did not think that the Gothic was so intertwined within this culture, but rather I imagined it as somewhat of a blip on the radar. Perhaps my favorite part about delving into the Gothic imagination once again was getting the opportunity to revisit Matthew Lewis and his novel, The Monk. I must say that, upon reading it again, it remains my favorite book. It has everything: great dialogue, themes of deception, religious infallibility, gender bending, devil worship…the list could go on forever. I guess what has intrigued me the most about The Monk is the fact that Lewis was actually a member of the government. He was attacking the institution from the inside. This sort of act takes a great deal of courage because by placing a work like this into the public sphere, he is putting his entire well being on the line. Very powerful stuff.
Hopefully, everyone enjoyed our little presentation and we will be placing it on the blogs as soon as we get a chance.
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