Journal:

Create a very short story (5 – 7 sentences) that explains the character depicted. Think: Why is she sitting like this? What is the tone of the picture? Make sure you use the same tone in your short story!

DARK ROMANTICISM

This is where it gets weird…

As the second piece to the Romantic movement, Dark Romanticism explores the potential evil in the individual.

CHARACTERS

 Characters are fueled by anxiety and guilt.

 Characters are in psychological or physical torment.

SETTINGS

 Bleak or remote places  Ominous (something bad is coming…)  Large, drafty old houses that have "been in the family for years."

PLOT

 Morbid or violent incidents  A supernatural or otherworldly element is often present. (Think: ghosts, doors that open themselves, unexplained sounds, etc.)

GOTHIC ELEMENTS

 Grotesque, mysterious, desolate  Atmosphere of mystery and suspense  Omens, foreshadowing, and dreams  Highly charged emotional states like: terror, a feeling that one is on the brink of insanity, anger, agitation, an exaggerated feeling of some impending doom, and obsessive love .

 Words designed to evoke images of gloom and doom: dark, foreboding, forbidding, ghostly, etc.

MAIN IDEAS

 Triumph of evil over good  Inevitability of sin and guilt in humanity  Perverse and self-destructive nature of mankind  Extremes of individualism

What about this image makes it Dark Romantic?

What about this image makes it Dark Romantic?

What about this image makes it Dark Romantic?

EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809 – 1849)

“ A B I B L E O F F E A R ”  Born in Boston, Massachusetts  Mother dies, father leaves   Marries Virginia, his 13 year-old cousin (not as weird as it is today).

 Lives with Allan family, but never adopted Travel, job instability, alcoholism  Virginia dies at 25…Poe goes downhill  Dies at age 40 in Baltimore (The cause of his death is unknown and has been attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.)

CAREERS

 Joined the U.S. military; eventually, attended West Point for a short time until he found a way to be dismissed.

 He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.

POE’S WRITING

 A truthful, often vicious, editor  Worked hard at horror elements to affect reader  Created detective story at age 32 (“Murders in the Rue Morgue”)  Very influential (worldwide) and very debated  Wrote about extreme situations & settings to expose true human nature

POE’S WORKS

 “The Raven”  “Annabel Lee”  “The Black Cat”  “The Cask of Amontillado”  “The Tell-Tale Heart”  “The Fall of the House of Usher”

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE (1804 – 1864)

A BIOGRAPHY

 Born in Salem, Massachusetts (related to Judge Hathorne)  Father dies early, mother becomes recluse  12 years of intense reading & writing  Added a “w” to his last name  Married in his 30s  Scarlet Letter cements his popularity  Friend to Franklin Pierce, Herman Melville, Emerson, Longfellow

HAWTHORNE’S WRITING

 Cautionary tales  Suggest that sin, guilt, and evil are the most natural human qualities  Inspired by Puritans

HAWTHORNE’S WORKS

 “Young Goodman Brown”  “Dr. Heidigger’s Experiment”  “The Minister’s Black Veil”  “The Birth-mark” 

The Scarlet Letter



The House of the Seven Gables

VIEW…

 View “The Life of Vincent Malloy” by Tim Burton  Reflection: How is “Vincent” an example of Dark Romanticism?