'One need not be a Chamber / To be Haunted'.
Compare and contrast the use of gothic conventions in the Dickinson Anthology with those used in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Amongst the various themes embodied within both Dickinson's poetry and Oscar Wilde's critically acclaimed novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the thematic concern of the gothic is brought to light on many occasions, consistent with the period in which each was written. Dickinson, writing in Amherst, Massachusetts in the mid-nineteenth century, has elements of the Female Gothic in her poems. At the same time, her poetry mocks the excesses of Gothic Fiction, as Jane Austen did in her novel, Northanger Abbey. The Picture of Dorian Gray can be seen as a rather curious revival of the gothic, as it was written in the last decade of Victorian London. This essay seeks to explore the ways in which both writers utilise literary devices and common gothic motifs to instil terror within the reader, so as to give an insight into what the respective narrators are experiencing.
Dickinson’s use of gothic conventions is embedded within her poem, One need not be a chamber to be Haunted, with her use of vivid, sinister imagery, particularly in the first stanza. She writes, “One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted/ One need not be a House/ The Brain has Corridors- surpassing/ Material Place-” Evidently, the speaker is facing inner turmoil, suggesting that horror is not always confined by walls but can be “Surpass[ed]” by the horrors of our mind. By informing the reader that the “Brain” has “Corridors” with the clever utilisation of a capital letter to focus our attention on the word, an image of confinement is conjured in the reader’s mind. This oppressive feeling may be a reflection of Dickinson’s own confinement seeping into her writing, as she bound herself within her home in the later stages of her life, potentially causing this trapped sensation.
This intensely sinister imagery is mirrored in Wilde’s novel with his use of a metaphor in “[…] the leafless trees shook their black iron branches to and fro.” The ‘leafless’ branches suggest a witch’s claws and, when combined with the “iron branches,” they give an oppressive, confining image of prison bars; it is as though Dorian Gray’s throat is being enclosed by their imprisoning claws. One may argue these could be symbolic of the hands of his string of victims seeking revenge, as revenge from beyond the grave is a common convention of gothic literature. Both writers create expressive paintings of the anguish and restraint the speakers feel by the use of the gothic, portraying them to be entrapped and pursued, as is common in Gothic Literature. Whilst the speaker in “One need not be a Chamber/ To be Haunted” is pursued by the terrors within her mind, Dorian is haunted by the repercussions of his sins.
Wilde employs perverted, decaying imagery in the final stages of his novel, where the simile in “The moon hung low in the sky like a yellow skull” has the effect of showing how Dorian’s perception of the world has shifted from his usual aesthetic values to the harsh reality of his sins. This degrading imagery gives the reader an insight into the ways in which Dorian’s sins are catching up with him but also shows the degradation of his soul, as reflected in how he perceives the natural world. Similarly, Dickinson uses the night sky to highlight the terror of one’s mind when she writes, “Far safer, of a Midnight Meeting / External Ghost”. This image of the all-consuming abyss of darkness, fabricated by midnight, emphasises that it is far “Safer” to be physically anchored in darkness than to connect with our inner life. Such dark, ominous settings are typical of the gothic genre and both writers employ them to exhibit the sheer terror the speakers are facing.
The supernatural is another element of gothic writing, clearly depicted where Dickinson refers to outward horrors as an “External Ghost”. The capital letter in the word “External,” as well as the impact of this brief line, almost dismiss stereotypical terrors and, instead, reinforce the insurmountable power of the mind. This is further reflected by her juxtaposition of the words “Ghost” and “Safe”, which mocks common manifestations of supernatural horrors to convey that the true horror is what resides within us.
Wilde also makes use of the supernatural, though in a contrasting way. The line, “Dorian Gray never took his gaze off him, but sat like one under a spell […] wonder growing grave in his darkening eyes” is a prime example of this. Again, the reader’s mind is cast towards the image of a witch - this time one whose “spell” has enchanted Dorian. Like Dickinson, Wilde juxtaposes ideas; Dorian’s eyes are described as “darkening”, contrasting to his “passionate purity” at the start of the novel. Eyes are said to be the windows to the soul, thus Wilde employs this as a metaphor for the darkening of Dorian’s soul, as it becomes tainted by Henry’s spell-like influence. The use of the supernatural in Dickinson’s poem sheds light on the frightening nature of the mind; in The Picture of Dorian Gray, it highlights the terrifying potential of Lord Henry, as well the effect this indoctrination has on every fibre of Dorian’s being.
Both pieces embody the conventions of mystery and ambiguity - Dickinson with her lack of clarification as to who the speaker is and Wilde by obscuring Dorian’s sinful actions throughout the novel. Wilde makes use of the Doppelganger motif, as shown in the line, “He … felt keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life.” Dorian’s portrait can be seen as his other self; whilst he commits sin upon sin without repercussion, his portrait, representing his soul, slowly deteriorates into an image of grotesque malice. Similarly, Dickinson writes of a startling “encounter” with “one’s own self” in which “Ourself, behind ourself” is revealed. However, there are also contrasts between the texts. Dickinson uses the gothic motif of “Using science for a bad purpose” in referring to “That Cooler Host”, whereby the biological term “Host” signifies the invasion of a cell by a parasite. Dickinson seems to be using this metaphor for the mind to suggest that the mind is so powerful that it controls the speaker, insinuating that it releases metaphorical “toxins,” which cause the speaker to feel fear.
To conclude, both texts are prime examples of gothic literature, suited to the times in which they were written, in their use of various conventions from obscure settings and characters to spine chilling, sinister imagery. Although there are a myriad of similarities and differences in the gothic elements embedded within each text, both have the effect of exhibiting the vivid horrors that the speakers face.
Abir Sayed
April 2015
'One need not be a Chamber / To be Haunted'.
Compare and contrast the use of gothic conventions in the Dickinson Anthology with The Turn of the Screw.
In order to answer the question, “how are gothic conventions used by Emily Dickinson in her selected works and by Henry James in The Turn of the Screw?”, one must first establish what a ‘gothic convention’ is: by drawing on the concepts first conceived by Horace Walpole in The Castle of Otranto which were then embellished by Ann Radcliffe thirty years later, in 1794, in her novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, I hope to establish what James and Dickinson themselves (both circa 19th century) would have perceived to be a depiction of the Gothic. “The Castle of Otranto blends elements of realist fiction with the supernatural and fantastical, laying down many of the plot devices and character-types that would become typical of the Gothic: secret passages, clanging trapdoors, hidden identities and vulnerable heroines fleeing from men with evil intent” [The British Library Board], whereas Radcliffe sought to explain the supernatural occurrences featured in The Mysteries of Udolpho by rooting them in psychological causes, such as heightened emotional sensitivity. I will, therefore, look for both the classic and more nuanced form of the Gothic in both works. By doing so, I hope to reveal that both James and Dickinson use the genre as a gateway into far deeper waters; the macabre and mysterious – Gothic, as it were – nature of the mind.
Both James and Dickinson engage with Gothic settings and atmosphere to enhance the extended metaphor in The Turn of the Screw, which is also a pervasive theme in Dickinson’s poetry, of self-deceit and illusion. The Turn of the Screw’s governess remarks that Flora showed her Bly “step by step and room by room and secret by secret”, and that “There had been a moment when I believed I recognised, faint and far, the cry of a child; there had been another when I found myself just consciously starting as at the passage, before my door, of a light footstep”. By painting Bly as being a labyrinth, the physical vastness and the governess’ confused mental state are conflated. James forces the reader to confront the most contentious aspect of his novella – that, much to the despair of all A-level English Literature students, all other contentions rest upon – whether the apparitions ‘seen’ by the governess are real or an overwhelming psychosis. Since James coats this issue with a thick layer of Gothic cliché, one could easily take the apparitionist view that the naïve, “untried” governess has been influenced by the literature that she was reading. She notably mentions Ann Radcliffe’s famed novel and hints at “an insane, an unmentionable relative kept in unsuspected confinement?”, fancying herself as a Jane Eyre figure; ergo entertaining the idea that she could be heroic and moral heroine at the mercy of a Byronic ‘master’, which is a recurring notion in Gothic literature.
Dickinson subtly hints at this concept in her poem ‘My Life had stood – A Loaded Gun –‘, when she mentions a “Master”: “And when at Night - Our good Day done - I guard My Master's Head –“ , which implies that the “Master” holds some form of secret, safely guarded by a speaker with the unnatural “power to kill, Without - the power to die -”. The pause indicated by the two hyphens illuminates the irregularity of the speaker’s power. As with the governess, the speaker has acquired a sense of heroism due to a masculine influence. This is typical of Gothic literature, as can be seen in the famous novel Dracula.
What this flexibility demonstrates is the fickle nature of one’s mind. This is what Gothic literature seeks to exploit; how a change in circumstance can invert one’s actions and situational perception completely. Conversely, a total lack of understanding can arise from this, which leads to the overwhelming confusion that is generally experienced by Gothic protagonists. This is demonstrated by Henry James’ governess as her opinion of Flora and Miles changes throughout the novella. At first, she views them as “angelic” and “beatific”, but this view encroaches on the ironic, as she later describes them as having “false little lovely eyes” – here the governess has gone from admiring the children with almost divine reverence to belittling them in a cruel assertion of her greater maturity, as shown by James’ use of the word “little”.
This lack of conviction can make monsters out of anyone – the governess, Frankenstein’s Monster, who goes on a vicious rampage after realising that he is “hideous”, and many of the speakers in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. In ‘It was not Death, for I stood up’, the speaker cannot identify what she is feeling and so is forced to find resolution by omissive reasoning; “it was not” this, so it could therefore be that. This confusion causes the speaker to contrast images of the natural world with more dark, visceral metaphors, such as “Repeal the beating ground”. Although figurative, the “beating ground” suggests that the speaker has inner feelings of “chaos”, ferocity and turbulence; emotions that are ubiquitous in Gothic literature.
To conclude, both Henry James and Emily Dickinson make use of Gothic themes, such as hidden secrets, women becoming ‘willing’ victims at the whim of almost omnipotent masculine presences, and how one can be so easily influenced by circumstance, to demonstrate that “One need not be a chamber – to be Haunted –“; the real horror lies within ourselves.
Carla Klein
April 2015
'The marriage market is a slave market'.
To what extent does this statement apply to The Prologue and Tale of The Wife of Bath, The Tempest and Tis Pity She's a Whore?
For a marriage market to resemble a slave market, it must exhibit a master-servant relationship and some sort of commercial transaction between parties must occur. In Ford’s play, the young Annabella is courted by many suitors, two of whom display their wealth as a means to acquire her hand in marriage. Donado tries to secure Annabella as a wife for his foolish nephew, Bergetto, by assuring her father that he will have ‘Three thousand florins yearly during my life / And, after I am dead, my whole estate’. Later when Donado reveals that Annabella is still not interested in him, despite the jewel he gifts her, Bergetto shrugs, saying he “can have wenches enough in Parma for a half-a-crown apiece”. Half-a-crown was double the going-rate for prostitutes at the time, showing his inexperience and folly; however, Bergetto here also underlines the conventional view of women as objects holding monetary value. He equates wives with prostitutes, as they can be bought, like slaves.
In Act 2, although Florio tells Donado “my care is how to match her to her liking,” he does not dismiss the financial rewards of marriage, especially as he does not come from a wealthy background. These financial rewards prove so lucrative that he considers Bergetto, the “idiot”, as a candidate, due only to his abundant wealth, and Richardetto wishes to marry Philotis to Bergetto for similar reasons. This is reminiscent of the monetary motive behind the Wife of Bath’s first three marriages to “riche” men. Later on, Florio urges the Friar to convince Annabella to marry Soranzo, to secure his wealth and nobility. The opportunistically mercenary way in which the patriarchal Richardetto and Florio offer Philotis and Annabella to the highest bidder is similar to how slave owners sell their slaves. Thus it is plausible to consider the marriage market as a slave market.