Darkness from light: the origins of Gothic literature- lunchtime talk

The enlightenment bred reason, rationality and the Gothic, a literary genre steeped in darkness.

At a time when scientists and philosophers were looking towards a bright future, Gothic novels were haunted by violent pasts that seeped into the present. Gothic themes were explored through an aesthetic replete with ruins, mountainous landscapes, and pathetic fallacy.

This talk will look at the inception of the Gothic in the context of the French Revolution, societal anxieties and cultural fashions. It will look at Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) as the first Gothic novel, before considering other early examples, including Anne Radcliffe, Charlotte Dacre and Matthew Lewis.

You may also like the following events from North Hertfordshire Museum:

• Next Wednesday, 29th October, 11:00 am, Playing with Watercolour Workshop in Hitchin
• Next Wednesday, 29th October, 07:30 pm, Ghosts of North Hertfordshire - Evening talk in Hitchin
• Next month, 8th November, 10:45 am, Toddler Music and Craft Session - The Tiger Who Came to Tea in Hitchin

Also check out other Arts events in Hitchin, Literary Art events in Hitchin.