This dark past of the setting results in the element of the supernatural through ghosts and eerie presences. The old castle, mansion, abbey or estate is significant to the plot often, a death or murder has taken place at that location. In the 19th and 20th centuries, family estates became the more common setting for the Gothic novel. Mansions and Family EstatesĮarly Gothic fiction of the 18th century emphasized Gothic architecture in the castles, mansions and abbeys where the novels' plots usually unfolded. The family unit is a confining structure from which characters must escape. Murders often take place within families, as well. Women are often depicted as damsels in distress at the mercy of these tyrannical men. Male characters are tyrannical, keeping their wives and children locked away in a family home. In early Gothic novels, women were often subject to the lustful wrongdoings of family patriarchs, brothers and fathers. Descent (into a dungeon, cave, labyrinth, etc.Families are often depicted as broken, incestuous or murderous in Gothic fiction.Ascent (up a mountain, high staircase, etc.).
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