Behind A Mask & The Fall of the House of Usher

Behind A MaskIt came to my attention that Louisa May Alcott was, in my opinion, trying to make a statement with her book "Behind A Mask." Jean Muir was a rebellious governess that was on a quest for comfort, or what I would call security, in the male dominated world that she was living in. She was deceiving at times making others believe she was nothing but an innocent nineteen year old girl with no family, and was from Scotch decent. We soon found out that those were all lies. I believe that her actions created an important irony between her and the other characters because there is most definitely a difference between what seems to be true and what is true in Jean's identity. It may even be situational irony in some sense, due to the fact that    her actions symbolize a paradigm shift in the role expectations of a female of her age and status. At first, I didn't want to pick this book up because of how thick it is, but after reading it, my opinion has changed.

The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allen Poe starts this short story out with a very gloomy mood with his description of the decaying trees and swamp-like ponds surrounding an old house in which the narrator, who remains unnamed, is approaching. The old house belonged to Roderick Usher, who later dies of fear when his twin sister comes back from the dead to attack her twin brother. Many gothic elements were, of course, easily identifiable. The dreary landscape, the house's evil atmosphere, and the fact that the house was obviously haunted were all easy for me to identify as gothic elements in this short story. What I felt really caught my attention and spoke to me was that the house, to me, seemed alive. It's evil essense and the many gothic elements that filled its description sparked the fear of both the reader and the characters within the story. At the end of the story the house crumbles when the narrator escapes, and it was almost as if it was waiting to fall at that very second for a reason. In my opinion, Roderick and his twin sister were the same person. They live together and they die together. Madeline made sure that Roderick would suffer the same pain that she did. In theory, I believe that the house represented madeline. If she was going down, her twin brother would go down with her. The house took them both down together as a result.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Young Goodman Brown

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving did a fantastic job with this story and his display of the many literary elements. Ichabod Crane was a money hungry, food loving, self centered individual who created the situational irony in the story with his plan to win the affections of Katrina Van Tassel, and get all of her family's fortune, land, and food. This portrayed an action that was completely unexpected, due to the fact that he was the school teacher and Katrina was his student. Irving used a number of metaphors and similies to give the story its design. My favorite part of the entire story was how Ichabod was tricked by his own self in his master plan of winning Katrina which also symbolized situational irony. Ichabod thought he was in the clear and was closing in on his attempt to win Katrina but finds out that she was only using him to make Brom Bones jealous. Overall I felt that this story was very interesting and was a great example of true Gothic Literature.

Young Goodman Brown

Hawthorne has pointed out what he sees to be problematic in society and public morality in "Young Goodman Brown." In my own point of view, I felt that Goodman Brown was very indecisive with his heart and what he believed in. Faith in this story represented the good in Goodman Brown's wife trying to keep him from leaving. Her pink ribbons were an important symbol in this story that respresented the good and innocence in life, in my opinion. They could also respresent the reminder of a higher power considering Goodman Brown saw a pink ribbon floating down from the heavens. What I found to be the most interesting part of the story was when Goodman Brown decided to go into the forest and meet with the Devil himself. I found it interesting because he seemed to be of innocent nature and wouldn't ordinarilly do something like this. This is situational irony in my opinion, considering this is an event that is unexpected. I'm convinced that it the fall of the ones closest to him had an impact on this. Overall I think Hawthorne did a great job of this story, and the plot that was laid out.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

This book was different from the other novels in many ways. Normally, there are females, or heroines that change the story's plot. In this story, Dr. Jekyll had accomplished alot as a scientist and had an eminent future. This wasn't something that gave him satification, for he was very unhappy and wanted to perform a experiment that gave him excitement in his life. This was where Hyde came into play which was the most confusing part of the story in my point of view. His dual personalities gave the book its twisted taste. At one minute, the doctor was partient, the next he was very impatient and violent. This is where good vesus evil came into play with the doctors fight over his self control. The ending of the book was very dramatic and confused me. Doctor Jekyll was said to have died as Hyde but transformed back into Dr. Jekyll. I felt this gave the reader a chance to figure it out for themself. Stevenson's main focus in the novel is on this struggle between good and evil in Jekyll's soul. This was what really caught my attention and gave me the feeling of connection to this story. The sybolic evidence of Jekyll's dual nature really gave this story a great gothic tone.

The Mortal Immortal

Science fiction is brought into play in Mary Shelley's short story "Mortal Immortal." What was impossible seemed possible in this story. Winzy, the main character, has fallen under a "spell" working with Corneilus, the mad scientist performing the experiements throughout the story. Winzy had many desires in life, including his desire to make his lover that ran away come back to him. Shelley made this possible with a love potion that would send her running back to his arms. As a result of Winzy's hope to cure his love, he becomes a "Mortal Immortal." As mentioned in class, it may be hard to trust the narrator because of some of the comments made such as being alive for 323 years. It is hard to tell what is real in this story and what to believe. This short story really threw me through a loop and really got me confused. I wasn't sure what happened to Winzy at the end of the story.

Northanger Abbey

This was my most favorite of all of the books so far. Most everything about this book kept me attentive. Catherine Moreland was an eager young heroine that loved learning and reading everything about gothic novels, including her favorite "the mysteries of udolpho." The dramitic irony that was displayed throughout the book made this books master plot very interesting. Catherine had not a clue that Isabelle was betraying her by having an affair with her brother while dragging her along to hang out with her brother in order to distract her. I felt that the ending was very exciting with the accusation Catherine makes about General Tilney. It gave the book its drama that was needed to spice things up. Overall I think this book was great, considering it ended happily and Catherine was able to end up with Henry, the man she loved.

Romance of the Forest Part Two

Adeline has become more independent and bold at this point, in my point of view. After running away with peter this told me that she was willing to push the limits of the steriotypical role of a woman of her time. I believe by the end of the novel, Adeline gains affluence and tranforms from her role as the damsel in distress. She makes this obvious with her attempt to save Theodore, who had previously attempted to save her, from his death sentence. Overall I think this was a great book, and that Ann Radcliffe did a great job of portraying Adeline's transformation as unique, considering she gave off a fairly quiet, reclusive impression.