This paper deals with the use of different spaces in the two Victorian Gothic stories "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and compares important places, houses and their meaning for the respective plots. Besides the city of London, which is the common overall setting of both novels and will be discussed in chapter 3, the paper focuses on the house as a traditional space for Gothic fiction and one of the elements that both texts have in common. Preliminarily, the character and meaning of the literal and metaphorical threshold will be made a subject of discussion.
A story's setting is an important factor for each literary work. Together with the story time it provides on the one hand a framework for the plot, on the other hand the space around which characters can move more or less freely throughout the story. Literal spaces represent the interaction of different factors, that all characterize the space: among these of course typical place descriptions like nature or architecture of buildings, but also abstract concepts like the weather, light and darkness or countless sensory impressions that a special place can offer, and of course life – human and non-human – that colonizes the space. Literary spaces, however, do not only function as places for actions and happenings but are functionalized in different ways. One purpose of space, that is especially important for Gothic fiction, is to set the mood of the story, which also implies to capture the fears and issues of the respective time and use them to create a certain atmosphere around the plot.
During the Victorian era, issues like sciences, especially psychology and the human psyche, were omnipresent. But also urbanisation and thus the metropolis and what may hide in the jungle of houses and streets aroused the fear of many Victorians. Due to this fact, and because of its demography and its great socio-political issues, London is a perfect and likewise popular setting for Victorian Gothic stories. Also Oscar Wilde and a few years later Robert Louis Stevenson chose the metropolis for their Gothic novels "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 The threshold as a liminal space between good and evil
2.1 The evil crosses the border – characters and their mobility
2.2 Doors and windows – literal and metaphorical thresholds
3 The city as an important space in Victorian Gothic fiction
3.1 The Victorian society – an important issue for Gothic writers
3.2 East and West – the ambiguous Victorian London
4 The Gothic house as breeding ground for the evil
4.1 Face and atmosphere of houses – indicators of good and evil?
4.2 Realms of evil inside the house – Dorian Gray's attic and Dr. Jekyll's cabinet
5 Conclusion
6 Bibliography
6.1 Primary Literature
6.2 Secondary Literature
Research Objective and Themes
This paper examines the function of literary spaces in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The central research objective is to analyze how physical settings—specifically thresholds, urban environments, and domestic spaces—act as psychological metaphors for the protagonists' fragmented identities and their descent into evil.
- The significance of liminal spaces and thresholds in Gothic narratives.
- The impact of 19th-century urbanization on Victorian Gothic tropes.
- The socio-economic divide of London as a reflection of internal moral duality.
- The house as a symbolic representation of the human psyche and domestic confinement.
Excerpt from the Book
The city as an important space in Victorian Gothic fiction
In earlier times, a typical setting for Gothic literature had to be a place far away from society and the reader's daily life. Most popular with both writers and readers was the gloomy castle as well as the typical haunted house, which used to be located in the countryside, surrounded by nature – nature, which had already been manifested as source of the sublime. In the course of urbanisation, though, people became more and more sensuous for the pulsating and always growing metropolis and the living conditions there. In order to take up the newly born fears in and around the metropolis during the late 19th century, Victorian Gothic writers transported the atmosphere of former Gothic literature from castles, solitary country mansions and isolated churches into the city and thus brought the evil from an unknown place far away close to the own environment of many Victorian readers.
Concerning this shift, Charles Dickens, quoted in The Urban Gothic of Bleak House, stated that “the remote and isolated country mansion or castle is not so much the setting of ruin and darkness, mystery and horror, as the great modern city: the Gothic horrors are here and now.” In order to establish this urban horror in a narrative, writers created a fictional city that conveyed a similar atmosphere as the former Gothic settings: many scenes at night, gloomy streets in the twilight, solitude and a full foggy moon, that had also been described many times hanging silent above a Gothic castle. In Jekyll and Hyde, one London street at night is described as a place where “there was literally nothing to be see but lamps. Street after street, and all the folks asleep – street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church.” Here, Stevenson even draws a literal analogy between a Gothic church and the metropolis in his narrative.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the theoretical relevance of setting in Gothic literature and outlines the scope of the comparison between Wilde's and Stevenson's works.
2 The threshold as a liminal space between good and evil: The author explores the boundary zones of narratives and how characters navigate these spaces as indicators of their shifting morality.
2.1 The evil crosses the border – characters and their mobility: This section details how characters like Hyde and Dorian Gray utilize physical spaces to manifest their mobility between moral spheres.
2.2 Doors and windows – literal and metaphorical thresholds: The analysis focuses on how architectural features serve as symbols for the accessibility of the soul and the imprisonment of the psyche.
3 The city as an important space in Victorian Gothic fiction: This chapter discusses the historical shift of Gothic settings from isolated rural areas to the crowded, fearful environment of the modern metropolis.
3.1 The Victorian society – an important issue for Gothic writers: The author examines how the class system and social fragmentation in London mirror the internal division of the protagonists.
3.2 East and West – the ambiguous Victorian London: This section analyzes the geographical split of London into the wealthy West End and the dark East End as a reflection of the protagonists' dual lifestyles.
4 The Gothic house as breeding ground for the evil: The chapter explores the house as a metaphor for the psyche, emphasizing how domestic spaces become haunted by the inhabitants' repressed traits.
4.1 Face and atmosphere of houses – indicators of good and evil?: The text compares the exterior and interior conditions of Jekyll's and Dorian's residences to decode their symbolic moral states.
4.2 Realms of evil inside the house – Dorian Gray's attic and Dr. Jekyll's cabinet: This section investigates the most secluded areas of the homes as focal points for the characters' dark transformations.
5 Conclusion: The author synthesizes the findings, confirming that both authors effectively reflect Victorian fears through the medium of spatial representation.
6 Bibliography: Provides the primary and secondary sources used in the term paper.
6.1 Primary Literature: Lists the specific editions of the Gothic novels analyzed.
6.2 Secondary Literature: Lists the academic works and articles cited to support the analysis.
Key Words
Victorian Gothic, Space, Threshold, Urbanization, London, Oscar Wilde, Robert L. Stevenson, Liminality, Jekyll and Hyde, Dorian Gray, Metaphor, Psyche, Architecture, Class System, Sublime
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this research paper?
The paper explores the role of space in Victorian Gothic literature, specifically how setting functions as a mirror for psychological themes in the works of Wilde and Stevenson.
Which novels are compared in the analysis?
The paper compares Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
What is the primary research question?
The study asks how physical and metaphorical spaces, such as thresholds, houses, and the city, are used to symbolize the internal moral conflict and social fragmentation of the protagonists.
What scientific methods are applied?
The paper employs a literary analysis approach, utilizing concepts from semiotics and architectural symbolism to interpret the functions of setting within the narratives.
What is the main theme of the central chapters?
The chapters examine the city of London, the architectural symbolism of houses, and the concept of "thresholds" as boundaries between good and evil.
Which keywords characterize this paper?
Key terms include Victorian Gothic, liminality, urban space, architectural metaphor, and psychological fragmentation.
How does the author characterize Dr. Jekyll's laboratory?
The laboratory is defined as the 'realm of evil' within the house, acting as a shelter for Hyde and a site for the psychological dissection of Jekyll's soul.
Why is the East End of London significant for Dorian Gray?
The East End serves as a space for Dorian's forbidden, secret life, contrasting with the superficial and public life he leads in the West End.
What role do windows and doors play in the novels?
They are described as ambivalent 'thresholds' that can either signify freedom or serve as barriers that imprison the characters within their own moral decay.
- Citar trabajo
- BA Nicole Eismann (Autor), 2015, The Function of Space in Victorian Gothic Literature. Use of spatiality by Oscar Wilde and Robert L. Stevenson., Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/319162
