I'm fining I love the way elements of the Gothic are present in everything we read and that those elements are evolving slowly. To that end there are two things I find distinctly striking about Romance of the Forest. The first is the obviously Gothic supernatural crux, or rather, in this case, the lack thereof. There is nothing nearly as obtrusive and distinct as Castle of Otranto and it's recurring helmet. Instead Romance has the ever present issue of the sublime that we discussed with these beautifully eerie and poetic descriptions of the world and people. The world itself, especially in reference to the abbey, is filthy creepy and strange, yet I am entranced and pleased by what I hear about it's state of decay. For me that's what the poetry really accentuates, the depth and fluidity of the way we see the world and events of Romance.
Secondly, the lack of a prophecy caught my attention, and by association, the division of the book in terms of perspective. Instead there is a form of prophecy that occurs every time some one tries to warn Adeline, especially once the book moves to be dominated by her perspective. This of course is in close relation to my first point, being as there are no "divine" prophecies handed down across generations, yet there is something odd to me about the way everyone seeks to warn Adeline in specific, and almost exclusively after we begin seeing things from her perspective.
This was a great post! I agree with you and can appreciate both the gothic and picturesque qualities that The Romance of the Forest has. You say that you are entranced and pleased to hear about the abbeys decay, as am I. The opening of the book is written wonderfully and its mixture of gothic, picturesque and romanticism make it very interesting. When I think about your second point and the lack of prophecy it seems to me that it fits with the ideals of romanticism and it's goal of apprehension. I believe whether through the warnings of other or just Adelines own decisions, she evolves into a stronger female protagonist and her eyes open.
ReplyDeleteI agree that your comments regarding the novel are significant. There are most definitely some distinct Gothic elements present in the novel that really help to complement the dark, picturesque setting of the abbey; however, in an effort to take this a step further, I've become interested in the contrast of light and dark elements that occurs when the day shifts back and forth between night. During the light of the day, the morale of the characters is renewed, and they seem to reflect on their unfortunate circumstance with hope and purpose; in contrast, when the sunlight is tucked away and darkness creeps over the abbey, the anxieties and fears of the characters are rekindled, and those supernatural gothic horrors re-emerge to trouble them once more. Whether these horrors are actually a threat or simply the torment of their fearful imaginations, is difficult to say.
ReplyDeleteThe prophecy caught my attention as well! I thought it was very interesting how everytime somebody tried to warn Adeline it was trying to be prophetic in a way to excuse the lack of an "ancient prophecy." Great post and I too was sad there were no helmets.
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