Gothic Novel

GOTHIC NOVEL Definition: The word Gothic originally referred to the Goths, an early Germanic tribe, then came to signify "germanic," then "medieval." "Gothic architecture" now denotes the medieval type of architecture, characterized by the use of the high pointed arch and vault, flying buttresses, and intricate re- cesses, which spread through western Europe between the twelfth and six- teenth centuries. The Gothic novel, or in an alternative term, Gothic romance, is a type of prose fiction which was inaugurated by Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764)—the subtitle refers to its setting in the middle ages—and flourishedt hrough the early nineteenth century. Some writers followed Walpole's example by setting their stories in the medieval period; others set them in a Catholic country, especially Italy or Spain.