Myths and heros : how does gothic litterature characterize a myth ?

Myths and Heroes

- My topic is myths and heroes. First, I’m going to explain the notion and I will expose the texts that we have studied in class. My issue is “How does gothic literature characterize a myth ?” We have studied the notion of myths and heroes with the gothic literature.

- Whatever culture a hero is someone who has got exceptional moral qualities. He likes people, he cars for the others, he helps people, he has a sense of duty. He is courageous and humble. A hero is capable of doing dangerous things at the risk of his life. He is generally admired and is a model for the others. Each nation, each culture has its heroes. They are celebrated with monuments, prizes and bank holidays.

- Some heroes are myths or are heroes of mythical story.

- A myth can be an ancient legend, a person, a place, an historical event. Myths are in the popular memory. Myths represent the identity of a nation. They are known all over the world because they convey a universal message.

- The gothic literature became very popular in the late eighteen. It’s a literature related to fear, terror, strange creatures like monsters and vampires. People like gothic literature, especially women and teenagers because this literature is related to romanticism.

-  We have studied a text from the novel of Bram Stocker DRACULA written in 1897 (eighteen ninety-seven). In the text, there are all the elements that characterize the gothic literature, the oppressive atmosphere, the old castle, count Dracula is presented like a strange man who can’t be reflected in a mirror, he is afraid of crucifix, he doesn’t eat but feed on blood. The legend of Dracula is known all over the world. Dracula the vampire belongs to a universal culture.

- We have studied another character of the gothic literature who has become a myth, FRANKENSTEIN. It’s a novel written by Mary Shelley in 1816 (eighteen sixteen). In the novel, a doctor Victor Frankenstein creates a man with bits of corpses. He creates a handsome man but little by little the man becomes a monster who is rejected by the society and his creator. The monster feels lonely and becomes cruel. This monster transforms the night into a nightmare. Love is replaced by horror. Most people know this story even if they haven’t read the book written 200 (two hundred) years ago. There are many adaptation of this novel.

- The another myth of the gothic literature that we have studied is “DR JECKYLL and MR HYDE” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This story has become a symbol, a myth of the fight between good and evil inside a man. It has also become part of the popular language with the phrase “He is a real Jekyll and Hyde”. It means a person who is morally different from one situation to the next, a person you can’t trust.

- A myth travels in time and in space. The gothic literature has created characters who are known all over the world and who have become symbols of a universal culture. We can relate this notion to the notion of “The idea of progress”.

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