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  • Essay / The Dualities of Good and Evil in Gothic Fiction

    Two concepts often seem to be in conflict or contrast at the heart of Gothic fiction; the dualities of good and evil are often essential to the formation of literature. Within 'Dr. Faustus' battle between good and evil is particularly poignant because of the inclusion of characters from morality plays and the angels who advise Faustus. Gothic writers also delve into the intricacies of these conflicts in order to expose a specific message to the reader or to enlighten the reader about an obscure truth. Shelley, for example, simply highlights the contrasts in human life and allows the reader to attempt to rationalize these contrasts. Shelley does this through lines such as "I should be your Adam, but I'm the fallen angel instead", which contrasts Adam's role with the Devil in "Paradise Lost", who represents holiness and sin. Carter is also interested in oppositions with his collection of short stories "The Bloody Chamber", however, Carter often distorts oppositions; especially between strength and weakness. Regardless of the writer, Gothic fiction always contains an opposition or contrast that is conceptual rather than physical, and which is used as a technique by the writer. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Marlowe in “Doctor Faustus” uses the rare device of personifying concepts that are in contrast. In the 1600s, there was an obsession with finding an absolute definition of what is moral, hence the use of religion to legitimize actions and its use for a moral code. Marlowe conforms to the laws of his contemporary audience and associates God with the so-called “good” side and the Devil with the innate “bad” side. Even the angel who offers advice based on God's ideals is almost satirically called the "Good Angel." The concepts of good and evil collide physically on stage in some productions and Mephistopheles uses threat to frighten Faustus away from redemption by using phrases such as "You traitor Faustus!" ". Initially, "Dr. Faustus appears to be a warning from Marlowe about how good and evil can affect humans through their endless contrast, and that humans must stay with the good or they will be "damned" like the is Faustus. However, Marlowe's play blurs the lines between good and evil in such a way that it becomes ambiguous for a viewer to say with certainty that they can judge what is truly good. One of the main techniques Marlowe uses to achieve this ambiguity is that Mephistopheles is not unjust, whereas the audience would expect him to be an aspect of evil; instead, Mephistopheles treats Faustus fairly and warns him of his fate through lines such as "Hell knows no bounds" and "until experience changes his mind". In the final climactic scene, Faustus gets exactly what he was promised, there was no deception from the start of the deal. To emphasize this element of justice, Marlowe makes it difficult for the audience to have an empathetic connection with the character of Faustus; he is presented as arrogant and rude from the first scene, so that the audience looks at the morals that the "bad" side employs dispassionately. By the end of the play, it would be difficult for a contemporary viewer to condemn the Devil as "bad" but simply different. Marlowe's real warning to the audience is that humanity has an extraordinary choice and that ultimately we are masters of our own destiny. Faustus chooses to summon Mephistopheles,chose to sign the act and chose to insult the Pope. The inclusion of the Devil and God allows Marlowe to distort these absolutist figures and allow the audience to truly realize that the only power they should fear is their own. Just as Marlowe wrote his literature for his specific contemporary audience, Shelley's themes and plot are hand-crafted for a Victorian readership. Similarly to Marlowe, Shelley uses contrasts and oppositions as techniques to reveal truth to the reader. The plot of “Frankenstein” is essentially a series of moral decisions made by Victor, which ultimately lead him to suffering. Where Victorian man would turn to an absolutist doctrine for answers, Victor has no other choice, life has never been created through scientific exploration and, above all, there is no rules to follow. Shelley realized that as science continued to flourish, humans would soon enter an unknown chaotic world where they would become leaders. To highlight the failed absolutist rules adopted by Victorian society, Shelley sets up several key contrasts in the novel that reveal how wrong her society's assumptions were. This was also very personal to her experience as she had to flee England due to Victorian conservative views. The main contrast of the novel is shown by the phrase "I should be your Adam, but I am instead the fallen angel." which is spoken by the creature. This line has several objectives; First, it references "Paradise Lost" which has an ambiguous moral throughline so that the reader understands that Shelley is trying to oppose social conventions, just as "Paradise Lost" does. Furthermore, the creature who is a personification of monstrosity in the physical sense utters it. The creature throughout the novel is a walking juxtaposition; he is described as "abhorred" but delivers eloquent pieces of poetry such as "have I not extinguished the spark of existence which you had so freely bestowed?" Shelley did this to show that monstrosity and beauty are not in opposition but can work in harmony; thus showing the reader that there are no concrete rules when it comes to judgment. She also draws parallels between the creature and the Devil because both are products of their environments and both are punished for it. The creature enters the world impressionistic and joyful, but because of the monstrosity's association with evil, humans chastise him, "throwing stones" and "beating" him, thus creating a monstrosity. Shelley also uses contrast to illustrate the hypocrisy that can arise from absolutist laws. "Frankenstein" is a novel that projects Victorian society onto itself, using oppositions, exposing the flaws created by the use of absolutism. Carter, like Shelley and Marlowe, also includes clear contrasts and oppositions in her short stories because she uses the already-living. Gothic genre established to explore feminism in the 70s. However, the techniques used by Carter are very different from those of Shelley and Marlowe who attempt to expose the irrationalism of oppositions, but Carter adopts them instead. In "The Tiger's Bride", Carter shows the reader the difference between a self-reliant woman and a woman who is ruthless to the will of men. The short story begins with the phrase “My father lost me to the Beast at cards.” which Carter carefully develops so that the protagonist is likened to a possession, the main male figure in her life has discarded her as an object to fuel his own greed. To further illustrate how women can become.