Animals in Gothic Literature

Animals have formed a part of gothic literature mainly due to its influences. For example, the gothic is closely related to the Romantic Movement which has a strong focus on nature and the wilderness. This means that the settings used are often inhabited by wild animals.

Whilst animals are less prominent in earlier gothic literature such as Horace Warpole's The Castle of Otranto, Edgar Allen Poe has often been acclaimed to have revived and modernised the gothic genre. Therefore his heavy use of animals in his work has had a heavy influence on the direction of gothic literature.

Two of his works were named after the animals with in them rather than the characters themselves demonstrating how characteristic of the genre he found them.

• The Raven (1845)
• The Black Cat

Both of these animals have been interpreted as bad omens and their mere presence invokes fear in the reader due to their foundations in superstition. In 'The Black Cat' Poe also relies on imagery to invoke terror, the exact shape of a cat hanging on a noose was imprinted on a wall in the ruins of his old home.

A key function of animals in gothic literature is to help blur the lines of reality vs fantasy as the boundary between human and animal is made indistinguishable. This was first initiated by Bram Stoker in Dracula through the concept of The Count being able to take on bat like qualities. This concept is now ingrained in the mythology of the vampire.

Similarly, Angela Carter is seemingly fascinated by the werewolf, in her collection The Bloody Chamber, three of her short stories are based on this mythical creature which either has the ability to transform between wolf and human or is a grotesque mixture of the two such as in 'Wolf-Alice'. Infact, fifty percent of the short stories in this book are entitled after an animal.

1. The Tiger's Bride
2. Puss-in-boots
3. The Werewolf
4. In the company of wolves
5. Wolf-Alice

Animal imagery is also frequent in gothic literature. It often represents the wild, uncivilised qualities of characters in novels such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.