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| Is Twilight Goth Lit? |
| Yes |
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5% |
[ 1 ] |
| No |
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94% |
[ 18 ] |
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| Total Votes : 19 |
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 Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:39 pm
My friends, I'm afraid I have despairing news. Well, at least if you're a fan of Gothic Literature like I am it is. Twilight might actually be able to consider itself Gothic Literature!
...I've been thinking about it recently and where as before I would have answered this question with a resounding "NO!", I'm not so sure anymore.
So I decided to go online and see if I could find any clear definition of the genre. There were a lot of answers and elements but here are some of the most frequently mentioned items of a Gothic Novel.
Elements of Gothic Literature:
* a castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not,
* ruined buildings which are sinister or which arouse a pleasing melancholy,
* dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics,
* labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs,
* shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or an electric failure),
* extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather,
* omens and ancestral curses,
* magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural,
* a passion-driven, wilful villain-hero or villain,
* a curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued–frequently,
* a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel,
* horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings.
Elements of Twilight:
- The Town of Forks has extreme weather, thick forest, and cold waters
- The Balle Studio and all its Mirrors
- Bella is constantly needing to be rescued
- The "hero" is "secretly" a vampire
- Jacob was also "secretly" a werewolf
-Vampire and Werewolves = supernatural
- Both Jacob and Edward are driven by (selfish) passion
- Bella goes mad with despair and tries to kill herself
- So does Edward
- There always seems to be some kind of threat looming over their heads from which Edward needs to save Bella (which never come to fruitation because Meyer is a p***y)
I certainly don't want to think of Twilight being in anyway Goth or part of the Gothic genre but in this case I think I might have to admit defeat.
It might be a severely watered down, pansy a**'d, sissy, poorly written version of Gothic Literature but...I think it still counts.
...I am sad now... sad
So I now pose the question to you for discussion:
Should Twilight be considered Gothic Literature?
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:07 pm
Poe, Stoker, the Brontes, Faulkner, O'Connor and Anne Rice are gothic literature.
Twilight is just crap, I'm sorry XD Gothic literature has its roots in the dark romanticism characterized by Poe, which dealt with the supernatural and metaphors for the dark side of human nature. the term "gothic" when used in literature refers to a story that deals more with the darkness of human beings, and often the darkness of landscape and supernatural elements as well as elements of horror become a larger extended metaphor for that darkness of human nature.
For example, in Flannery O'Connor's short stories, the setting (usually of the rural south) is hardly traditional "gothic" but she's heralded as one of the preeminant authors of the Southern Gothic genre because her stories are all tragic and overwhelmingly bleak.
One of the longer writing projects a good friend of mine is woring on is alternative history, which falls under the science fiction genre, but the story and main character are very gothic because it's about how this guy loses his lover and becomes a soulless rapist and killing machine for the SS.
Twilight...... is warmed over romantic cliche. it's not edgy or dark or tragic. None of the characters are tragic or deeply twisted and ******** up. it's all chaste and more angst than genuine human evil. yes, the setting is "dark" and it has the supernatural element of a vampire, but what is the vampirism a metaphor of? What darkness do these characters struggle with? there's nothing to it. To quote Lady Gaga, it's "got the flavor but ain't got no follow through." But anyway. To be considered gothic literature a book should be considered literature first, and, unfortunately, Twilight isn't.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:11 pm
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:32 pm
CWnerd12 Poe, Stoker, the Brontes, Faulkner, O'Connor and Anne Rice are gothic literature. Twilight is just crap, I'm sorry XD Gothic literature has its roots in the dark romanticism characterized by Poe, which dealt with the supernatural and metaphors for the dark side of human nature. the term "gothic" when used in literature refers to a story that deals more with the darkness of human beings, and often the darkness of landscape and supernatural elements as well as elements of horror become a larger extended metaphor for that darkness of human nature. For example, in Flannery O'Connor's short stories, the setting (usually of the rural south) is hardly traditional "gothic" but she's heralded as one of the preeminant authors of the Southern Gothic genre because her stories are all tragic and overwhelmingly bleak. One of the longer writing projects a good friend of mine is woring on is alternative history, which falls under the science fiction genre, but the story and main character are very gothic because it's about how this guy loses his lover and becomes a soulless rapist and killing machine for the SS. Twilight...... is warmed over romantic cliche. it's not edgy or dark or tragic. None of the characters are tragic or deeply twisted and ******** up. it's all chaste and more angst than genuine human evil. yes, the setting is "dark" and it has the supernatural element of a vampire, but what is the vampirism a metaphor of? What darkness do these characters struggle with? there's nothing to it. To quote Lady Gaga, it's "got the flavor but ain't got no follow through." But anyway. To be considered gothic literature a book should be considered literature first, and, unfortunately, Twilight isn't. Trufax! You covered it better than I could have.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:28 pm
CWnerd12 Poe, Stoker, the Brontes, Faulkner, O'Connor and Anne Rice are gothic literature. Twilight is just crap, I'm sorry XD Gothic literature has its roots in the dark romanticism characterized by Poe, which dealt with the supernatural and metaphors for the dark side of human nature. the term "gothic" when used in literature refers to a story that deals more with the darkness of human beings, and often the darkness of landscape and supernatural elements as well as elements of horror become a larger extended metaphor for that darkness of human nature. For example, in Flannery O'Connor's short stories, the setting (usually of the rural south) is hardly traditional "gothic" but she's heralded as one of the preeminant authors of the Southern Gothic genre because her stories are all tragic and overwhelmingly bleak. One of the longer writing projects a good friend of mine is woring on is alternative history, which falls under the science fiction genre, but the story and main character are very gothic because it's about how this guy loses his lover and becomes a soulless rapist and killing machine for the SS. Twilight...... is warmed over romantic cliche. it's not edgy or dark or tragic. None of the characters are tragic or deeply twisted and ******** up. it's all chaste and more angst than genuine human evil. yes, the setting is "dark" and it has the supernatural element of a vampire, but what is the vampirism a metaphor of? What darkness do these characters struggle with? there's nothing to it. To quote Lady Gaga, it's "got the flavor but ain't got no follow through." But anyway. To be considered gothic literature a book should be considered literature first, and, unfortunately, Twilight isn't. So its fluff with a gothic paint job? Oh thank God! The whole reason I went looking for a clear definition was in order to dispute someone else's claim that Twilight was gothic and ended up scarring myself with the possibility that it actually could be considered part of that literary genre. But now I think I can once again in good consciouses declare Twilight of a none gothic genre! biggrin
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:57 pm
yeah gothic is more about emotional and spiritual torment and human evil that can use aesthetic things like setting and mood and horror and the supernatural as a metaphor. it can be gothing without a dark setting, but it can't be gothing only with a dark setting, if you follow me.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:39 pm
Those who think of Twilight as Gothic are Emos.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:33 pm
I can't vote - I really don't know! I don't want to admit it, but there are similarities. I guess it's "bad Gothic" literature?
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:36 pm
GreenInkling I can't vote - I really don't know! I don't want to admit it, but there are similarities. I guess it's "bad Gothic" literature?
Scratch that, what CWnerd12 said. c:
I love Flannery O'Connor.
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Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:34 am
If Twilight gets considered Gothic Literature, I will take all Gothic Literature, create a NEW category for it and leave Twilight for all it's lame-a** bullshit into it's own lonely category.
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Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:50 am
Twilight being categorized as Gothic literature is bosh. Twilight was never about the horrors of being with vampires of werewolves, but it is about the horror of going into Stephenie Meyer's fantasies.
Sure, there are supernatural elements in that series, but the vampires in that series have lost their truly vampiric nature, and the same could be said for the werewolves, or as Meyer so calls them, "shapeshifters". Ergo, Twilight has lost a large part of it's supernatural element, if not all of the supernatural element that it claims to have.
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Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:34 am
I think Angelo just redeemed himself a bit there.
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Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:35 pm
I think it's considered Shitty Literature.
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Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:08 pm
Wow Angelo, didn't know you had it in you. I agree with what CW stated earlier.
I think it's completely incorrect to call Twilight Gothic Literature. Poe = GL, Bram Stoker = GL, Anne Rice = GL (although I heard she's now writing stories with a more Christian overtones), and Mary Shelley = GL. Twilight is NOT Gothic Literature.
I honestly don't know how that book series could be considered Gotic Lit when SMeyer has stated in interviews that the series is a Romance first and foremost and that the Cullens are supposed to be more superheroes than vampires (Like Marvel and DC I guess).
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Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:17 pm
Scarlet Ember Kitten Wow Angelo, didn't know you had it in you. I agree with what CW stated earlier. I think it's completely incorrect to call Twilight Gothic Literature. Poe = GL, Bram Stoker = GL, Anne Rice = GL (although I heard she's now writing stories with a more Christian overtones), and Mary Shelley = GL. Twilight is NOT Gothic Literature. I honestly don't know how that book series could be considered Gotic Lit when SMeyer has stated in interviews that the series is a Romance first and foremost and that the Cullens are supposed to be more superheroes than vampires (Like Marvel and DC I guess). I got that apparently because I have seen how someone like Chesterton uses paradox. :] To further the argument against Twilight, here is what I view of what Meyer said that Twilight is about romance. Twilight was never about love, but lust. Bella lusts for Edward because Edward is handsome and rich, whereas Edward lusts for Bella because her blood, he tells us, smells like freesia. Whereas Bella would show signs of devotion towards Edward, Edward would use devotion as an excuse for him to stalk Bella and cut her off from the other humans in Forks. His levels of abuse, are "justified" by his "devotion". However, devotion is never a justification for abuse! If only Meyer possessed common sense...
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