Elder Gothic And Atwood’s Modernization Into New Forms

The article investigates how the gothic tradition of early eighteenth century has evolved into its present twentieth century form by building on its staple ingredients of awe, fear, heightened imagination, dark subterranean vaults, persecuted heroines and malevolent aristocrats. During the Romantic period the external paraphernalia of gothic devices began to be internalized, which marks the most important shift in the genre. The external markers became the internal states of the individual. The consciousness, imagination and freedom of the individual tended to be valued more than his conformation to the societal norms. The focus in the modern gothic is not on the supernatural but it operates in completely human, social and familiar world. The article reviews how Margaret Atwood, a leading Canadian author implicates gothic devices in three of her novels, Surfacing, The Edible Woman and The Lady Oracle. The most frightening gothic phenomenon which haunts Atwood’s heroines is their own psyche; their gothic and heightened imagination illustrates their desires and fears in excessive forms.