H.P Lovecraft analysed as a Gothic author

H. P. Lovecraft analysed as a Gothic author.

Jennifer Richards

The term Gothic literature sparks up many immediate and somewhat cliché connotations, its main recurring themes are often forgotten or overlooked for the aesthetic it generated and subsequently authors or pieces of work that, arguably, should have contributed to the movement were considered as completely separate, one may wonder how differently contemporary Gothic culture may have developed had these authors or pieces of work affected society in the same way. A figure of interest for this discussion would be H. P. Lovecraft, critically his work has been analysed as both Gothic and scientific, however in popular culture he is rarely considered to have had anything to do with the movement. In this essay I shall be evaluating the body of work created by Lovecraft, a renowned science fiction author, I shall be interpreting his work from the angle of Gothic literature and discussing the points that align him with that genre. I shall be comparing and contrasting the gothic movement with Lovecraft's literary career and how big of a role the science fiction genre within literature played in that movement, I shall also be evaluating how differently the movement would have gone had authors like Lovecraft been considered purely Gothic authors.

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. These facts few psychologists will dispute, and their admitted truth must establish for all time the genuineness and dignity of the weirdly horrible tale as a literary form.”(Lovecraft 1)

Gothic literature is filled with ambiguity, what would one define as Gothic, where is the line drawn? This subject is frequently debated, especially as in modern culture Gothic is most commonly remembered as an aesthetic, a notion, a romantic aspect. It would seem the critical analysis and its purest qualities, in literature, are disregarded to a fault. Even though the culture began as a derivative of aesthetics, architecture was one of the first aspects of the movement, what it evolved into for writers and readers everywhere became something much more complex. Of course the origins of the movement are not the origins of the term Gothic, a name derived from a Germanic tribe centuries ago, considering this it is hardly a surprise that a great deal of Gothic literature has taken themes of Germanic folklore and is inspired by Bavarian Europe. As Gothic is colloquially regarded as an aesthetic or visual movement, is it so much of a stretch to consider H. P. Lovecraft's concepts and theories as Gothic? It is implied that he follows the belief that reality only extends as far as to what we can individually perceive or experience, his entire body of work plays off of this implication and subsequently the notion of “alternate realities” or alien creatures becomes a feasible component of the reality that he lives in. The monsters that terrorise his characters and bring about their inescapable doom are nothing more than visual or an aesthetic and correlating to themes found in Edgar Allan Poe's work: an extension of the individual's psyche. If reality is nothing beyond what we can personally perceive, anything we perceive within that reality is nothing more than a projection from our minds, so if we follow that thesis everything inclusive in Gothic literature is little more than aesthetic. Looking at one of his most famed predecessors, someone of which H. P. Lovecraft cited great influence from, it is no surprise his work coupled the groundbreaking and cosmic aspects of science and the romantic, wonderfully dark and disturbing themes of Gothic literature. Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft lead very similar lives, and when one thinks of Lovecraft, it provides connotations that bring to mind the world Poe created, however what made them the most comparable was not what they chose to include in their work, or what they were attracted to creatively and academically, but what they distanced themselves from; “Poe and Lovecraft deliberately chose to turn their backs on contemporary styles and subject-matter and created their own individual worlds of fantasy. In this above all else they were similar.”(Bloch 1)

From an analytical sense there are a number of qualities that coincide Lovecraft's work with the Gothic genre; he has an excellent understanding of the sublime, his ability to wield psychological and atmospheric torment enables him to create horrendously obscure landscapes and scenarios. Each instance comes equipped with tantalizing terror that placed the reader into a state of existential wonder and fear. Although his imagery aligned itself more with surrealist dreams-capes, the language he used had a grandiose and esteemed quality, highly descriptive and elegant, his ability to paint a picture using words is comparable to that of Mary Shelly or the Bronte sisters. While it is elegant there is a heavy and harsh tone carried throughout his work that bears similarities to the aforementioned, it complies with the traditional language used in early Anglo-Saxon Gothic literature; “It is no surprise that the Gothic, a literature that emerged from the heart of northern Protestant Europe in the eighteenth century, uses an insistently harsh and ancient Northern tongue for its disordered and fantastical imaginings of murky deeds in the Dark Ages centuries before Enlightenment”(Luckhurst 1). Luckhurst continues to credit Lovecraft for maintaining this form of organic language used in Gothic literature, even though the author's work is assigned a different genre, it is clear he had contributed to the Gothic movement. One could say that if he were to be completely submerged into that culture then he could be considered to have helped modernise Gothic literature, by using alternative frameworks and settings to convey his horror, or perhaps some would go as far to say his literature may be Gothic but it is at least considered avant garde within its culture. Being one of the first writers to peruse different avenues of the archaic sublime, another few to consider would be Mary Shelly, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and even Bram Stoker if we look at Dracula as an inherent metaphor for the flaws within Victorian society. In his own words, Lovecraft has proven he clearly understands the purpose of Gothic literature, and maintains a profound handle on the way our psychology and society works; “Against it are discharged all the shafts of a materialistic sophistication which clings to frequently felt emotions and external events, and of a naively insipid idealism which deprecates the aesthetic motive and calls for a didactic literature to uplift the reader toward a suitable degree of smirking optimism.” (Lovecraft 1) he professes an unequivocal human thirst for the fear, chaos and taboo exposed through Gothic literature.

Although his themes of the multi-verse and alternate realities, alien civilisations and tears in time and space are what align him with science fiction and crown him the father of sci-fi, one cannot deny the very apparent Gothic themes. Even though originally the Gothic genre oriented around architecture, pagan subjects, demonic or occult folklore and pseudo medieval fantasy worlds, all of which were romanticised during the Victorian period, around the same time authors began a fascination with the occult and paganism, it later evolved and advanced to include psychological or scientific components, modernised and brought into urban or unconventional landscapes, this niche was filled by authors such as Lovecraft. As the subject matter so drastically divorced itself from the values and status quo upheld during the bourgeois industrial period with worlds of dark, seductive and chaotic fantasy, challenging Christian beliefs and expectations, the notion of the taboo, sublime or theoretical other being all the more intriguing. Poe, Lovecraft, Stevenson and many others all leaned further toward a psychological, aspect of the Gothic genre and subsequently distanced themselves from the traditional, organic and pagan themes found in most of the novellas, however the aesthetics and upfront premise may not coincide with that romantic aspect, the undertones and connotations drawn can be considered a part of that area, especially in regards to the language and in extension imagery used. Lovecraft's tone and tongue on page gave the illusion of towering Bavarian castles, uncanny and treacherous crypts, slinking, ghoulish and romantic murderers hiding in the shadows, gargoyles illuminated in lightning and a howling storm that crashed about decadent yet desolate palace halls. He combined the traditional script and poetry with new age concepts of bejewelled, crumbling pyramids, once home to a race of powerful reptilian overlords, mysteriously vanished, combined with existential terror, he plays on ideas of disruptions in our time and space continuum, implying the history we remember or have documented never happened, or was overlapped by an extra-terrestrial race of highly powerful or intelligent beings. He toys with the concept of the multi-verse and psychological disturbance, promoting the theory that nothing is ever truly real. The Gothic genre was all about disturbance, instilling a curious fear and exhilarating terror in the hearts of society, however bumps in the night, lanky creatures stalking the streets, crazed murderers and boogeymen punishing wrong doers can only invoke fear so much before it becomes stale, authors such as Edgar Allen Poe came with a new approach, a fear so disturbing few dare even acknowledge it, the fear of your own neurology, psychological instability, this is something that cannot be escaped, hidden from or fought and so Poe, as well as Lovecraft and Stevenson use this to create terrifying and dark tales testing the Gothic factor. Another aspect of his that aligns Lovecraft with Gothic literature, considering various habits and patterns of Gothic authors, is this consistent narrative style: “his sometimes frustratingly methodical descriptions, ostensibly for the sake of accuracy, separating him from Gothic writers whose narrative is perhaps more emotional or character driven. It is exactly in this ambiguous area of literary style, however, that Lovecraft perhaps engages best with one suggestive Gothic trope - namely, the preoccupation with the manuscript narrative.”(Hudson 1)

It would seem that he has a keen knowledge of Gothic literature and what it pertains to, but perhaps chooses to drive his work in different direction. In some of his own text discussing the subject of Gothic literature he most commonly refers to it as “cosmic fear” and suggests that the use of a physical enemy or an identifiable enemy in literature designed to terrorise is not enough. This gives the implication that while the concept and aesthetic of Gothic literature is intriguing and respectable, what has been born of it provides connotations he doesn't wish to be associated with, subsequently his writing style, subject matter and existential approach were all combined and he fell in line with a genre far more fitting; the genre of science fiction provides a greater platform for writers fascinated by the metaphysical, human torment and surrealism, while the aesthetic clearly interested Lovecraft, his obsession and belief of the human need for fear may have proved too great to be aligned with Gothic literature. One must then however return to the ambiguity of Gothic literature and where the line ends, the very nature of Gothic literature, abiding to an aesthetic and theme designed to terrorise humanity is subjective and therefore cannot be limited to strict criteria. In other words it depends how one defines Gothic, if we look at it as a superficial and aesthetic movement with greater stock in tantalising and romance, reinventing the archaic magic of rural British and European landscapes, then perhaps it is too constricting and simple for Lovecraft, even if his language and format aligns with said romance. However if one is to consider Gothic literature to be everything encompassing fear, sublime, gruesome and absurd disturbance and the art of horror, then H. P. Lovecraft could be considered one of the most profound and skilled Gothic authors in literary history.

References

Bloch, R. (1973). Robert Bloch on Poe and Lovecraft. [online] Alangullette.com. Available at: http://alangullette.com/lit/hpl/bloch.htm [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015].

De Vore, D., Domenic, A., Kwan, A. and Reidy, N. (n.d.). The Gothic Novel. [online] Cai.ucdavis.edu. Available at: http://cai.ucdavis.edu/waters-sites/gothicnovel/155breport.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015].

Harris, R. (2013). Elements of the Gothic Novel. [online] Virtualsalt.com. Available at: http://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015].

Hudson, K. (2013). Sheffield Gothic : Foreshadowings - H.P. Lovecraft as a Gothic writer. [online] Sheffieldgothicreadinggroup.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://sheffieldgothicreadinggroup.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/foreshadowings-hp-lovecraft-as-gothic.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015].

Luckhurst, R. (2013). H. P. Lovecraft and the northern tongue. [Blog] Oxford words blog. Available at: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/05/h-p-lovecraft/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015].

Mullan, J. (n.d.). The origins of the Gothic. [online] The British Library. Available at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-origins-of-the-gothic [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015].

Pattee, F. and Lovecraft, H. (1946). Supernatural Horror in Literature. American Literature, 18(2), p.175.