The Art of Gothic- Review

The Art of Gothic was written  by Andrew Graham- Dixon. He states that the word gothic often gives the desire to revive something that is dead. The word gothic first came from the medieval times, particularly from the architecture as they had all the characteristics that gothic architecture has. These are the pointy formations in the structures that were seen on the churches and cathedrals. I found this programme really interesting as I got to know more about gothic horror in more depth. I also enjoyed how he explained and showed how gothic moved from the nineteenth century into the twentieth century.

The castle of Otranto is the beginning of gothic in the year 1764. This was what first introduced haunted castles and supernatural forces. There always was darkness throughout the castle and it always felt like you are about to fall though trapped doors. The fact that Dixon shows how gothic has influenced today's word through books, films, fashion, the industry and even technology really amazed me. However, I also thought that with the sound effects while he was talking and the tone of his speech might have over exaggerated a few points about gothic and made it a little too dramatic. For example when he said that there are ghosts in the machines.

As my chosen book is Dracula, all this time I thought that Bram Stoker was the first author to write a novel on vampires. However, after watching the art of gothic I came to know that it was in fact Karl Max who was the first person to write a novel on a real life vampire who was known as a blood-sucking beast. He also explains about how victorians reacted to the monk when it was first published and that there were many religious views against it. This is because in the novel the character sells his soul to the devil. This was very shocking for the people at that time as it ruined and broke the trust people had on god because of such supernatural figures and stories.


Ref:
The Art of Gothic, 2014 [digital video] BBC4