Gothic and the Supernatural

The Gothic is an environment in which the soul of man is fractured and then examined in fragments of light and dark. The classic 'furniture' of the gothic text - the various supernatural elements of which it is comprised - are all pieces of the human mind or identity. Each image is a metaphor for some experience, fear or primal instinct within man. The ghost (man's fear of the past), the castle and it's multitude of gloomy corridors and rooms (often seen as a metaphor for the mind) and the vampire (representing an embodiment of Jung's 'shadow'; the narcissistic side of men and women) all represent segments of the human psyche, and present them in a most accessible fashion to the reader. One of the greatest fears that is played upon within the gothic genre is man's fear of powerlessness or the 'demonic' within himself. To suggest that man is still a beast, or that he does not have the omnipotent control over forces both surrounding and within himself that he thinks he does, is something that will shake most to the core. Humanity has become very comfortable with the idea that e are 'in control'; that we occupy the top of the food chain and the hierachy of power on earth. To suggest that vampires walk amongst us or that aliens visit our world suddenly takes away this feeling of security and control. Suddenly, it injects us with the bone-chilling realization that we are not as 'powerful' as we think. However, this is not the only way in which the devices of the supernatural are put into action.

Often, it is the doubt conjured up by the ambivalence surrounding supernatural circumstances in gothic tales that becomes one of the most effective tools for creating tension, fear and insecurity in the reader. For if the supernatural was not at work, it may be even more frightening to acknowledge that it is man who has performed a deed. It is much easier to sometimes blame atrocity and evil on demonic or supernatural entities and forces than to believe that man is capable of spawning it.

Consider Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat and Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Both these stories involve the appearance or intervention of supernatural forces within seemingly innocent or unsuspecting circumstances, causing havoc and tragedy. However, one of the most troubling aspects of both tales is that the reader never quite knows if the atrocity found within these pages is due to some malignant presence or the evil of the characters themselves. It is this ambivalence that will make some puritans squirm in their chairs.

The Black Cat is perhaps the better example of this in that we are presented with an obvious contrast. From the first few paragraphs we have formed something of a generous impression of the principle character, do to his insistence that from his youth he "...was noted for the docility and humanity of (his) disposition". Indeed, if one were to read no further than the first page, the idea that an innocent or benevolent individual has fallen upon dire circumstance may be the lasting impression. However, continuing through the narrative we come across some rather uncharacteristic behaviour from our "conspicuous", animal-loving hero.

"...in his fright at my violence, he inflicted a slight wound upon my hand with his teeth. The fury of the demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame. I took from my waistcoat-pocket a penknife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!"

This is a shocking act from a man who professed that he was "..especially fond of animals" only moments beforehand! However, the whole narrative itself seems to detail a man who isn't in possession of the better senses that he evidently once had. The narrative voice is extremely articulate and not only gives the impression of intelligence but a sober disposition. Unfortunately, this is one of the tools used by Poe to create that feeling of unease that has already been suggested. How could a man perform such acts? How could this apparently sane and respectable character dig out a cat's eye with a knife? A casual reading of the passage reveals the characters explanation - demonic possession. His references to the lose of himself and the intervention of a "fiendish malevolence" is now the explanation for this evil. He even goes on to later give it something of an identity in referring to it as the "spirit of PERVERSENESS" when he eventually kills the cat and hangs it from a tree on his property.

Although the reader, and no doubt the character, gains some security from the notion that it was not the his fault he performed such a despicable act, the 'demon' explanation doesn't quite sit comfortably. For allusions are given on numerous occasions that the man is an alcoholic and is excessively violent by nature. It strikes me that his love for animals is in fact a love for the bestial; the primal; and that he perhaps aspires to this animalistic state, seeing it as a state of 'truth'. His wife, who he eventually slaughters with an axe and hides in the cellar wall, had "...a disposition not uncongenial with my own." I wonder if this actually means that, rather than having the same temperament, she was another animal or pet to him (on which to inflict violence). For he admires the "faithful and sagacious" qualities of the beast, and states that "...(t)here is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute." And this was behaviour that it seems reasonable to attribute to the long-suffering woman, who stayed by her brute's side even as he "offered" her violence.

Constant references are made throughout the text in reference to the instinctual or primal image of man. The idea that man is a beast and should behave in such a fashion is one of the tenets commonly associated with satanic beliefs, and the killing of the cat and murder of his wife lean towards the very same acts of violence and sacrifice that mark the satanic initiation. This man offers his soul to a darker power, his behaviour only carried out to seal the pact. Unfortunately, the darker power is not some demonic presence, nor is it the 'spectre' of the second cat (man's past evil comes back to haunt him; the phantom or ghost becomes the fearsome apparition of conscience), it is the darker instincts of the blasphemous man himself. The man has offered himself to the 'devil' in every human; the 'horned beast' that dwells within each of us. This is the true evil, and this is the source of the reader's fear when reading this text. Although supernatural circumstances may present themselves (albeit in a somewhat subjective manner in this tale), that is to say, explanations beyond the paranormal for certain occurrences may escape us (the shape of the cat in the burnt house; the fantastic coincidence of the white shape on the second cat), we are essentially presented with a cold reality rather than 'super-reality'. For if the man was not possessed, and if the second cat was merely a fantastic coincidence, then man truly has something to fear - himself. And it is this realization that is the most effective narrative device of The Black Cat - calling the supernatural into doubt.

This fear is magnified when such a clear distinction or contrast between what's real and what's supernatural is lacking. The Turn of the Screw is perhaps even more chilling in that the reader is left to his own devices to come up with an explanation for what happened, as it is less clear what happened to the governess and those around her. Again, the reader is presented with evidence for both a supernatural and natural explanation or course of events. The circumstances resulting in the hysterical behaviour of Flora and the death of Miles are mysterious and vague at best. Were the children really pursued by the ghostly duo - Miss Jessel and Peter Quint? Or was the whole thing a somewhat romantic creation from the strange mind of the governess? We cannot be sure. And it is this realization that shocks the reader. For, if we were to acknowledge that man is the only entity present; no ghostly presence on the stairs at night or watching from the furthest side of the lake; then it would seem that the governess ( or even Mrs. Grose or the children as it has been proposed!) is the true source of evil. And it is her diabolical machinations that scare both children so awfully. It is the governess that generates the terror surrounding Bly. Consider the following passage, which is perhaps the greatest evidence for calling the supernatural into doubt:

"...seizing my colleague, quite thrusting her at it and presenting her to it (Miss Jessel), to insist with my pointing hand. 'You don't see her exactly as we see? - you mean to say you don't now - now? She's as big as a blazing fire! Only look, dearest woman, look - !'...

...'She isn't there, little lady, and nobody's there - and you never see nothing my sweet! How can poor Miss Jessel - when poor Miss Jessel's dead and buried? We know, don't we love?' - and she appealed, blundering in, to the child." (pg. 214)

And yet even this passage is ambiguous in that it still supports a number of things - Mrs. Grose is in denial of the phantom's presence; the children have a malign influence over the proceedings; The governess is insane and hallucinating the whole thing etc. It is hard to know what the truth of the matter is!

However, there are still further explanations and ideas surrounding the entire plot. One that I invest some belief in is that Miss Jessel and Mr. Quint represent the approach of or presence of sexuality. Many a 'Freudian symbol' can be found in images such as the presence of Miss Jessel on the other side of the lake. In this light, the supernatural element is how the governess would come to see these images herself. Did she see photos of the two characters who now haunt the grounds or was there a direct 'telepathic' transfer of the images between her and the children? In this light, the governess is as much of a hero if she had been protecting the children from malevolent spirits - she is protecting them from "evil" ideas; from perversion. For it would seem that Quint and Jessel have already perverted the children when they were alive by sharing 'secrets'. Did the couple tell them about sex or did they molest the children? So many questions arise from the text that one cannot help but feel some unease at 'knowing' so little. This is perhaps the very thing that works to James' advantage.

The supernatural performs the same function as myth, superstition and fantasy in that it fills gaps in our analysis and understanding of the world around us. If we are left in a state of confusion, or if we do not really know what causes something to happen, our minds (being the clever things that they are) will fill the gaps with whatever presents itself. Unfortunately, this is often fiction. The supernatural arises from the human desire to understand the world around in which they live. To acknowledge a lack of understanding touches upon the fear that pervades most of the 'collective mind' - that man has no real control and therefore no real power over his world. The gothic acknowledges this. It is a subversive genre that suggests that we are not as 'grand' and omnipotent as we think. We are merely beasts; we have destinies or are fated; there are forces out there beyond our control; we can be perverted, destroyed, lead, possessed etc. The greatest fear isn't that there are supernatural forces at work; that we are plagued by demons, visited by aliens, preyed upon by vampires; but that there is no evil but our own. Man is the devil as well as the angel he more often professes to be. And therefore, calling the supernatural into doubt can be one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of the gothic writer.


Bibliography

Deakin University, Narrative and Subversion, Study guide, Learning Resources Services, Deakin University, published 1996.

Edgar Allan Poe, The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, Penguin Books, Middlesex. First published by Random House, Inc., New York 1938. This edition published by arrangement with Random House by Penguin Books 1982.

Henry James, The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories, Oxford University Press, New York; 'The Turn of the Screw' first published 1898; published in the New York edition 1908; First published as a World's Classics paperback 1992.

"Upon the autumn wind I hear echoes of The Musings of Dan!"
or
"Great globs of green flourescent ooze run down the walls of The Lair of Dan"