Magdalena Drabikowska

Sovereignty negated. Hero of an eighteenth century gothic novel between the worlds of nature and culture

Analyzing the way to the sovereignty of a Hero of an eighteenth century gothic novel, we must realize, that the genre is fully created by the outlook on life, ideals and attitudes of Enlightment. It also cumulates the main experiences of the age – aesthetics (primitivism, the cult of remains, Edmund Burke’s theory of nobility), along with philosophy (thought of Kant, Locke, Rousseau, Volter, Sade),  culture (birth and development of novel), science (category of a superstition allowing the specialisation of science) and religion. But most of all – sociological researches, resulting in democracy, free thinking, revolutionary attitudes, respect for the autonomy of a single, apology of sovereignty and tolerance.

Enumerated values were realized In the way characteristic for the Age, yet the fullest way In the European history. For the first time deism and atheism were widely popularized, pacifism was born inspired by the Renaissance Irenism and ideas of some post reformation fractions of Protestantism (Arianism, Socinianism), social thought put a foundation for liberalism. Amongst the nobles rococo freedom of thought, life and behaviour was widespread and a woman, a rococo lady, was the author and receiver of the arts, the maker of the style (what can be seen in novel inspired by libertine tendency “Dangerous Liaisons” by Choderlos de Laclos (1782).

Assumption to the understanding of a gothic novel as a creation of eighteenth century can be given by coming from the year 1784 famous and commonly analyzed essay by Immanuel Kant “Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?”.

Sapere aude becomes the key motto of the Age, which evaluated itself by its own name what was pointed out by Michael Foucault[1]. That freedom of thought which allowed Volter and Rousseau to appear with their philosophy emerged in “Confessions” and came to its peak in the ideas and works by D. A. F. de Sade. In this enumeration we cannot omit the authors of gothic works. By the time Kant published his considerations in Great Britain culture had absorbed interests in primitivism and ancient ages along with the works of Horace, Walpole and Clara Reeve. The result of such interests may be aesthetic thought of Thomas and Joseph Wartons or popularity of T. Percy’s “Reliques of Ancient English Poetry” (1765). In 1786 “Vathek” by William Beckford is published and in the middle of 90’ the greatest works of Ann Radcliffe and “Monk” by Lewis are created. “Monk” may be connected with Kant’s thoughts concerning the autonomy of an enlightened man[2]. In that meaning Gothicism, which often in Polish literary studies is marginal stands up as a model of the enlightened worldview[3].

But that philosophical dominance in shaping views and attitudes, optimism of cognition, faith in empirics, sensuality and harmonious coexistence of nature and man/society did not last long. We could say that point of view of an enlightened crashed in the same way as – nearly a century after that – downfall of positivistic approach occurred. It is clearly visible in the moment when man symbolically stops controlling the nature or civilisation. The accident that caused the breakthrough was the great earthquake in Lisbon no the first of November 1755. Echoes of that event may be found in later thought of Enlightment for example in famous polemic of Volter and Rousseau. Positivistic optimism was strained by massive catastrophes of railway – that miracle if XIXth century technology. Since then man starts being afraid of his own creations and thus reflects in atmosphere of decadence and ontological instability. From such feelings spring all types of Gothicism[4].

Revalorisation and enthusiasm connected with new theory of greatness is also important. Thanks to that culture starts to accept rapidity and fears that change the realms of life. That gradation of transgression cannot be overestimated if it comes to the development of Gothicism.

Gothic novel is a creation symbolically stretched between revolutions. To be born Cromwell Revolution (1640 – 1660) had to appear along with its decapitation of the king as an allegory of highness, revolutionary enthusiasm, euphoria and chaos and also later – The Great Revolution (1688 – 1689) in England. Gothic novel appears in the second half of XVIII century and it reflects the crisis of the enlightened worldview caused by the breakdown of optimistic faith in intellect, nature and development. It’s inspired by religious enthusiasm, individualistic and egalitarian tendencies and it’s a sign of anticlericalism of the Age (what was sometimes joined with diminishing spirituality and its widely understood tolerance). It absorbs events that led to the Great French Revolution (1789 – 1799).

Gothic novel and Gothicism formed on it implicate mentioned values thanks to which the convention blooms in times of changes and social revolts, new currents or vanguards of all sort.

It is significant that conservative circles criticized from time to time art based on fear. It cannot be disregarded that when right wing values are imposed upon the society ostracism of the government includes atheism, feminism, pacifism. liberalism and also horror. The index contains erotic pieces along with thrilling ones – a great example of such actions is a report written in USA by McCarthy’s commission in 1950 – targeted against not only political opponents but also artistic freedom, including the horror genre[5].

But Enlightenment’s belief in sovereignty of a man portrayed by a hero of a gothic novel does not implicate anthropological optimism. It must be observed that the way of a gothic hero to full sovereignty commonly ends with failure (condemnation or legal sentence). A hero is analyzed according to the typology that divides the heroes on a gothic thug, woman pursued by him and her rescuer. The problem of the way to the sovereignty and its negation mostly concerns the first type. It most frequently appears with villains who individualize themselves on the way of evil or transgression, evil cognition.

That is why I focus on the analysis of such villain: active, chasing after freedom of his will and choice at all costs. And they are the heroes of both sexes (even though common analysis centres on a female hero only as a victim).

Many features typical for a gothic thug are going to be respected as values by libertine writers like de Sade. According to him the first thing that binds man, deprives him of his sovereignty is the idea o God. Libertine denies it as a faith an value. So does a gothic thug. Such types of heroes close to Sade’s ones in their doings and vicious treatment of religion are cruel priests or monks for whom their robes (habits) are only help in their crimes. Similarly but more in detail those libertines are portrayed by de Sade (for example torturers of Justine – Sade’s version of gothic heroine). It’s worth mentioning that those creations were done by a philosopher living in officially catholic country, but amongst the society detesting clergy. The atheism of revolution was pointed against clergy’s rigid structures as well as against aristocracy. Against deism propagated by the French version of Enlightenment in England religious awakening takes place, inspired by former Reformation. And protestant belief in experience supreme over doctrine reflects in the essence of XVIIIth century empirics – John Locke’s works.

Authors of gothic novels are protestants judging harshly catholic religiosity and the institution of an order, power of clergy, hierarchy and counterreformation pathos that disables communication between God and trusty (easily manipulated by a priest who is either a liar concealing some dark secret or even a murderer).

Gothic thug in robes uses his position and respect for his own benefits. He also uses the possibility of administering sacraments manipulating with the facts learned during confession, or forcing the order oaths upon the heroin-victim. Negative attitude towards catholic religious habits and behaviours can be easily seen.

Reformation was very reluctant towards all kinds of magical religious actions. Rejection of magic of the sacraments implied rejection of all realtors and stressed individual conscience.[6]

The influence of de Sade’s philosophy is well seen in creations of a hero facing nature. Sade’s libertine is situated beyond the vision of internally good nature (as Rousseau wanted). Some thinkers had intuition concerning dangerous nature like Volter in his famous discussion with Rousseau – inspired by an earthquake in Lisbon, or Thomas Hobbes. But it was de Sade who first showed its thrilling powers. A gothic hero stands against dangerous, but filled with metaphysical elements nature. For Manfred (created by Walpole) nature guards order and makes felonies more difficult to perform. For Beckford from “Vathek” or Ambrosio from “The Monk” nature is persecutor and tool of punishment (or rather vengeance since the novels apply the rule “eye for an eye”). It is clearly seen in the description of Ambrosio’s agony:

Monk (…) fell on sharp peak of the mountain and then he rolled from abyss to abyss until wounded and crushed he lied on river’s bank. The sun shone above the horizon and its hot beams fell on the sinner’s head. Mountain eagles parted his body (…) On the seventh day a rapid tempest started.

At the very end the corpse of the hero is taken by wild river what is the symbol of cleansing the world of evil. It can have spiritual aspect of cleaning all satanic presence characteristic for some fractions of puritan – nomen omen – thougt[7]. Fate of gothic thug is here a didactic story – parenesis a rebours – of a felon who breaks the laws of nature and by the very same nature is punished.

When punishes fairly nature is diagnosed in good/evil categories as good but also dangerous to anyone who breaks its laws; it dooms and gives rebirth. The paradox can be compared with protestant revolution telling about devastation of the old order to prepare grounds for the new one. This biblical motive joining the Apocalypses with New
Jerusalem was adapted by many radical social movements and keeps its popularity even nowadays.

Relations between a gothic thug and nature remind de Sade’s vision in which man tries to achieve total freedom by undertaking actions against nature what leads to addiction to the negation and – as a result – to loss of sovereignty. Similar mechanism drives the fate of a gothic hero. Doing evil is an act of rebellion or libertine pleasure allowing to kill the routine and socially accepted behaviours[8]. Vathek, Schedoni or Ambrosio in their fascination with macabre are not unique during the Age; their profiles depict typical desire for delight – aesthetical savouring of pain and fear that leads to loftiness[9]. In that way they represent attitudes typical for the society yet officially not accepted at least until the second half of XVIIIth century. Their fate (exceeding limits of experience, standing against God and nature, fall) connect with all possible religious/social consequences of sin. Following that path could bring us to the problem whether – regarding the concept of a romantic hero presented at the beginning of this chapter – romantic writers based their heroes on a gothic thug with full understanding of the profile or maybe they were just inspired by its features? We could consider a gothic thug and his conscious evil doings in the context of the article by Hans Robert Jauss who claimed that man not God[10] is responsible for evil – this idea was presented for example in fundamental essays of Enlightenment by Rousseau from 1750 and 1754[11]. Freedom is a statement but should be based on ethic formed for instance by Kant in his categorical imperativ. Freedom cannot exist without responsibility that’s why a gothic thug must be punished by – curious thing – nature.

Gothic thug as a monk represents the law of religion, meaning civilisation against what he stands choosing his lust meaning nature. He breaks the divine law in the name of natural laws. He chooses sovereignty but his way is questioned. The very same nature which determines actions of a hero becomes a tool of punishment since – according to sentimentalism – he crossed its laws. Here we can observe a combination of ideas and attitudes what makes a libertine promoter of nature a sentimental victim (according to protestant thought).

In “Monk”, “Vathek” or novels by Radcliffe a cruel executioner can also be a woman. Jean Starobinski points out that in the second half of XVIIIth century in times of popularity of gothic novels an enlightened man seeks pleasure in perverse experience. New aesthetics also changes the way of presenting a woman who is no longer a rococo lady.

At the end of the century just before revolutionary crisis the source of pleasure is no longer any easy adventure, but rebellion of human’s will, unapologetic to fate and divine authority. Let’s see the metamorphosis of a woman (…) persecuting or victimized, lethal or tortured, dreadful or desecrated, woman who is no longer queen among rococo boudoirs. (…) Evil triumphs and it doesn’t matter whether woman destroys or is destroyed. The reverse of pleasure is not boredom any more – it is death.[12]

Even though these words do not refer to a gothic heroine they characterize possible attitudes. Woman – victim and woman – persecutor are another after gothic thug heroes whose fate negates sovereignty.

In the monograph of evil incarnated – Satan, and his closest companion – woman, entitled “La Sorcière” (1862) written by Jules Michelet, who continued traditions of Enlightenment, the main character is depicted as a priestess of the nature, admirer of wisdom living beyond humiliating social hierarchy free of religion and morality, antagonist of authorities and church.

A witch, just like de Sade’s libertine should not be judged within the categories of good and evil. As a totally natural creature she shouldn’t submit to such evaluation. The justification is the thirst of knowledge, her way is search of limitations of human experience, possibilities which she exchanges for her own soul and gets persecuted and dead. She is punished as some Other incomprehensible and therefore scary. Rejected by society she becomes cruel and unpredictable, but still she stays the nature incarnated. She asks the Devil:

(…) Leave me my hate. Let me be dreadful, scary… Such beauty corresponds with black adders of my hair, with my face scarred by pain and marred by a lightening. What does a woman desire? But everything, enormous, universal Everything. (…) Fabulous monster of a common life entered into her and ever since life and death dwell within. At cost of pain woman conceived nature.[13]

Highly subjective, emotional and naive today Michelet quite appositively described the idea of seeing XVIIIth century feminity in the context of nature. Woman is closer to nature than a man. She posses powers which are – in general understanding – dark and dangerous. In this pattern we see Karatis from “Vathek” by Beckford and Mathilde from “Monk” by Lewis. Vathek’s mother is a witch who uses dark magic and has daemons and monsters at her service. She makes her son sin, promising him the treasures of Solomon and sets him out for a journey that ends up with walking down the endless stairs and everlasting condemnation.

Empress is presented in the negative way:

Far from scruples she was so ignoble as only a woman can be and that means a lot as this gender claims being supreme over the another one and that’s what makes her weaker. [14]

In the quotation narrator speaks about the heroine in aversive way in the context of her sex but we must point out the scoff far from subtle irony used by author to describe characters from his presented world.

On almost identical scheme the character of female daemon in Lewis’s “Monk” is constructed. Similarly to Karatis characterized by wisdom (intelligence and education at levels rare amongst women), mind freed of superstitions (recognizing natural laws over rules of civilisation), obvious contact with dark magic, daemons, immorality (not respecting social rules), ability to excavate hidden lust from the tempted man (compilation of a great speaker, diplomat and devil the tempter) and – only in the case of Mathilde – some outer features (perfect look, beautiful face, desirable body).

It is worth mentioning that a female hero of the Faustian type is being pictured there. A character with unique personality, intellect in pursuit of transgression. She wants to cross the boundaries of sex, existence, being a female and a human. She desires knowledge forbidden for others. In exchange she decides – just like Faust – to give her soul.

She calls for the daemon and interacts with it. Negative heroines – even from distant ontological orders – always keep in touch with dark side, witchcraft and finally – the Devil. Their cause is always searching – in their attitude they represent extreme individuality stemming from pursuit of emancipation.

We could discuss why a hero of a gothic novel never gains full sovereignty. In the case of Lewis’s Ambrosio punishment reaches the man who is frightened, squelched by civilisation, afraid of independent doings. A hero who listens to Devil’s whispers ends up punished for rejecting God or rather for not believing in himself and nature. Above all visions of supernatural there is fear that path to sovereignty finishes with abyss just like the one in the end of “Monk” into which Devil casts body of a man who believed daemons but couldn’t believe in himself. That is the vengeance of nature on the one who cannot use it, who afraid of his own actions yet commits a crime on his way to sovereignty. Another sin of gothic thugs is making excuses, hiding their felonies behind lofty ideas. Failure always meets liars in robes, men and women equally, who conceal their doings behind the authority of a Holy Church, what is a very serious fault for enlightened speaker of freedom and truth. Another problem is the path of a gothic witch, whose failure can point out either anthropological fear (present in the story of Faust) of the limits of conscience that better stay untouched or fear of the women’s emancipation behind which stand dreadful forces of nature capable of revolting against the existing order.

It is symptomatic that a hero of a gothic novel is an enlightened man in pursuit of sovereignty, which never can be achieved. Novel postulates bravery and autonomy of idea in creations of characters. It binds them with responsibility for thoughts and doings and with total independence. Such hero functions incompletely, unable to break through the limitations (especially religious and cultural ones) he is bound to result in failure and a question about the possibility of being totally sovereign appears.

In the novel that closes the history of the genre “Melmoth the Wanderer” (1820) by Charles Robert Maturin main character seeks a man who can free him from responsibility for freedom, who nullifies his agreement with Satan, who cancels the burden of knowledge – the burden of Faust – and saves his soul. Character feels the need of transcendence but God is absent. The main mistake of the hero is that he does not see that instead of transcendence he could believe in the Other. It’s not meaningless that the Other is treated instrumentally by aristocracy and clergy – stratums whose position shall be relegated by social revolts foreseen and sensed in the second half of XVIIIth century. Enlightenment itself is egalitarian what feared those enlightened whose social position was based on social inequality.

Mistake of a hero is treating the Other as an object or naivety. In that meaning gothic novel is a creation rendered between libertinism and sentimentalism, postulating finding half-measure between emancipation and empathy. It also postulates compassion for the victim, but also to the persecutor who gets cruelly punished. Gothic novel is a moralistic story which – under cover of scoffing the world and man – hides humility for the Other and message spelled in the closing narration of “Monk”:

Snooty lady, why do you shiver when some poor sinner comes towards you? Lady! Compassion for others is not a less virtue than severity towards yourself.[15]

Conclusions could be multiplied bringing new questions and problems. Let me add that even though the main topic in the literature of Enlightenment is pursuit of sovereignty, that sovereignty is beyond the reach even for the protestant knight – Robinson Crusoe not to mention other heroes of philosophical stories from Rousseau: libertines like Laclos form “Cruel Intentions” or other heroes of this type. And that concerns a gothic thug and a witch as well.

Way to autonomy ends before the finish line, just like the thought of the Age is realized incompletely or thoughtlessly. Unfinished project of Enlightenment[16] reflects also in negated sovereignty of a hero of XVIIIth century gothic novel.

mgr Magdalena Drabikowska,

doktorantka,

Instytut Teorii Literatury, Teatru i Sztuk Audiowizualnych Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego

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[1] M. Foucault, Czym jest Oświecenie?, in Filozofia, historia, polityka. Wybór pism, trans. D. Leszczyński, L. Rasiński, Warszawa-Wrocław: 2000, s. 276-294.

[2] It is worth mentioning that this text is a glorification of an enlightened, obeyed by society, and is understood as totalitarian thought (by Jacques Lacan), a parallel is also led between German idealism and XXth century national socialism (Max Horkheimer in M. Horkheimer, T. W. Adorno, Dialektyka Oświecenia, trans. M. Łukasiewicz, Warszawa: 1994.).

[3] This marginality  reflects in treating gothic tendencies as  minor ones for Enlightenment, not that important in the Age of preromantism, disappearing in full, great Romanticism. An example could be disregarding attitude to youthful, gothic novels by Zygmunt Krasiński (as claimed by Juliusz Kleiner), appreciated later by Maria Janion.

[4] In romantic gothic novel that fear is depicted by M. Wollstonecraft-Shelley in Frankenstein (1818).

[5] It can by reasoned that the parallel between eroticism and fear was spotted and fully used by XVIIIth century gothic authors – like Matthew Gregory Lewis but also later movie directors Since German expressionism (Nosferatu by Friedrich W. Murnau from 1922). It is seen nowadays in the works of known directors (Andrzej Żuławski, Ken Russell, Roman Polański and others), also in alternative pictures f. ex.. exploitation films, existing beyond the official culture.

[6] J. Płuciennik, Nowożytny indywidualizm a literatura. Wokół hipotez o kreacyjności Edwarda Younga, Kraków: 2006, s. 144.

[7] Especially In the understanding of nineteenth century Puritanism of the Victorian Age.

[8] What was underlined by Starobinski: „ After  pleasure –  boredom comes. (…) What’s left is exotics of evil, exploration of dark continent of fear and forbidden pleasures. <<Make pain pleasant>> – these words of Jean Jacob Rousseau could be the key motto of de Sade.” (J. Starobinski, Wynalezienie wolności 1700-1789, trans. M. Ochab, Gdańsk: 2006, s. 77.).

[9] What is explained by Starobinski: „Morbid rites wake curiosity because they give shivers. Best English gentlemen – George Selwym, Thomas Warton – willingly assist public executions. Edmund Burke claims that such types of spectacles give to audience feelings stronger than pleasure and calls these experiences delight. The bloodiest comedy staged in a theatre, says Burke,  will give us only fake death, and if an execution of a famous criminal at near square was announced – this minute theatre would empty.” (Idem, s. 78.). Similar idea is spoken by one of the characters from Melmoth the Wanderer: „One can even become a great fan of cruelty. I’ve heard of people who travelled to distant countries where they could assist most cruel executions every day to feel that state of excitement that the sight of pain always brings (…). Call it cruelty I call it curiosity (…) that makes thousands of people watch tragedy and proves that the most gentle among women laughs at moans and agony.” Ch. R. Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer, in M. Praz, Zmysły, śmierć i diabeł w literaturze romantycznej, trans. K. Żaboklicki, Warszawa: 1974, s. 119.

[10] The contrary assumption – that it is God who is responsible for the evil – will make a gnostic writer William Blake inspired by Milton, whose works were significant for all gothic writers and generally people of Enlightement.

[11] H. R. Jauss, Proces literacki modernizmu od Rousseau do Adorna, trans. P. Bukowski, in Odkrywanie modernizmu,  Kraków: 2004, s. 21-59.

[12] J. Starobinski, Wynalezienie wolności 1700-1789, trans. M. Ochab, Gdańsk: 2006, s. 78.

[13] J. Michelet, Czarownica, trans. M. Kaliska, Warszawa: 1961, s. 80.

[14] W. Beckford, Wathek, trans. A. Jasińska, Kraków: 1975, s. 26.

[15] M. G. Lewis, Mnich, trans. Z. Sinko, Kraków: 1975, s. 401.

[16] J. Habermas, Modernizm – niedokończony projekt, trans M. Łukaszewicz, in Postmodernizm. Antologia przekładów, Kraków: 1997, s. 25-46.; J. Płuciennik, Oświecenie i niekończąca się opowieść literatury (article is now printing).