Obsession in the gothic Essay Example for Free

Obsession in the gothic EssayTo what extent do you agree that obsession is a significant portion in the gothic writing you have studied? The word obsession means the domination of ones thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image or desire. With this in mind, both Faustus and Frankenstein show symptoms of monomania in relation to academic obsession. Similarly, in The Bloody sleeping room the characters that experience obsession are also male, nevertheless they are driven by a different obsession sexual desire.In the prologue of Doctor Faustus it already begins to establish Faustus thirst for knowledge and how this resulted in his tragic downfall. Firstly, the Chorus compares Faustus to the Icarus myth his waxen wings did mount above his reach, which suggests that Faustus fixation with necromancy is not a power he is supposed to possess, and that his destine will end similarly to Icarus. Furthermore, it states that Faustus glutted for learning.The word gluttony highlights that Faustus obsession for knowledge can only result in tragedy because its one of the seven deadly sins, and also indicates how extreme Faustus obsession is. This is because gluttonys definition is to gorge yourself with something, and is often to the extent of harm. However, you could argue that Faustus greed is not completely based around academic knowledge, and he actually desires rival God in terms of power and knowledge. For instance, when Faustus is listing what he would most, desires he cherished strength that exceeded.the mind of man and was in comparison to a mighty god. In comparison, Frankenstein also overstepped his reach in pursuit of his obsession, and com custodyts that Robert should learn from his mistakes, and that it is dangerous for men who aspire to become greater than this nature will allow. These short quotations show us the viewpoint of Shelley during this period on enlightenment, as she was trying to symbolise a moral and didactic message throughout Fran kenstein as a warning of all the forthcomings of what could happen if the exploration of science and knowledge became an obsession.For example, Frankenstein deliberately makes the creature ridiculous by making him proportionally large at about eight feet in height because he wanted to finish his creation as briefly as possible, and didnt think about the consequences this would have for the creature when he actually succeeded in bring him to life. On the other hand, in The Bloody Chamber whilst obsession is not as significant as the other two texts, Carter uses masculine sexual obsession to critique how patriarchal our society still is.For example, in The Snow Child she is called the child of his desire. He wishes for her to be beautiful and nothing else, so it is clear that he is interested only in her fashion and her value as a sexual object. Furthermore, once she has fulfilled her purpose of becoming a sexual object, she dies. This could be Carter symbolizing that once a charr tries to become the objection of a mans obsessions and desires, it becomes impossible for her to ever live up to expectations, and therefore a death sentence.