Key Issue Eight: Melodrama and Realism in Gothic Writing (Milla and Madeleine)

Melodrama and realism in Gothic writing

Melodrama and Realism are two main concepts that Gothic authors used and explored to bring the readers into the atmosphere they created. 

Melodrama

The Melodrama movement was born in France, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as part of the Romantic literary period. The romantics wanted to express their emotions through art, inspired by imagination, individuality, and nature. 

The word Melodrama is made from two different Greek words: Melos meaning music and drama meaning action. 

A melodrama is the foundation of every American movie of our time, as it contains a story with conflict coupled with music. 

This dramatic form also shows a battle between Good and Evil in three major plot elements: 

1. provocation, whatever provokes the villain to act devilishly to the hero; 

2.pangs, the pains that the hero suffers through because of the villain’s evil; 

3. and the penalty, the denouement, the last part of the play, where the villain gets the punishment that he deserves. 

Authors and artists use Melodrama when they want to develop plots that create an extraordinarily emotional reaction in the audience. 

Because Melodramas feature extreme situations and such intense emotions, they are mostly geared towards adult audiences.

Realism 

The roots of literary Realism also lie in France during the Romantic period. 

Realism is characterized by precise descriptions of places and characters. Writers of realism were the first to to take an interest in people of the middle class, and even the lower classes. 

They find their inspiration in the everyday moments and the routine of ordinary people. The type of Realism often used in Gothic writing is Magical Realism where paranormal events lay in a realistic and plausible context. 

Magical realism is the type of Realism that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality.

Connection with The portrait of Dorian Gray:

- The Battle of Good and Evil in Dorian’s spirit, reflected on the painting.

- A realistic context that could set up in real life.

- Every places are deeply described

- There is a denouement but not a happy ending.

BUT

- Absence of a true hero or villain, the main character is also the antagonist.

Links to follow:

https://prezi.com/7he5p8bcrli9/gothic-melodrama/

https://mubi.com/lists/gothic-melodrama

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-literary-realism#what-is-literary-realism

Quotes Dorian Gray Melodrama and realism form chap 11 to 20

• (Chap 13) “An exclamation of horror broke from the painter’s lips as he saw in the dim light the hideous face on the canvas grinning at him.” realism => detailed description turning into an horrific image

• (Chap 13) “He rushed at him, and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man’s head down the table, and stabbing again and again” => melodrama, over detailed, emphasise the frightful sense of the scene.

• (Chap 13) “said Dorian Gray, crushing the flower in his hand," - often referenced to flowers due to purity of his beauty, now as a reference to his corrupt soul.

• (Chap 15) “He himself could not help wondering at the calm of his demeanour, and for a moment felt keenly the terrible pleasure of a double life." - Duality of man as Jekyll and Hyde in the novel the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, which explores the gothic theme in London in the 19th century.

• (Chap 16) “A cold rain began to fall, and the blurred street-lamps looked ghasty in the dripping mist. (…) From some of the bars came the sound of horrible laughter. In others, drunkards brawled and screaming.” => Realism, foreshadowing of a terrible scene coming soon, presence of sound (Melodrama) we can hear horrible laughter and easily imagine the atmosphere of the place.

• (Chap 20) “Lying on the floor was a dead man.” - Ironic how he is objectified after his death as Basil was. The real Dorian has been exposed, without his beauty his only attribute is his wealth - "It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognised who it was.”

In conclusion, realism and melodrama are ubiquitous in The Portrait of Dorian Gray through many themes and ideas such as the long descriptions of horrible scenes, the dual and corrupt soul of Dorian gray, the presence of sound as what we could hear in a modern movie during a scene with suspense, and finally the end of the novel, realism is presented in the way dorian remains a human being, mortal.