distinctive features of dark romanticism



	DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF DARK ROMANTICISM
The gothic nightmare landscape
There are probably thousands distinctive features. Still, I've tried to distinguish some features more frequent then others, in order to observe similarities and dissimilarities. The obscure wonders - in what shape do they appear in the novels, songs and poems? The gothic stories are characterized by dark subterranean vaults, decaying abbeys, gloomy forests, jagged mountains, wild scenery, bandits, heroines, orphans and malevolent aristocrats (according to Fred Botting.). Features of the darkly romantic novel are harder to distinguish. Read more about religious features (supernatural forces, the emphasis on mystery) - Religious symbolism and mysticism - and drug features - whisky and cigarettes.
Heroic Despair In darkly romantic tales, heroes often deviate from traditional ideals. The hero is often defiant or melancholic - or rather, the defiance and melancholy makes him a hero. He or she is often called a "Byronic hero" or a "anti-hero". The heroine often experience trouble when she grows up. She despairs when the power of love turns out to be stronger than reason. (For example: Jane Eyre) Murder Crime and murder are metaphors for the dark sides of human nature. But these darker sides always correspond to lighter sides. Murder is often the consequence of unfettered passion in the genre Dark Romanticism. (For example: Nick Cave's Murder ballads, Film noir, Johnny Cash, De Quincey's Murder regarded as one of the Fine Arts) Subversive/impossible love Love is either subversive or impossible, according to me. Relationships - to God or a lover - results in sorrow and insanity. The lack of such a relationship, when love is too distant, results in sorrow and insanity. In the genre Dark Romanticism, the darker sides of true love are investigated. Suffering lures in the shadows of romance - or vice versa. The wasteland and the sea The stormy, desolate landscapes, the wasteland symbolizes the lack of something - God, love, sexuality. The castle in the gothic story is always located in the wastelands. Jesus tried to resist the tempations of Satan in the desert, the wasteland. (For example: Bowles' The sheltering sky, Brontë's Wuthering heights) Many adventures and stories takes place close to the sea, or at sea. The sea is a wasteland, hiding mysteries beneath the surface. (For example: Melville's Moby Dick, Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Breaking the waves) Ambivalence An ambivalent human being - angel, madman, beast - wanders the earth in the genre Dark Romanticism. Disruptions and hesistations in maturation. The dark and the light forces - who can tell which is which? - are equally strong/weak.	Villany Of course there is a villain that confronts the hero/heorine. The hero/heroine is often attracted to the villain - for example Satan, the owner of the castle or a supernatural force. The reader often sympathize with the villain. The villain is often as misunderstood and lonely as the hero. I would like to call them "anti-villains". (For example: Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Quasimodo) Nightmare landscapes The darkly romantic fiction invites us to landscapes that reminds us of our nightmares. We all inhabited these landscapes sometime, and - perhaps through all of our lifes - we wish to go back there. We wsih to liberate ourselfes from the terrors - or understand the terrors that never leaves us. The gothic novel is a striking example. The vampire, Batman, the Film Noir hero - they are all creatures of the night. Fears and desires grow stronger when the sun sets. (The ideas behind Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Dracula came from nightmares...) Death The threat of death. Not only physical death. The death of beauty and the death of God are even more common themes. A struggle to accept limited lifetime. (For example: The Vampire novels) Pessimism and cynicism? The focus on the tragic dimensions of life doesn't imply that Dark Romantics are simply pessimistic or cynical. Sometime philantrophic artists (William Blake) are supposed to be romantic and misantrophic artists (Shelley, Byron) are supposed to be dark romantic. I disagree. The dark romantic is often a disappointed philantrophist or a hopefull misantrophist, I believe.