Topic > The natural order of things should not be disturbed: Gothic literature perspective

The opposition between the natural and the unnatural is particularly evident in Gothic literature, and transgression of the boundaries between the two is often seen as condemned. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1606), Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein (1818), and Angela Carter's collection of short stories entitled The Bloody Chamber (1979), the “natural order” is certainly disrupted. However, it is questionable to what extent the consequences of this disruption are necessarily negative. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the "evil" actions committed by Macbeth are certainly seen as transgressions to the unnatural. His dabbling with the supernatural forces of the witches in the opening of the play allows the audience to form a bond between Macbeth and the supernatural to such a degree that a 17th century audience would certainly see them as the cause of the change in Macbeth's character. Shakespeare uses the witches to foreshadow Macbeth's subsequent suffering and fall from grace with the extended metaphor of the "navigator" who "sleeps neither night nor day", suggesting that Macbeth's death was an inevitable consequence after upsetting the natural order of things. Furthermore, when considering the context of the play, the reference to witches as "devil" is significantly reflected in Macbeth's murder of Duncan as a violation of one of the most significant natural boundaries of the 17th century: the divine right of king. This highlights that Macbeth's actions are a direct attack on God and religion. The play's cyclical ending – opening and closing with a battle against a traitor to the crown – further portrays the destruction that the disruption of the natural order can cause – in commenting that "blood will have blood", Shakespeare uses this device structural to imply that a The consequence of the “discomposition of the natural order of things” is an inevitable cycle of violence. It is the Doctor's quote in Act 5 that sums up Shakespeare's intentions; “Unnatural actions lead to unnatural problems.” Therefore, Macbeth can undoubtedly be seen as a warning play, in which death and violence are a consequence of the disruption of the natural order. Furthermore, the Gothic element of the revenant is used in Macbeth to highlight the consequences of dabbling in the unnatural with dramatic artifice. of the ghost of Banquo. The ghost contains terror linked to a sense of implacable guilt: according to Lady Macbeth it is the "very painting of fear" and, unlike the witches, only Macbeth can see Banquo's ghost. It is therefore clear that the ghost is an externalization of Macbeth's mental state and a representation of what on the one hand could be seen as remorse and on the other could be seen as fear of others discovering the bad deeds he committed. The terror represented by Macbeth is a perfect narrative device in arousing suspicion among the Scottish nobility and serves as a stark reminder of Macbeth's wickedness to the audience, therefore highlighting the consequences of evil and unnatural actions. From a feminist perspective, when considering gender relations in Macbeth, it seems that violence is seen as more unnatural when it is female, perhaps explaining Lady Macbeth's eventual "problems": deteriorating to the point of a nervous breakdown. The dialogue in the opening scenes of the play is significant when considering what is “natural” in relation to the genre: Macbeth is presented as “smoked by bloody execution” and while violence is seen as unnatural when it comes to murder of a King, theviolence in the context of war is seen as “courageous” and as “servant of valor” and brought good consequences: it allowed Macbeth and Banquo to regain their original honor. However, Lady Macbeth's potential for violence is depicted as having disastrous consequences - once again, that which is unnatural, the "spirits", are called upon to "unsexualize" Lady Macbeth, portraying that it is the male characters who have the true potential for evil. This taboo idea in the 17th century of transgressing the natural boundaries of gender to persuade Macbeth to commit his own unnatural actions results in his own downfall. By the end of the play, Lady Macbeth's guilt has driven her to unconsciousness: her hallucinations of the "blood" on her hands still symbolize her guilt. This highlights that while the consequences may be good on some unnatural occasions - murder in the context of war - female evil and the murder of an anointed King lead to terrible consequences. Similarly, in Frankenstein, it can be argued that the creature's acts – the murder of Victor's family – is a clear consequence of “upsetting the natural order of things”. The quest for knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein as Victor attempts to go beyond what is acceptable to humans and search for the secret of life. In fact, the main events of the text are due to this research; In his quest to discover the secrets of creation, Victor Frankenstein designs and builds his own “vile insect.” Frankenstein, being an epistolary novel told in hindsight, is therefore interpreted as a warning against the pursuit of knowledge which represents an upheaval of the natural order. Considering the context of the novel; After the Enlightenment which saw revolutions in science and knowledge, it is certainly logical that Shelley would want to portray the consequences of the disruption of the natural order, in this case, the creation of life. In chapter 2, Victor tells us “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I longed to learn,” reminding us once again of the importance of religion and the caveat of “playing God” – the fact that it is later referred to to the creature with harsh language like that of the “devil”, highlights that a consequence of transgressing the boundary between God and humanity is terrifying. There is no doubt that Frankenstein contributed to the modern perception that science and knowledge can be terrifying and to the consequences of Shelley's death. and isolation certainly seem to be a warning against the destruction of the natural. However, although the novel uses biblical analogies to Genesis and an intertextual relationship to Paradise Lost, with the creature telling Frankenstein "I should be your Adam", this may suggest that Shelley's Attention is not what he did Frankenstein, but what he fails to cultivate his creation: chaos ensues only because he is incapable of taking responsibility for what he produces; Frankenstein's discussion of his childhood and his parents' roles calls into question the extent to which readers can blame the "abominable" monster for his actions. The interpretation of the creature as inherently "evil" due to its unnatural creation comes from the narrative voice of Victor, a man tormented by terror and remorse. The inclusion of a large section of the novel narrated by the creature himself would suggest an alternative interpretation, that he is "evil" because he is "miserable" – in recalling the abuse and neglect he suffers at the hands of his creator and how he pushed his quest for revenge, this would imply that the message of the novel is that knowledge and science itself are not dangerous,..