The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

Andrew Graham-Dixon presented The Art of Gothic in 2014 on BBC4 to explore how the 19th century was the turning point in the british history, the medieval past was influencing the present and future through literature. The Castle of Otranto started of this Gothic era and became influential for many authors. However, authors often would not state that they wrote their novels or would alter the origin of their work to disguise. 'New literature of fantasy that gave a voice to the real fears of an anxious age'. One novel that was the most controversial that Andrew explored was The Monk. It was slated as using young girls in the perverse themes was seen as inappropriate. The desire for horror was fed by the French Revolution through the disaster that ensued and the Industrial revolution meant 'science and industry was destroying the old social order and threatening moral obilivion'. The most interesting author that Andrew mentioned, for me, was Mary Shelley - the author of Frankenstein. She found solace in a graveyard, where her mother was buried, and began to write the book and scientific progress and the dangers of it. This shows the limited mindset of people of that era in respect of how the world will progress but it was interesting to me that she found peace in a graveyard and wrote one of the most famous horror novels in that environment.

Personally, I found this 3 part documentary series interesting in parts but I did lose interest in certain areas. Like I have mentioned, I liked hearing about the back stories of the authors and how they would get inspiration for such extreme stories. However, as Andrew explored a lot of aspects, some not as interesting as others, I feel it could've been a lot shorter. Although, it has influenced me to look deeper into the research behind the era and the authors ideas. It is an example to a student the extent of background research you can really get into. For a designer like myself, this is something I really want to get to grips with so my work has fluidity and I can produce strong final looks.