The importance of the sublime as a means to understanding gothic texts, using examples from of number of gothic works.

An archaic cathedral resides among a savage forest where darkness reigns as the sole inhabitant among the shadows of the trees. This image would fill anyone with a sense of terror in the obscurity and power existing in it. However, delight in the awe and astonishment of this scene would be simultaneously produced. As a result, this setting is considered sublime. According to one of the most prolific and influential theorists on the sublime, Edmund …

…Castle of Otranto; A Gothic Story. London: Oxford University Press Secondary Sources Botting, F. (1996) Gothic. London: Routledge Clery, E.J. (2002) 'The Genesis of "Gothic" Fiction.' In: Hogle, J.E. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge Press Hennelly, M.M. (2001) 'Framing the Gothic: From Pillar to Post- Structuralism' College Literature 28(3), pp. 15-26 Kemp, J. (2001) A Glossary of Literary Gothic Terms. (updated spring 2001) http://www2.gasou.edu/facstaff/dougt/goth.html (accessed 17 February, 2004)