Spectres of Antiquity: Classical Literature and the Gothic, 1740-1830

by James Uden

Gothic literature imagines the return of ghosts from the past. But what about the ghosts of the classical past? Spectres of Antiquity is the first full-length study to describe the relationship between Greek and Roman culture and the Gothic novels, poetry, and drama of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Rather than simply representing the opposite of classical aesthetics and ideas, the Gothic emerged from an awareness of the lingering power of antiquity. The Gothic reflects a new and darker vision of the ancient no longer inspiring modernity through its examples, antiquity has become a ghost, haunting contemporary minds rather than guiding them.

Through readings of works by authors including Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew Lewis, Charles Brockden Brown, and Mary Shelley, Spectres of Antiquity argues that these authors' plots and ideas preserve the remembered traces of Greece and Rome. James Uden provides evidence for many allusions to ancient texts that have never previously been noted in scholarship, and he offers an accessible guide both to the Gothic genre and to the classical world to which it responds. In fascinating and compelling detail, Spectres of Antiquity rewrites the history of the Gothic, demonstrating that the genre was haunted by a far deeper sense of history than has previously been assumed.

284 pages, Hardcover

Published September 25, 2020

Reviews

[Shan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been a good few years since I last read a book on the subject of literature and I loved diving back in with Spectres of Antiquity. The writing is engaging, insightful and accessible. I particularly enjoyed Chapters 3-5 on the writings of Radcliffe, Lewis and Brockden Brown.

Admittedly, it has a personal appeal as I studied Gothic Literature but I definitely recommend this to anyone with even a light interest and I now am eager to revisit some of the texts mentioned.