Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

Gothic Influences
41
The relationship between the “Gothic” and the “Romantic” was complex and sometimes
antagonistic. Michael Gamer argues in Romanticism and the Gothic that Romantic
literature saw itself as “high” culture, which utilized classical forms of poetry such as
the epic and the ode, and associated itself with the masculine, and was opposed to
Gothic literature because of its links with “popular culture”, and with the feminine. For
that reason, many Romantic literary figures such as Wordsworth and Byron publicly
attacked Gothic fiction and made it clear that they had no wish to associate themselves
with it. However, as Gamer points out, many of the works written by these authors
were Gothic-influenced, for example, Coleridge’s “Christabel”, and “The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner”. He suggests that Romantic writers “were appropriating
commercially valuable material (to draw readers) and attempting to transform them into
culturally valued materials (to satisfy an increasingly vocal critical audience)”. 146 This
comment has a great deal of resonance when we consider today’s art films.
In recent times, the term “Gothic” has come to be associated with the psychological
horror film and is used with particular reference to its creation of an atmosphere of
terror. It is necessary, however, to differentiate between “horror” - which according to
Ann Radcliffe, the author of The Mysteries of Udolpho could be defined as the fear of
some visible menace – and “terror” - which represents the fear of the unseen - in order
to differentiate between “horror film” and “Gothic horror”. The term “Gothic” provides
a useful frame of reference for approaching Ward’s early work, in particular, A State of
Siege and Vigil, in that both films create an atmosphere of unease. The definition of
Gothic that suits such films is obviously the more psychological one, a matter of subtle
undertones and not the shock tactics found in the average horror film.
A State of Siege displays an interest in the irrational and the grotesque in Kayser’s sense
and provides a good example of the creation of an atmosphere of terror. The film
centres around a middle-aged retired woman, Malfred Signal, who leaves the comfort of
her community and friends in the South Island after her mother’s death, to live up north
in an isolated spot where she knows no-one. From the time she moves into her new
house, she seems to be increasingly threatened by an unknown force which culminates
in a night of terror when the house is battered by a storm. In the film it is never stated
146 Gamer, Romanticism and the Gothic: Genre, Reception and Canon Formation 24.