Between the Gothic and the Plague: Why we can't have nice things

by Mary Shelley, Horace Walpole, William Beckford, Edgar Allan Poe, Jack London

Overview

This volume contains five stories – some short, some long. Each that builds upon the heritage of the other. It starts with The Castle of Ontarato (1764) by Horace Walpole which is considered the first, “Gothic Novel”; Vathek, An Arabian Tale (1782) by William Beckford, was influenced by Walpole and Arabian Nights; The Last Man (1826) by Mary Shelley carries on the theme of the previous works, but could be viewed as one of the first science fiction post-apocalyptic novels; The Masque of the Red Death (1842) by Edgar Allen Poe also focuses on apocalyptic forces and society’s efforts (or lack thereof) to deal with it. Finally, The Scarlet Plague (1912) by Jack London describes a world-wide pandemic that humanity cannot control. Even the cover illustration, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, by Goya is influenced by the Gothic art and forms a sort of double-entendre of monsters made in our mind and by doing nothing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950423392
Publisher:	Zmok Books
Publication date:	05/20/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	528
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 – 1851) was an English novelist who is most famous for writing the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.