The Interweaving Of Darkness And Aestheticism

Ann Radcliff epitomized the British gothic fiction of18th century and her works were regarded as theclassic of gothic fiction. On one hand, she adopted the traditional elements of gothic fiction, and created herown style which expanded the dimensionality of gothic fiction. On the other hand, she first blended thecertain aesthetic characteristics which are usually seen in romantic literature into gothic literature, opened anew way for the development of gothic fiction. Therefore, Ann Radcliff’s works were favored by bothscholars and readers. On the base of foreign and former studies, the paper probes into the aestheticcharacteristics and the artistic fascination of Ann Radcliff’s works by close reading.The paper consists of introduction, main body and conclusion. The introduction summarizes thedomestic and overseas study on Ann Radcliff, puts forward the main topic and expounds the researchsignificance and approach.The main body consists of three chapters.Chapter one is the overview, which presents the origin and development of gothic fiction, educes theoutstanding representative of gothic fiction—Ann Radcliff, introduces her life briefly, and outlines thepioneering of her writing techniques, confirms her important role in the development of gothic fiction.Chapter two interprets the aesthetic characteristics of Ann Radcliff’s works in terms of gothic angle.The paper combines the text, deeply analyzes the building of horrible atmosphere, definable supernaturalactivity and the building of typical character, excavates the uniqueness of her written technique, anddemonstrates the attractive Gothic charming of her work.Chapter three probes into the romantic keynote of Ann Radcliff’s works. From the splendid landscapedescription, strong contrast, distinct subjective color and the setting of plot pattern, the paper combines theromance-related text, explores its unique aesthetic value and confirms her initiative writing technique.Conclusion summarizes the content systematically, educes Ann Radcliff’s influence to later female writers and her promotion to the birth of “female gothic”, and ultimately reaffirms the unique artisticconnotation and literary merit of Ann Radcliff’s works.