“I think we are all mentally ill” was what American writer Stephen King said while talking about the reason why human beings are drawn to horror. What King essentially meant was that man, beneath his entire civilized exterior, carved a much simpler world. A world with only good and bad, black and whites and no greys.
It is true that the mythic “fairy-tale” horror film intends to take away the shades of grey . . .. It urges us to put away our more civilized and adult penchant for analysis and to become children again, seeing things in pure blacks and whites. It may be that horror movies provide psychic relief on this level because this invitation to lapse into simplicity, irrationality and even outright madness is extended so rarely. We are told we may allow our emotions free rein . . . or no rein at all. (King)
Psychologist Carl Jung believed in the same theory of man’s mind as being more primitive than his modern appearance. While talking about the structure of the human psyche he gave forth the theory of “the collective unconscious”. A deep-seated, unknown and dark part of the human psyche which acts as a storehouse of images, motifs, and themes which are shared by the entire civilization. He called the contents of the collective unconscious as “archetypes” and classified them into several different categories.
For the purpose of the current article, we will investigate the fascination, which both writers and readers share, when it comes to the preference of the female antagonist in gothic fiction with special reference to Matilda from The Monk by Mathew Lewis and Geraldine from Christabel by Coleridge.
The basic premise of both the story of The Monk and Christabel revolves around the two essential archetypes i.e. the (essentially good) Hero and The Villain. The protagonist versus an entity which is out to hurt or harm those closest to the hero and is plain evil. Now, if one were to look more closely at the supernatural horror films then one would notice the predominantly female ghosts/ entities being used. Well, known examples being films like Paranormal activity, Conjuring, and The Exorcist. Several examples are also found in literature viz. Carmilla and Brides of Dracula by Edgar Allen Poe.
The emotion of horror, just like any other emotion felt by the human mind is the product of what the writer is trying to achieve. And the writer achieves this by assigning, unconsciously, certain roles to his characters. More specifically, in this case by attributing certain qualities to the ‘villain’ he is able to make the character appear not just plain villainous but also supernatural and at times horrifying.
The character of the ghost-villain, if transcribed as an archetype would be called, in Jungian terms- The Shapeshifter. An archetype which misleads and deceives the hero and is trying to stray him from his path. The shapeshifter is essentially selfish and hostile. Let us take the example of Matilda from The Monk by Mathew Gregory Lewis. At the beginning of the story Matilda, always covered with a robe is seen to be living under the pseudonym of Rosario and pretends to be a young boy and loves and worships the monk, Ambrosio. However, as the story progresses, she reveals her true identity and embraces it completely. She also uses her “love” for Ambrosio to corrupt him morally and he, ultimately and tragically, falls prey to her evil schemes.
Matilda is a very powerfully drawn character and she is one among many others. Female characters that exhibit the following traits: change of identity, generally from good to evil. In some cases, the characters are already evil and are just hiding their true forms until a better time. Geraldine from Christabel is a good example of this. The protagonist of the poem is gullible is led to believe in the innocence of Geraldine and refuses to recognize the numerous omens that greet them along the path to the castle: the tongue of flame, the growling of the mastiff bitch and difficulty faced by Geraldine to enter the castle unless invited by Christabel. The last one is a reference to, now popular, vampire lore which believes that a vampire cannot enter without an invitation. Once in the bedchamber, Geraldine unveils her true form and successfully puts Christabel under a spell.
Both the antagonists resort to witchcraft, sorcery or magic to sway their unsuspecting victims from the right path and take advantage of that, both these antagonists are emissaries of the devil. And have, over the years inspired numerous other characters. (Keats being inspired by Matilda)
The reasons why these characters manage to capture and hold the reader’s attention is because these characters can strike a chord in the reader’s mind and hold their imagination. The female antagonist is a combination of two archetypes-the femme fatal and the shapeshifter. Shape-shifting from the innocent to the wicked.
Circling back to the original question, why are we drawn to horror? It could be a morbid curiosity, a desire to know the dark side of things. It could also be an innate restlessness with the everyday mundane, and a desire to seek a psychological thrill in the banal and repetitive existence. Is horror cathartic? Yes, all of these are true. I believe that we are drawn to horror because we identify with it. The reason the antagonist is identifiable is that it is an archetype, a recognizable entity that is a part of us. We carry within ourselves an element of horror.
Nicely narrated… Good