| Abstract | Gothic fiction is a versatile genre which emerged in the eighteenth-century England, and has since lived through its classic period, peak, and renaissance. Its characteristics changed accordingly, most often to reflect the state of the society, and mainly its concerns and anxieties. Gloomy settings, supernatural phenomena, concepts of sublimity, uncanniness, abhumaness, the doppelgänger theme, the combination of terror and horror; these are just some of the genre‟s characteristics which add to its potential to act as a metaphorical mirror of society‟s struggles. Robert Louis Stevenson professes himself as a writer during the second half of the nineteenth century. His works encompass a variety of literary forms such as poetry, prose and essays, and his profuseness can also be observed in the style and the themes he uses. The life he led was adventurous, giving him an insight into other cultures he drew inspiration from, and it was simultaneously plagued by illness. Four of his stories are presented in this thesis to support the approach to Stevenson as a Gothic writer, namely Markheim, The Body Snatcher, Thrawn Janet and Olalla. These employ the Gothic fiction conventions, while he adds authorial idiosyncrasies to them. |
