What the hell is Goth? (Part II)

In the 18^th century, there was this eccentric Victorian chap named Horace Walpole.  Apparently, he was so obsessed with gothic architecture [see Part I] that he had his mansion-villa-crib-castle constructed in that fashion.  Some sources say that Walpole kicked off the Gothic Revival in England around this time (think of the Gothic Revival as a ‘medieval-retro’ trend that started at the beginning of the Victorian period). Regardless, he was one of the first to jump on this stylistic party wagon. 

Okay, this Walpole guy really dug medieval architecture, so what?   He was also obsessed with medieval romantic literature.  In 1764, his book - The Castle of Otranto [it’s a free book; how cool is that??]- was published.  For the time, it was supposed to have supernatural elements, but I haven’t come across anything that made me say, “Oh Noes, it’s the Talking Tentacle Raven!”  What I’m getting out of it is “Fear and Loathing in ‘ye Old Place of Antiquity.”  Tangent.

 When it was first published, it was subtitled “A Gothic Story.”  Allegedly.  I can’t confirm this and the copy made available by the GP lacks such a subtitle.  The book had some modest success, but the text itself wasn’t the revolutionary part. The book became a trendsetter for this genre and few different authors started playing with the style that Walpole coined.  We started to get the Shelleys and the Stokers, who entwined more supernatural elements into their plots.  As far as I can tell, this is where we get gothic horror.

 Today, the use of the word gothic seems to be synonymous with “old, spooky, and supernatural.”  You have to have all three to make it work.  For example, John McCain is old and spooky, but not supernatural.  Sarah Palin is spooky and supernatural, but not old.  Keith Richards is old, spooky, and supernatural [magic is the only reason that can explain A: how he’s still alive and B: the best part of POTC.], so I guess he could be gothic (he did wear make-up as Captain Teague).  Another tangent. 

Later (closer to our collective memories), it became the modern incarnation that most people know when they think of goth, the transition of which is beyond the kenning of my current attention span. 

Hot Topic, therefore, would not exist if not for the efforts of some Pre-Victorian (Elizabethan?) writer who was obsessed with architecture.   

Etymology Recap for goth and gothic: 

1.      Group of proto-redneck barbarians

2.      Type of artsy stuff that kicked off in France circa 1200, named after “1.”

3.      Reference to  kingy-knighty stuff (the late middle ages)

4.      Type of artsy stuff that made a come-back during the Victorian Era

5.      Type of artsy stuff that becomes synonymous with old, spooky and supernatural

6.      Wearing lots of black, dressing like a chick regardless of gender, and shopping at Hot Topic