from literature to screen: the representation of the gothic in thomas hardy's tess of the...
Post on 03-Feb-2023
0 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Defining Gothic as a literary genre/ sub-genre ............................................................................................. 3
The Gothic in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles ........................................................................................... 4
Gothic into Screen ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Gothic: From Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles to Roman Polanski's Tess ................................... 8
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Introduction
Back before the existence of films, literature was the source of education and entertainment that
people used. From literature, many films descend; whether in plot, visuals, titles, or even genres.
In fact, the genre and the sub-genres that a novel carries highly affects the film adaptation of any
literary text. Imelda Whelehan (2007) argues that canonical literary texts, such as Pride and
Prejudice by Jane Austen, have always been linked to the cinematic interpretation and cinematic
representation of the literary texts. Equally, sub-genres' effect on the cinematic representation of
any written text can be as effective as the main genre itself.
In other words, although Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is mainly a bildungsroman in genre;
however it is argued to be a text with hybrid genres, or as Mikhail Bakhtin calls it,
"hybdrisation". Dennis Walder (2004) says that "genre categories are often rather loosely
defined, and they tend to overlap [. . .] some of the greatest literary works in terms of one level of
genre classification- such as drama- are 'mixed' in terms of another".
This paper will cover the representation of the Gothic sub-genre in Thomas Hardy's tragedy, Tess
of the d'Urbervilles in Roman Polanski's (1979) Tess.
Defining Gothic as a literary genre/ sub-genre
According to Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1986) classifies the features of the Gothic genre starting
from the setting until the speech itself. Sedgwick says that the setting of a gothic genre occurs in
a wild landscape. She also describes the female protagonist of gothic literature will be evident of
her "trembling sensitivity". Monastic institutions, sleeplike and deathlike states, live burials, and
the discovery of obscure family ties are recurring topics in a gothic novel. In addition, Sedgwick
notes the observance of unnatural echoes will occur regularly to the reader.
The Gothic in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles
As mentioned earlier, the main genre of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a Victorian
Tragedy which tells the story of a young English woman who gets raped/seduced by Alec - a
newly discovered wealthy relative- leading to the birth of an illegitimate infant who dies shortly
after Tess' delivery. Later on, Tess meets and marries Angel Clare who separates from her after
knowing her "shameful" past before she later kills Alec and ends up executed.
In her PhD dissertation, Negotiating the Gothic in the Fiction of Thomas Hardy, Najwa El Inglizi
(2002) says that the Gothic plays an important role in Thomas Hardy's literary career. She argues
that Hardy's use of characteristic setting, drama, and character type of the Gothic are made more
subtle in his literary texts, such as Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
In examining the Gothic features that Sedgwick lists and the research of El Inglizi, the Gothic
elements in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles will no longer stay "subtle".
The characteristic of Tess, for a beginning, as a Gothic heroine applies to what Sedgwick
describes as a "heroine conspicuous for her trembling sensitivity". Norma Walrath Goldstein
(1989) notes that the character of Tess applies to the model of a Gothic heroine, as she becomes
able to suffer "pain, guilt, delusion. fortitude, perversity, idealism, and courage". All through the
plot of the novel, Tess suffers from pain; with her family, with Alec and with Angel. Guilt plays
an important role in destroying her marriage from Angel Clare, and courage helps her to face the
parson at Marlott and to kill Alec at the end of the novel. At the same time, Tess also enjoys the
simplicity and innocence of Gothic heroines, in addition to the Gothic heroines archetype that
Goldstein sets.
Away from the Gothic within Tess herself, Hardy excels in building a Gothic world. El-Inglizi
says that "Tess seems to live in a world more Gothic than the Gothic itself". In describing many
events and settings, Hardy succeeds in creating a Gothic world which leaves the reader with the
sense of the "uncanny" which "has to do with a sense of strangeness, mystery or eeriness. [. . .] a
sense of unfamiliarity which appears at the very heart of the familiar" (Bennett & Royle, 1995).
The following excerpt from Tess of the d'Urbervilles shows how Hardy creates a Gothic setting
through "the use of exaggerated and high blown diction" (Goldstein, 1989).
"In the diminishing daylight they went along the level roadway through the
meads, which stretched away into gray miles, and were backed in the extreme
edge of a distance by the swarthy and abrupt slopes of Egdon Heath. On its
summit stood clumps and stretches of fir-trees, whose notched tips appeared
like battlemented towers crowing black-fronted castles of enchantment"
(Hardy, 1891, p. 249)
The way that Hardy describes the setting creates a Gothic atmosphere to the reader. Unlike films,
readers imagine and visualise the story, and the narrative technique that Hardy uses leaves the
reader imagining within the Gothic tradition. The fact that he uses similes to compare nature to
castles leaves the reader's imagination bounded by the Gothic architecture "which is also relevant
to Thomas Hardy" as Najwa El Inglizi argues.
The silence and the wild landscape that Sedgwick talks about while listing the features of the
Gothic genre are highly found in the part where Alec rapes/seduces Tess. The dark and Gothic
imagery of "Darkness and silence" (p. 119) accompanied by the existence of the "primeval yews
and oaks" also employs an important Gothic imagery which creates a state of gloom and uncanny
for the reader.
Thus, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Hardy's use of the Gothic is found in many features within this
tragic novel. At first, Hardy's characterisation of Tess as a Gothic heroine fits the archetype that
Goldstein sets, as being courageous, guilt, innocent, simple, and victimised by the religious and
social construction of the society she lives in. Secondly, Hardy's diction and imagery in creating
a Gothic atmosphere through the novel is achieved through figurative language, direct
description of places and events, in addition to what El Inglizi interestingly calls "props". The
word "props" that El Inglizi uses to describe how Hardy employs the use of Gothic in his
literature sets up the link between the textual props, imagined props, and represented props
which will be discussed in the later parts of this paper.
Gothic into Screen
It has been discussed that Literature has indeed influenced film industry through providing texts
which are adapted into screen works. Since the beginning of film, Literature, through novels,
poetry and drama, was a major influence on the field of filmmaking. However, according to Film
researcher and scholar William Guynn (2011), although Literature is able to tell stories through
verbal language, "shows the world in phenomenological detail; the filmmaker’s problem then is
how to shape the sequence of images so that they tell a story".
The first part of this paper showed the features of the Gothic tradition and how they are
employed through Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. It was also argued that the genres
and sub-genres of literature can employ a big effect on the visual representation of written texts
through film.
Nial O'Donnell's (2014)argues that the elements on 18th century Gothic literature were highly
employed and represented in films, in addition to their role in Hollywood's horror films.
Thus, the effect of Gothic Literature on films that O'Donnell talks about are reflected and
employed through the use of visual imagery of cinematography and sound. For sure, there is
nothing called "Gothic Film" or "Gothic Cinema", yet Gothic as a literary genre has been
translated into "Gothic imagery" rather than a cinematic genre on its own through Gothic images,
plots, characters, or even style.
In explaining the notion of translating Gothic into screen, William Patrick Day (1985) says that
the fearful feeling which Gothic leaves is not achieved through written language alone, but it is
rather achieved through what he calls a spectacle.
Thus, visual imagery employed within a spectacle translate the written Gothic literature to be
translated from a Gothic verbal language intro dreadful cinematographic scenery.
In her writing The Gothic on Screen, Misha Kavka (2002) talks about visual codes that constitute
the "Gothic film". Those visual codes which Kavka describes can be either "ruined castle or
abandoned house on a hill made hazy by fog; the dark cemetery dotted with crosses and gnarled,
bare branches; the heavy built wooden doors that close without human aid; the high, arched or
leaded windows that cast imprisoning shadows, the close-ups of mad, or staring eyes". As a
result, the space that filmmakers make use of in the film build up a Gothic mise-en-sce`ne.
It has been discussed in the first part of the paper that the Gothic heroines have specific
emotional and psychological features which Goldstein describes. The role of cinematography in
this case of representation is engaged through the use of cinematic techniques that link a Gothic
space to the psychology of the Gothic protagonist. The use of unusual cinematography, extreme
distinction between light and dark, claustrophobic spaces, extreme camera angles, and
disproportionate shadows are the cinematic techniques that are used in the representation of the
Gothic, according to Kavka.
Gothic: From Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles to Roman Polanski's Tess
Among many film adaptations of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Roman Polanski's
adaptation, entitled Tess in the year 1979 is one of the most memorable version of the story. The
cinematography in this film's adaptation was highly praised, in addition to the set design that was
also admired.
In looking back on all what have been discussed and listed, Polanski's cinematography represents
Hardy's Gothic elements and "props" which Najwa El Inglizi talks about through visual imagery
resulting from the use of light, camera angles and movements, shadows, music and sound, and
art direction.
This part will focus on some excerpts from the film which apply to the features and elements that
El Inglizi, Goldstein, Sedgwick, and Kavka discuss in regards to the elements of Gothic in
Hardy's work, literature, and cinema. As already discussed, the use of cinematography does not
only reflect the props, but it also conceptualises the psychology of suppressed and suffering
Gothic heroine, which is in this case Tess Durbeyfield.
In the scene where Alec accompanies Tess on his horse before raping her, Polanski uses a still
shot of Alec and Tess on the horse in the middle of an extremely foggy forest with some sun rays
striking from the up right corner of the frame (figure 1)1. This shot is extremely Gothic and
medieval in setting and composition. El Inglizi argues that the popularity of the Gothic Tradition
1 for figures, review the appendix
has always been linked with medieval period. In addition to the cinematography, light, and art
direction in this shot, Polanski adds up the sounds of howling owls to create a more sense of
dreadfulness within the scene.
Figure 2, is the shot which follows Tess after she falls asleep in the woods waiting for Alec's
return, straight before the rape/seduction scene. This shot of the full moon covered with
silhouettes of tree branches brings up the Gothic element of Shadow which Kavka discusses as a
way to represent the horrifying sensibility of Gothicism. This shot of the moon is accompanied
with sound of blowing winds which also play a role in creating a sense of horror and danger.
The third excerpt from the movie, is after Tess buries her dead newborn. Polanski uses a still
frame, while behind Tess, who is in the mid-ground appears to be a Gothic built Church in the
background. In the foreground Polanski displays the silhouettes of tree branches on the right side
again to create a feeling of horror.
The excessive use of still frames to display Tess in the film gets back the notion of
claustrophobic scenes which Kavka discusses as an element of Gothic representation on screen.
Conclusion
Being a literary genre and an architectural style, Gothic tradition has succeeded in entering the
filmmaking industry to translate the moments of horror in Gothic novels and non-Gothic novels
which contain Gothic moments. Elements of the Gothic begin from the Gothic character herself,
passing through the settings and development of events. Cinematography role comes to translate
verbal language to visual codes that preserve the Gothic and uncanny moments of literature on
screen.
Bibliography Bennett, A., & Royle, N. (1995). An Introduction to Literature, Criticism, and Theory. Harvester
Wheatsheaf.
Day, W. P. (1985). In the Circles of Fear and Desire: a Study of Gothic Fantasy. Chicago:
Chicago University Press.
El Inglizi, N. (2002). Negotiating the Gothic in the Fiction of Thomas Hardy. University of
Birmingham, English Department. Birmingham: University of Birminghan.
Goldstein, N. W. (1989). Thomas Hardy's Victorian Gothic: Reassessing Hardy's Fiction and
His Gothic Sensibility. New York: University of Rhode Island.
Guynn, W. (2011). The Stages of Film Production Process. In W. Guynn (Ed.), The Routledge
Companion to Film History (pp. 39-63). London: Routledge.
Hardy, T. (1891). Tess of the D'Urbervilles. London: Penguin.
Kavka, M. (2002). The Gothic on Screen. In J. E. Hogle (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to
Gothic Fiction (pp. 209-229). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
O'Donnell, N. (2014). Representing European Identities in Classic Hollywood Cinema and 18th-
Century Gothic Literature. In G. Barentsen (Ed.), A Language Spoken in Tongues. New
York: Inter-Disciplinary Press.
Polanski, R. (Director). (1979). Tess [Motion Picture].
Sedgwick, E. K. (1986). The Coherence of Gothic Conventions. Methuen.
Walder, D. (2004). The Genre Approach. In D. Walder (Ed.), The Realist Novel (pp. 3-35).
Walten Hall: The Open University.
Whelehan, I. (2007). ‘‘Don’t let’s ask for the moon!’’: Reading and Viewing the Woman's Film.
In D. Cartmell, & I. Whelehan (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Literature on
Screen (pp. 138-155). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
top related