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26
I.Introduction.KScratchingtheSurface»
ItwouldbeimpossibletooverestimatetheimportanceofShakespeare
asatouchstoneandinspirationfortheterrormode,evenifwefeelthe
offspringareunworthyoftheirparent.ScratchthesurfaceofanyGoth-
icfictionandthedebttoShakespearewillbethere.Tobeginwiththere
arethekeyscenesofsupernaturalterrorthatareplunderedbyWalpole
andthenbymanyotherfictionwriters:thebanquetscene,thevision
ofthedagger,andthevisittothecaveofthethreewitchesinMac-
beth;thephantasmagoriaofthetentsceneinRichardIII;andabove
all,theghostscenesfromHamlet.9
Nottoomanycriticshavebeeneagertodothescratching.Themeta-
phorsandthediscourseinwhichthetaskhasbeencoucheddiscourage
asmuchastheystimulate.Evenifweignorethecommonsuggestionof
illegitimacy(inKwefeeltheoffspringareunworthyoftheirparent,»where
Kwe»imposesClery9spointofviewonthereaderandwould-beresearcher),
scratchingthesurfaceisanundignifiedbusiness.Furthermore,themeta-
phorcaneasilybeinverted.ClerystatesthatweshouldfindShake-
speareatadeeperlevelinGothictexts,butheatonceseemstosuggest
thattheoppositemightalsobetrue.Hisothermetaphor,thatoftheft,
impliesthatGothicauthorsstolefromShakespearemotifsanddevices
withouttakingthetroubletocovertheirtraces.Neithermetaphor,while
insinuatingthatunwarrantedappropriationhasbeenperpetrated
(Kplunder»),clarifiestherelationbetweensurfaceanddepth.Whatlies
onthesurface?IsittheborrowedShakespeareanmotifs,theborrowed
sacredlanguage,orperhapssomethingelse?
AnotherstimuluscamefromMichaelDobson9sbookonRestorationand
eighteenth-centuryappropriationsofShakespeare.Itwasonlyuponre-
visitingthebookthatIbegantosuspectthatthelanguagewhichDobson
usestodescribeShakespeare9sculturalafterlifemayhavebeeninfluenc-
edbyorevenborrowedfromtheGothicandthusreflectstwentieth-cen-
turycriticism9sinterestinthegenre.Whenpresentingtheinstances
inwhichShakespeareisresurrectedverballytosupportvariouscauses
Dobsonwrites,forinstance,thatK[s]ummonedfromthedeadwithever
morefrequencytoappearasaprologue,theBard9sspectrereturnstothe
Londonstage[...]»;andthatthedeadauthorKhasachievedthestatusof
amonitoryghost.»10Elsewhere,inreferencetotheAbbeymemorial,we
readthatKthelaboursofcanonizationmightappeartoofferShakespeare
atbestthelivingdeathofofficialghosthood.»PuttingtheShakespeare
9E.J.Clery,KTheGenesisof;Gothic9Fiction,»in:Hogle,ed.,CambridgeCompanion
toGothicFiction,30;myemphasis.
10Dobson,MakingofNationalPoet,101;Kresurrection»occursonpage161.Theex-
cerptswhichfollowarefrompages159,160,165,and184.
