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Theproblem,or:theShakespeareandebt
27
statueonthestageKmerelysubstitute[d]forthedramaticcharacterof
Shakespeare9sghost.»ThepublicgrewaccustomedtoKanintimateconnec-
tion[...]betweenGarrickandShakespeare9sghost,»especiallythanksto
Garrick9ssuccessfulappearanceintheghostscenesinHamlet.Andthus,
K[a]spiritlackingavoiceandagravelackingabody,Shakespeare9simage
hadbeenprovidedwithbothinDavidGarrick.»Thisrhetoricofspectrali-
sation,hereinreferencetoShakespeare,maybemorethanastylisticde-
vice,especiallyifweassumeafterTerryCastlethattheformofspectrali-
sationwhichinformsorKhaunts»Gothicfictionswasaproductofanew
sensibilityandhaddevelopedinthelastdecadesofthecentury.Castle
arguesthatKacrucialfeatureofthenewsensibilityofthelateeighteenth
centurywas,quiteliterally,agrowingsenseoftheghostlinessofother
people.»11
Toreturntothepreviousmetaphor,somescratchinghasbeendone,
tobesure.Clery9stwo-sentenceshortshriftrepresentsthistypeofap-
proachtothematter.Moreexamplesareeasilyfoundinanyotherintro-
ductiontothegenreanditsindividualspecimens.OfOtranto,Markman
EllishasobservedthatK[t]hetone[...]haselementsofShakespeareantra-
gedy[...]specificallyinitsattempttografttheheightenedpassions,ele-
mentalsituationsandstylisedpoetictechniquesofElizabethantragedy
ontothecontemporaryandeverydaystructuresofthenovel.»12Atypical,
andtypicallymangled,attempttocaptureWalpole9sengagementwith
Shakespeareinonesentence,withthehelpoffiguressuchasKgrafting»
andassortedverbalimprecision,thisremarkcanelicitnomorethan
araisedeyebrow.ItdoeslittletoexplainpreciselywhyOtrantoisnotan-
otherimitationofElizabethantragedy.Lessconfusingly,butcurtlynone-
theless,J.M.S.Tompkinsobservesinhersomewhatdatedstudy,ThePop-
ularNovelinEngland,thatwhateveraffinitiestheremaybebetween
theGothicandElizabethandrama,differencesareequallyserious.This
timeitisaboutRadcliffeandbasicgenericdifferences:KSourcesofand
parallelstoherdevicescanbefoundintheElizabethandrama,butthe
dramahasnoroomfortheslowsubjectionofthemindtoterror.»13
Itismysuspicionthatsuchtypicallycursoryremarksconcerning
ShakespeareaninfluenceupontheGothichaveacommonsourceinan
essaybyClaraMcIntyre,KWerethe;Gothic9NovelsGothic?»publishedin
1921,wherethescholarinsiststhattheinfluencewaspervasiveandthat
11TerryCastle,KSpectralisationoftheOtherinTheMysteriesofUdolpho,»in:Fred
BottingandDaleTownshend,eds.,Gothic:CriticalConceptsinLiteraryandCultural
Studies(LondonandNewYork:Routledge,2004),vol.2,85.
12MarkmanEllis,TheHistoryofGothicFiction(Edinburgh:EdinburghUniversi-
tyPress,2000),31.SeealsoKiely,RomanticNovel,34.
13Tompkins,PopularNovel,258.
