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I.Introduction.KScratchingtheSurface»
weshouldnotconfineittoShakespearebutspeakintermsoftheEliza-
bethanworldview.InherconcludingremarksMcIntyre,inanattemptto
answerthequestioninthetitle,evenconsiderschangingthetermKGoth-
icnovel»toKElizabethannovel.»Hertreatmentoftheproblemisencour-
aginglyextensive,butmarkedwiththesuperficialityandimprecisionat-
tendantonbreadth.ConcentratingonRadcliffe9sfiction,shefindsaffin-
itiesinKdramaticstructure,»Kchoiceoftheme,»attitudetowardsdeathand
towardsthesupernatural,situations,andeveninthefigureoftheKvil-
lain-hero.»14WithallthisMcIntyredoesnotgopastscratching.Whileshe
convincinglyarguesthatwithoutShakespearetheRadcliffeanGothic
wouldnothaveoccurredandclearlyidentifiesthemostconspicuousevid-
enceofappropriation,shefailstodomorethanadjustthelensfor
afuturein-depthexamination.
InanotherearlystudyoftheGothicasKEnglishRomanticism,»The
HauntedCastle(1927)byEinoRailo,ShakespeareandtheElizabethan
dramafigureprominently.Railowasapparentlydeterminedtocomeup
withasmanyparallelsaspossible,andthus,forinstance,thehauntedor
otherwiseKdismal»castlesinShakespeare(Pomfret,Dunsinane,Elsinore)
mustberegardedaspowerfulinfluence:KTheCastleofElsinoreisalready
ahauntedbuildinginfullaccordancewiththedemandsofhorror-roman-
ticism[...].»15Similarly,whatRailocallsShakespeare9sKknowledgeofghost-
lore»musthavebeeninhisviewamodelfortheGothicists9useofthe
supernaturalmachinery.Thisconvictioncauseshimtosuggestthatthere
isananalogybetweenthesleepwalkingLadyMacbethandthespectreof
theBleedingNun,anotherKcriminalwhitewomanofthehauntedcastle
whowalksthesceneofherbloodydeeds.»16Asweshallseepresently,ana-
logiesofthiskind,tomakethemrelevant,requiresomemethodological
foothold,afootholdthatRailofailstosecure.
Morerecently,Shakespeare9sinfluenceintheformativestagesofthe
GothichasbeenrecognisedbyE.J.CleryandRobertMiles,prominent
Gothiccontemporaryscholars,whointheiranthologyofGothicDocuments
14ClaraMcIntyre,KWerethe;Gothic9NovelsGothic?»PMLA36(1921),665.
15EinoRailo,TheHauntedCastle.AStudyoftheElementsofEnglishRomanticism
(London:GeorgeRoutledge&Sons,Ltd.;NewYork:E.P.Dutton&Co.,1927),17;em-
phasisadded.AsJessSteinjocularlyobserved,KRailohastakentheideaofthe
ShakespeareaninfluenceupontheGothicmovement,andhaspresseditwithsuchem-
phasisthatonealmostsuspectsShakespeareofhavingwrittentheGothicplaysand
novels.»JessM.Stein,KHoraceWalpoleandShakespeare,»StudiesinPhilology31
(1931),52,note4.
16Railo,HauntedCastle,65.GiventhecontextwhereitappearsinRailo,thisana-
logyisfar-fetched.Thereis,however,astrikingvisualanalogybetweenpicturesofthe
BleedingNunandthoseofSarahSiddonsinthesleepwalkingscene(seealsobelow,
p.275).
