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[收稿日期]2009年9月5日

[作者簡介]胡迪:齊齊哈爾市富拉爾基區第六中學英語組。

[摘 要]J#8226;K#8226;Rowling is a British female writer who gained her fame at the end of the 20^thcentury.From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stones，her works got popular in not only the united kingdom but also many other countries in the world in no time.There must be some profound significance behind it，with relations to the British literature tradition.From the angle of\"Gothic Characters\"，based on the examples of classic Gothic novel The Mysterious of Udolpho，this article aims to summarize the essential elements of Gothic novels in the aspects of scene，theme and character，so to establish a new view and interpretation of the\"children's novel\"Harry Potter.It also analyses the novel's role in inheriting and innovating Gothic novels'traditions and values，and the cultural significance of its overwhelming popularity at the beginning of the new millennium.

[關鍵詞] Harry Potter Gothic novel castle horror magic

[中圖分類號]I106 [文獻標識碼]A [文章編號]1009-5489(2009)11-0106-04

Ⅰ.The Brief Introduction of Harry Potter

1.The introduction of the author and the background of writing:Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born 1965 in Chipping Sodbury，Gloucestershire，England.Rowling writing career started at the age of six when she wrote a story called Rabbit.Since then Rowling has graduated from Exeter，worked as a teacher and then became an unemployed single parent.Divorced and living on public assistance Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at a table in a café during her daughter's naps.When Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was bought and published by Bloomsbury in 1997，her life changed dramatically，the Harry Potter series have since then won numerous awards and become a tremendous success around the world.Like that of her own character，Harry Potter，J.K.Rowling's life has the luster of a fairy tale.Divorced，living on public assistance in a tiny Edinburgh flat with her infant daughter，it was Harry Potter that rescued her.Harry Potter won The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year，and the Smarties Prize，and rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.Book rights have been sold to England，France，Germany，Italy，Greece，Finland，Denmark，Spain and Sweden.200 million copies of the first four Harry Potter books are currently in print.Harry Potter books have been translated into 55 languages.Of all the stuff in the Harry Potter series the story of the initial true-life inspiration for the series is one that is especially intriguing.In 1990，so the story goes，riders on a train between Manchester and London experienced a four-hour delay.Out of the blue，Rowling saw Harry\"very，very clearly\"in her mind.His visible image actually popped into her thoughts from out of nowhere as a\"fully formed individual\".By the time she reached her destination，passenger Rowling had come up with the idea for a character.Harry Potter was his name.She somehow perceived that he was a wizard，and that he did not know he was a wizard.Before long she was writing about a young boy who did not know he had magical powers.Harry Potter was born.

2. The content and the structure of Harry Potter:Harry Potter series will be finished at the seventh book this year.According to the grade in Hogwarts，from the first to the seventh，the author arranged the story of Harry Potter.Each of the six published books represents a year at Hogwarts.

At the beginning of the story，Rowling presents satirically'a big，beefy man with hardly any neck'--Mr.Dursley and'a thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck woman'--Mrs.Dursley.They were proud to say that they were perfectly normal.They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious...'but one day，some strange phenomenon destroy their normal life.Owls fly around in daylight，a lot of strangely dressed people walked and talked on the road，and a cat read the map...as soon as the dark came，the cat became a woman，and a man，almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide，landed on the Privet Drive from the sky，then Mr.and Mrs.Dursley discovered the baby who is their nephew，Harry potter，in front of their door.As the plot develops，the secret of potter's experience is presented.His parents are witch and wizard who were killed by the evil Lord Voldemort，when they protected him.But Harry escaped the death curse of Voldemort，only was he given a mark on his forehead-a lightning bolt.Although the Dursleys are all selfish，greedy，and detached，Harry lived with them for miserable ten years and was fed up with discrimination until his eleventh birthday.That day Harry received an invitation to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.The envelope was thick and heavy，made of yellowish parchment，and the address was written in emerald-green ink.The letter drove the Dursleys mad.Mr.Dursley refused to receive it or gave it to Harry.So in the following days，the Dursleys'house was suddenly besieged by letters for Harry from Hogwarts.At last uncle Vernon took them to a remote sea island，and spent their night in a broken-down house.Finally Harry was found by Hagrid，a giant man，from whom Harry got to know the truth about himself and his great parents.So Harry left his only relatives to Hogwarts to study the witchcraft.Then Harry's adventures began.

Ⅱ.The Development and Characteristics of the Gothic Novels

1.The definition of the'gothic':The word'Goth'derives originally from certain Germanic tribes who made attacks on the Roman Empire between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD.Since Rome and Greece were the seat of civilization，the people of northern Europe were considered barbarians.Indeed，the words'Goth'and'gothic'have become synonymous with barbarism.

2.The development of gothic novels:The Gothic novel appears in England at a time when literacy rates are rising and when more members of the lower social orders are beginning to possess more than minimal reading skills.The gothic novel arises in 1764 with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto.It should be noted that this novel was published in the 18th century，after the philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment had attempted to bring reason to the world，and to banish superstition.Many critics present the Gothic novel as early evidence that Enlightenment science failed to dispel the dark mysteries of nature，the supernatural，and the human soul.The Castle of Otranto，therefore，was consciously written，in an almost post-modern manner，as a means of recapturing the atmosphere of a barbaric past; Horace Walpole made use of the superstitions of the past，without believing in them，as a means of freeing the imagination.Walpole himself，again using a literary device that to our eyes may appear post-modern，presented the novel as a manuscript he had merely discovered and translated，writing of it in his introduction as follows:\"this work can only be laid before the public at present as a matter of entertainment.Even as such，some apology for it is necessary.Miracles，visions，necromancy，dreams，and other preternatural events，are exploded now even from romances.That was not the case when our author wrote; much less when the story itself is supposed to have happened.Belief in every kind of prodigy was so established in those dark ages，that an author would not be faithful to the manners of the time who should omit mention of them.He is not bound to believe them himself，but he must represent his actors as believing them.\"

The practice of early 18th novelists wouldn't warrant a sharp distinction between Romance and novel.Moreover，few critics today would be tempted to use the identification of consideration in the history of the novel.The early Gothic novel distanced itself from the world of its readers temporally，geographically，and by disruptions of normal causality.In the 1790s，the Gothic novel becomes the major fictional form in English，with the publication of Matthew Lewis's The monk，William Godwin's Caleb Williams and St.leon，five novels by Ann Radcliffe.The period in which the gothic novel flourished witnessed a decline of a cosmopolitanism based on stoical ethics and a philosophical appeal to universal principles in favor of a local attachment associated with subjective responsiveness，sympathy，and the virtues of simplicity.This period is always called\"Gothic Decade\".

3.The Characters of the Gothic Novels

(1) Monstrous scene:Prominent features of gothic novels included terror，mystery，the supernatural，doom，decay，old buildings with ghosts in them，madness，hereditary curses etc.The title of the novel also gives us a clue to some of the essential elements of Gothic literature.The key word here is'castle'.For Gothic literature often focuses on huge and ancient buildings such as castles.Those ancient buildings may be viewed as symbolic of the unique atmosphere of Gothic literature; the writing style of Gothic novels is as heavy as castle masonry，and as gloomy as the maze-like corridors of such a mediaeval building:the lower part of the castle was hollowed into several intricate cloisters; and it was not easy for one under so much anxiety to find the door that opened into the cavern.

(2)Thesis and characters:James P.Carson states that Gothic novel simultaneously fascinates and provides moral guidance for her the reader，though they fascinate more by means of darkness than light.During the 200 years of the development，Gothic novels combine with other literary schools，at the same time the themes and characters are changing with the age.In the Victorian period，Gothic novels became realistic under its realism influence.The underground became the industrialized metropolis; however，gothic technique is used to describe the miserable life of poor people and the exploitation of the lower people.In the 19^thcentury Britain became imperialist，so gothic novels focus on the criticism and exposure on the imperialism and colonialism.In the 20^thcentury，own to the massacre of the two world wars，the development of high technology，and the abundant supply of material，modern gothic novels prefer to pay attention to the variation of human.

Ⅲ.The Gothic Characters in Harry Potter

As far as the characters of Gothic novels are concerned，the series of Harry Potter possess obvious and distinctive gothic features.This series of novel includes the inevitable marks，such as the scene of castles，forests，and secret chambers; the content of ghost，monsters，revenges; and as well as the theme of moral guidance and of the confrontation between good and evil.Especially the fifth novel Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix，the atmosphere of which is much more mysterious and the plot is much more tortuous and fantastic，so the series are typical gothic novels.At the same time，Harry Potter shows us the new style of the modern gothic novel and the features of our age.These characters develop the gothic novel and make the gothic novels，which arise because of literate rates'rise，accepted by more people.

1.Monstrous scene

(1) Old and mysterious castles:The story of Harry Potter almost happened in the best magic school-Hogwarts.After Harry crossed the barrier between the nine and ten platform，he was shocked by the scene that a scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people.A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express，eleven O'clock.Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been，with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.After the long journey to Hogwarts，the castle appeared before these little witchcrafts like this the narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take.Perched atop a high mountain on the other side，its windows sparkling in the starry sky，was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.\"Everyone was silent，staring up at the great castle overhead.It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood...They were carried along a dark tunnel，which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle，until they reached a kind of underground harbor，where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

The castle is the main place for the story，and there are also a lot of secrets in it.\"the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death...There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts:wide，sweeping ones;narrow，rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump.\"

(2)The oppressive natural scene and atmosphere:As well as the traditional gothic novels，Harry Potter usually describes the natural scenes to add mysterious atmosphere.At that night when Harry knew he was a wizard，icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces.After a few hours，they got to the rock，a broken-down house.As night fell，the promised storm blew up around them.Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows.In this atmosphere，a giant of a man was standing in the doorway.His face was almost completely hidden by a long，shaggy mane of hair and a wild，tangled beard，but you could make out his eyes，glinting like black beetles under all the hair.Harry's life experience was spoken out by the giant that added much more mysterious and odd ambience.Another typical one is that forbidden forest.Onetime they were punished.Slipping and stumbling，they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep，narrow path.It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there...the forest's full of dangerous beasts...

(3)Thesis and characters:On the theme Harry Potter still focus on the confrontation and moral guidance.In the novels，the confrontation is very clear:as the symbol of right the Headmaster Dumbledore leads other good wizards to fight against Voldemort and keep the peace of the world.In every book，the Dark Lord is always dying，but in the next book he will come back.So Dumbledore reminded people every time of the danger.Another theme of the story is to give moral guidance to the readers.For example，when Harry came to Hogwarts at first time，the sorting hat sing this song:

\"...You might belong in Gryffindor，

where dwell the brave at heart，

their daring，nerve...

those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends...\"

However，the characters of Harry Potter don't abbey the traditional gothic novels'composition totally.Voldemort is absolutely a villain，and Harry is a hero totally.Although they are irreconcilable enemies，yet they have many similarities.They are both Parselmouthes，and have the wands which own the feathers from the same phoenix.They are smart，brave，and good at spells.They have closed relationship.So from this aspect，the two heroes are just two aspects of the hero in the traditional gothic novels.

Ⅳ.The Development of Gothic Technique in Harry Potter

In the traditional gothic novels，castle and terrible weather are usually used to describe the mysterious and horror atmosphere，but in Harry Potter all these description are used to emphasis the warmth and safety inside the castle and Hogwarts.The castle stroke Harry like that\"such a strange and splendid place....It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables，...These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets.\"Harry prefers the castle to any places and the students are told that Hogwarts is the safest place in the magic world.So in Harry Potter J.K Rowling succeeded in writing the gothic scenes in a way that fits children.

5.Conclusion

From 19^thcentury to the middle of the 20^thcentury，Gothic Novels experienced the period of prosperity，decline，and prosperity.Since the 21st century，Gothic Novels advance in the many fields of art and literature.In the amount of scientific films and fanciful and illusory fictions，there are a lot of Gothic characters.Nowadays，more and more literal critics have begun to accept the Gothic Novels as a genre.Even some critics state that gothic style had become the proper way that presents modern life style.As the civilization of material advances，people intend to pursue the sublime of mental world.Under this modern background，gothic style is bound to welcome its prosperity again and at the same time，it surely resuscitates some new types of arts.

The gothic style of Harry Potter is gradually accepted by more and more people，but in Rowling's books there are some distinctive features from traditional gothic novels.Her novels prefer to show the warm and positive aspects，and they are full of humors and intelligence.In the 21st century，Harry Potter must bring the prosperity of new gothic novels.

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