Gothic Horror

• “Gothic” originally referred to medieval Gothic architecture (flying buttresses, pointed arches, ribbed vaults)
• stories often use monasteries, abbeys, crypts, and mansions
• They also use locations such as moors, desolate landscapes and forests.
• Gothic horror heavily influenced early horror films such as Frankenstein and Dracula
• The settings are usually shadowy and dark with fog and candlelight.
• Supernatural events which occur may be real or imagined, leaving the audiences uncomfortable which adds tension and fear.

Themes:

• The supernatural
• Death and decay
• Power struggle
• Secrets and family curses
• Psychological terror and madness

Gothic horror in The Moors:

• The play uses Gothic traditions such as an isolated moorland setting. There are themes of control, power and mystery. These themes create a claustrophobic world. 

YORKSHIRE IN 1840s

• Industrial revolution
• Tough life for working class
• Maids could be legally punished and fired could be for disrespect, laziness, illness, pregnancy= loss of wages, bad references, public shaming
• Physical punishment for maids
• Lesbianism wasn’t seen as a thing but gayness was illegal.

HOUDSE SYSTEM

• Upstairs- masters domain, actual house stuff
• Downstairs- kitchen, scullery, maid and servants quatres
• middle class has a maid for all work
• Lack of privacy for workers
• Cramped living quarters for workers
• Maids wore more of what they wanted
• Bell system to summon servants
• Servants expected to be on hand but never in the way
• One day a month off

THE MOORS

• The play is not specific to Yorkshire moors 

Yorkshire moors;

• Farming quarrying and mining was common
• New railway made around the time, made it a lot more accessible and touristy
• Lot of folklore
• Moors- means non Christian (wild savage, pagan, druid)
• Reports of mysterious deaths 
• Bogs are really good at preserving bodies
• Often fog and unpredictable weather
• Soil to acidic
• So hard to live there
• Deep water and mines
• Loose ground
• Fairies
• Bronte sister raised on moors 

The Brontë family:

• Charlotte Emily and Anne
• Two sisters died young
• Brother Bramwell
• Wrote stories when isolated on moors
• Two were governesses
• Bramwell got addicted to drugs and alcohol
• All died of Tuberculosis
• All published under male pen names
• Bramwell was a painter, painted the sisters
• Suspected of being the same person
• Irish heritage 
• Emily preferred animals, her dog followed her to the grave and howled outside her door
• Bramwell was depressed

GOVERNESSES of the 1840s

• Lived with employers
• Small wage
• They earned 20 to 40 pounds a year which would be 2600-5184 pounds currently.
• The lady of the house is too polite of you have a governess\
• To have a Governess is a show of status
• They taught the 3 R’s reading, writing, arithmetic
• They taught how to draw, play piano, dance, how to conduct themselves
• Could leave a job if married but it was hard to find a husband when working all the time
• Work in a house for a few years then let go
• 19-50 years old
• Anne Brontë was a governess for 6 years on the Yorkshire Dales at Thorp Green Hall

Women’s clothing

• The desired look was small bust with fuller waist
• Corset, chemise and petticoat were worn
•  Inspire by ancient Greece
• Full length dresses
• Light colours
• Square neck and puff sleeves
• Shorts were popular
• Boots and leather shoes
• Maids would have different looks for in and out house, black and white for inside, lighter simpler dress for during the day- less restrictive
• Hair under cap and tied back for maids, worse corsets when working
• Corsets- worn under and over garments, with 60-100 whale bones, very uncomfortable, smooth bust area, improve posture and small waist
• Wore posture correction devise

POPULAR CULTURE

• There was a Gothic and Romanticism revival
• Magazines, annuals, pocket books, penny post and literature were popular
• Charles Dickins and Bronte sisters were popular writers
• New printing press system
• Ballads- popular music or poetry that shows love loss and social change
• Music halls, brass bands were used
• Brass bands showed working class achievements
• Classical music and opera were for upper class
• Folk songs were for working class

Children and education

• Upper class were educated at home till 10, boy would then go to school, girls would be educated by governess
• Boys were taught science and classics
• Girls learnt to be a good wife, sewing, piano dancing, embroidery
• Working class- Sunday schools, boys and girls learnt the same- influence on religion
• 1844- created ragged school union (charity schools)- the rich funded education for the poor
• Girls would play with dolls and doll houses- preparation for gender rolls
• Boys played with trucks and trains
• Both encouraged to play with religious toys
• Sunday could play with toys apart from religious toys

Pets

• Before Victorians, pets were frowned upon – they were seen as frivolous
• Dogs were kept for hunting
• 1840s rabbits were popular- boys would hunt for their pets
• Cats were owned but not held with regard- used for hunting rats
• Dogs were favoured as they were devoted to their owners
• Queen Victoria kept a dog
• Parrots and monkeys were popular for the mega rich
• People started breeding pedigree dogs
• The Dog Fancy- dog shows, created selective breeding of mid 1800s
• Victoria kept many pugs 38 and popularised breeding them for their looks, pugs are now suffering because of her
• Mastiff is pedigree

THE MASTIFF

• English mastiff- starts in 1840s
• They were dogs bred for pleasure, hunting and to be guard dogs
• House dog- gentle nature and friendliness
• Originally a dog from the alps- noted for being massive
• Largest carnivore dog
• Height 70-77 inches
• Coats are fine, they don’t shed
• Typically a cream coat
• Life expectancy- 6-10 year (not very good)
• Prone to cancer, spinal issues, dementia 
• Drooled a lot

TYPHUS

• Spread through lice and fleas
• Prevalent in overcrowded spaces
• Bacterial disease  
• More lower class got Typhus
• High fever, body ache, delirium, rashes, extreme weakness, muscle pain fatigue, weak immune system were common symptoms
• Common in wars and prisons 
• Led to encephalitis and death
• Lead to a lot of discrimination against affected individuals
• People couldn’t really be treated
• In London 16000 alone there were 1838-1842 cases
• If you didn’t have typhus you prabably had cholera 

1840s world events

• Lots of revolutions 
• Spring time of nations- lots of working -class revolutions
• Most were unsuccessfull
• All across Europe
• California goldrush- 3000 people moved from other parts of America
• Mexica/America war, America took over Texas and other places that used to be in Mexico
• Opium war- China tried to ban opium. England traded opium so this annoyed China, they attacked, England won, China was humiliated
• Communist manifesto
• Inspired a lot of revolutions
• First successful telegraph- helped in wars
• Cultural shift in art and literature 
• Working class asked for reform a lot 

Gender and sexuality

• Women dominated the private sphere- housewife
• Physically weaker but morally stronger
• Women began to work with industrial revolution and moved towards public sphere
• Men had military virtues (soldier and gentleman)- physical strength, boys don’t cry, rational
• Homosexuality was illegal but not for women because Victoria didn’t realise women could have sex
• Codes and languages helped gay people
• In 1861 the death penalty for being gay was abolished

CLASS

• 3 types of class, upper- no manual labour, land owners, investors
• Middle class- work for people of the upper class
• Working class had no rights- no clean water, clothes and education, often did drugs and drank, state didn’t help
• Most women worked in domestic services 
• Working women couldn’t afford servants