Gothic Elements in Three Works of Early Spanish Romanticism

Abstract

The awakening of Gothic in literature in 1764 marked a milestone in the development of the Western literary canon. The inclusion of the supernatural and the horrific provoked the end of the reign of Enlightenment and opened the door for Romanticism. In Spain it took a while longer for the new literary trend to flourish. However, a group of writers who had published during the last decades of the eighteenth century started to include gothic elements in their works, creating Enlightenment-Gothic hybrids. Some of these authors were Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, José Cadalso and Juan Meléndez Valdés. Their El delincuente honrado, Noches lúgubres, and "A Jovino, el melancólico," respectively prove that gothic and sublime aesthetics also affected Spanish belles lettres.