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Characteristics of all gothic work

  1. there is a victim who is helpless against his torturer;

  2. there is also a victimizer who is associated with evil and whose powers are immense or supernatural;

  3. the setting of the gothic story is at some point within impenetrable walls (physical or psychological) to heighten the victim's sense of hopeless isolation--the central gothic image is the cathedral or haunted mansion within which the victim is imprisoned;

  4. the atmosphere is pervaded by a sense of mystery, darkness, oppressiveness, fear, and doom to recreate the atmosphere of a crypt--a symbol of man's spiritual death and a "vehicle for presenting a picture of man as eternal victim"[1]; and finally,

  5. the victim is in some way entranced or fascinated by the inscrutable power of his victimizer [2].

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