Gothic Features in Harry Potter Series

Abstract：Harry Potter series was written by J.K. Rowing, an British female novelist of children’ s literature. It is the story of the boy Harry Potter and his friends, mainly talking about the constant fighting between the    good —represented by Harry Potter and his friends, and the   evil—represented by Voldemort and his fellows. It expresses an everlasting theme — the triumph of good over evil.Gothic novels appeared in England in the late eighteenth century, which is a special genre of romantic literature. The Gothic novel established much of the iconography of later horror literature and cinema, such as ruined castles graveyards, or ghosts, churches, nightmares, vampires, being buried, cursed families alive and melodramatic plots. Although Gothic novels are often regarded as a kind of  marginal literature, the figure of the Gothic novels continues to emerge in the long history of literature development.

Having most features of Gothic, the Harry Potter series  is  so popular all over the world and occupies an important position in the contemporary Gothic novels. This paper makes a study of Gothic features, such as the unique settings, the gloomy figures and the bizarre plot in the series, and comes to conclusion that Harry Potter series have not only inherited traditional Gothic novels, but also made some breakthroughs. It makes the Gothic novel more funny, less horrible and wildly accepted by people of all ages.

Key Words: Harry Potter series, Gothic Features, J.K.Rowling

浅析《哈利·波特》系列小说中的哥特式特征

摘 要

哈利·波特系列小说的作者是 J.K.罗琳，她是一位英国儿童文学作家。系 列小说主要陈述哈利·波特和他的朋友们的人生经历，讲的是代表正义的哈利·波 特和他的朋友们与代表邪恶的伏地魔和他的追随者之间不断的斗争。它表达了一 个永恒的主题：正义永远会战胜邪恶。

哥特式小说出现于十八世纪后期的英国，是浪漫主义文学的一个特殊流派。 哥特式小说为以后的恐怖文学与电影设置了许多的意象，如墓地、城堡或教堂、 幽灵、吸血鬼、噩梦、被诅咒的家庭、被活埋和戏剧性的情节等。尽管哥特式小 说经常作为一种边缘文学被提及，但其身影却持续浮现于文学发展的历史长河中 并一直延续至今。

风靡全球的“哈利·波特”系列小说具备了显著的哥特式特征，在当代哥特 小说中占据着重要地位。本文以系列小说中独特的场景、阴郁的的人物和离奇的 情节为基础，对哥特小说的特点进行了研究，得出结论哈利·波特系列不仅继承 了传统哥特小说，而且取得了一些突破性的成就。它使哥特小说变得更加有趣， 不那么恐怖，并被所有年龄段的人所接受。

关键词：“哈利·波特”系列；哥特式特征；J.K.罗琳

 Contents

Abstract in English I

Abstract in Chinese II

ⅠIntroduction 1

1.1 Introduction of Gothic Novel 1

1.2 Introduction of Harry Potter Series and the Author 3

Ⅱ The Unique Settings 6

2.1 Old Mysterious Castle 6

2.2