(A Medieval Castle in England | Source)
My Masters thesis entitled, "The Supernatural Extremes in the Romantic Tradition and its Effect on Human Psychology in the Natural World," focused on how Gothic literature (the use of supernatural/macabre themes) developed and why it is used as means of reconciling one's external world with the subconscious.
When Romantic Tradition emerged, (French) society was undergoing political upheaval, instability and violence toward radical change. These feelings of apprehension and terror manifested in literature and thus, a new sub-genre - the Gothic novel, was created. Gothic literature combined Romanticism’s ideals with the growing fear and apprehension that was by felt by all - artists, authors and the public. However, it was the Romantic author whose goal it was to convey how the changes taking place in society manifested in one’s subconscious, as either a dream or a sensation, the protagonist undergoes a series of tests, which ultimately transform him or her.
It is through the sense of dread, i.e. supernatural or horror themes, that the human intellect is stretched, emotions ignited and empathy generated, and greater compassion for people and society, as a whole is generated. In the following three passages, the attraction is in the fear or sensation the Gothic novels inspires. When an entity is portrayed as ugly and/or as an abomination of nature, or having the heart of a depraved individual, the reader (should) detach himself from the entity and walk away with a deeper insight into the heart of man. (In each of the following novels, from which these passages are taken, there is much symbolism. It is up to the reader to impart the meaning.There is not enough space for me to get into all of the details here.)
". . . .At those words he seized the cold hand of Izabella, who was half-dead with fright and horror. She shrieked and started from him. Manfred rose to pursue her, when the moon, which was now up and gleamed in at the opposite casement, presented to his sight the plumes of fatal helmet, which rose to the height of the windows, waving backwards and forwards in a tempestuous manner, and accompanied with a hollow and rustling sound. . . . Manfred, distracted between the flight of Isabella, who had now reached the stairs, and yet unable to keep his eyes from the picture, which began to move, had however advanced some steps after her, still looking backwards in the portrait, when he saw it quit its panel and descend on the floor with a grave and melancholy air. 'Dare I dream?' cried Manfred returning, or are the devils themselves in league against me?" (Scene from- From the Castle of Otranto, Ch. 1, Horace Warpole).
"Emily gazed with melancholy awe upon the castle, which she understood to be Montoni's, for, though it was now lighted up by the setting sun, the gothic greatness of its features and its mouldering walls of grey stone, rendered it a gloomy and sublime object. As she gazed, the light died away on its walls, leaving a melancholy purple tint, which spread deeper and deeper, as the thin vapor crept up the mountain, while the battlements above were still tipped with splendor. From there too, the rays soon faded and the whole edifice was invested with the solemn duskiness of evening. . . .Footsteps were heard within the gates and the undrawing of the bolts. . . .The gloomy court into which she passed served to the idea and her imagination, evert awake to circumstance, suggested even more terrors than her reason could justify." (Scene from- The Mysteries of Udolpho, Vol. 2, Ch. 5, Ann Radcliffe).
". . . .It was spacious and lofty, and what little furniture it contained was falling to decay; but perhaps, the present tone of her spirits might contribute more than these circumstances to give that air of melancholy which seemed foreign in it. She was unwilling to go to bed, lest the dreams that had lately pursued her should return; and determined to sit up till she found herself oppressed by sleep, when it was probable her sleep would be profound. . . .The wind was high, and as it whistled through the desolate apartment and shook feeble doors, she often started and sometimes even thought she heard sighs between the pauses of the gusts; but she checked these illusions, which the hour of the night and her own melancholy imagination conspired to raise. . . .It was a small roll of paper, tied with a string and covered with dust. Adeline took it up and opening it perceived an handwriting. She attempted to read it, but the part of the manuscript she looked at was so much obliterated that she found this difficult, though what few words were legible impressed her with curiousity and terror and induced her to return immediately to her chamber. . . ."(Scene from- The Romance of the Forest, Ann Radcliffe)