Abstract：This thesis mainly explores the relationship between Gothic literature and western horror films by analyzing representative Gothic novels and their horror film adaptations.

To fully understand the relationship between Gothic Novels and horror films, this thesis is divided into three parts as follows: Part one emphasizes introduction of Gothic Literature and the inception and the growth of Gothic novels. It also analyzes the first Gothic novel the Castle of Ortanto by Horace Walpole in order to help better understand the main features of Gothic novels. The second part mainly introduces and clarifies the historical background, the origin and development of western horror films. Part three is the major part. It focuses on the relationship between Gothic novels and their horror film adaptations. Firstly, the study in this part takes William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily as an example to analyze the literary style of Gothic Novels. Secondly, it analyses some typical Gothic novels and their corresponding film adaptations, such as Frankenstein, The Monk and Jane Eyre, to prove the proposition that Gothic novel is the literary origin of horror films. The above is the main content of this thesis.

Key Words：Gothic Novels；Horror Films；Literary Features;  Comparison； Origin;

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

1.Introduction- 1 -

1.1The common historical background- 1 -

1.2 Introduction of Gothic Novels- 2 -

1.3The inception of Gothic Novels：the Castle of Otranto- 2 -

1.4The growth of Gothic Novels- 3 -

2.The literary origin and development of Horror Films- 5 -

2.1The historical background of Horror Films- 5 -

2.2The develtopment of Horror Films- 6 -

3. The relationship between Gothic novels and horror film- 9 -

3.1Analysis on the literary style and characteristics of Gothic Novels based on A Rose for Emily- 9 -

3.1.1A Rose for Emily…-9-

3.1.2 the literary style and characteristics of Gothic Novels.-9-

(1)Theme.- 9 -

(2)Backgroud- 9 -

(3)Narration- 10 -

(4) Protagonists- 10 -

3.2The Comparitive study on classic Gothic novels and their film adaptations-11 -

3.2.1The Monk- 11 -

3.2.2 The Tell-tale Heart- 12 -

3.2.3 The Fall of the House of Usher- 12 -

3.2.4 Frankenstein- 13 -

3.2.5 Jane Eyre- 15 -

Conclusion- 16 -

References- 17 -

Acknowledgment- 18 -