Gothic Tropes: The Mad Scientist

A lab coat, wild hair, thick glasses, and a savage glint in their eye as they watch their ill-considered experiment come to fruition—the mad scientist is a particularly recognizable trope in media and pop culture today. Mad scientists are mainly associated with science fiction and are also popular as stock villains in superhero comics, but what many don’t know is that this character trope has its roots in the Gothic. In fact, the villainization of science makes sense when you consider that the Gothic genre emerged as a reaction against the Enlightenment. While proponents of rationalism encouraged the pursuit of pure reason, many authors of the Gothic feared what such intellectualism might become when divorced from ethics and emotion. The character of the mad scientist is the embodiment of such anxieties, as we can see in several prominent works of Gothic literature.

Black and white film Frankenstein scene
Frankenstein brings his creature to life in the 1931 film adaptation

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Gothic Tropes: The Doppelganger

The doppelganger, German for “double-goer,” is a literal or symbolic double set in opposition to one of the characters of the story. This theme has appeared in literature for centuries, but is especially popular in works of Gothic fiction. Though, in the most literal sense, a doppelganger is a fellow human being who bears a striking physical resemblance to another character, in these stories, supernatural or imagined doubles with symbolic significance, or sometimes even different aspects of the same person, can be considered doppelgangers. The idea of a doppelganger or alter ego allows for an exploration of human duality. The doppelganger is both duplicate and opposite, showing how opposing forces can exist in one being and forcing us to confront our divided selves.

Two of the many, many doppelgangers in the popular TV show, The Vampire Diaries.
Two of the many, many doppelgangers in the popular TV show, The Vampire Diaries.

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