Notably within gothic writing a common theme is that of the exploration of the unknown. Often the unknown or supernatural is portrayed as being disturbing or horrific; that it is something to be feared and not understood. Arguably this perspective is not shared between all gothic texts, some of which depict creatures and aspects of the unknown as being misunderstood rather than being mythical. It may be seen that the unknown is traditionally shown to be disturbing for the purpose of deterring the reader from exploring the unknown themselves due to it reaching beyond religious constraints.

Within Marlowe’s play ‘Doctor Faustus’, it can be said that the narrative depicts a strongly disturbing exploration of the unknown. The protagonist of the play Faustus attempts to ‘resolve [himself] of all ambiguity’ by gaining omnipotent power and knowledge of existence through selling his soul to the devil for ‘four-and-twenty’ years of earthly power. Faustus intends to reach beyond the limitations of humanity and develop a better understanding of the unknown, for which he is punished and dragged down to ‘ugly hell’. This horrific imagine can be seen as symbolic of the disturbing consequences of exploring the unknown. Structurally this is reinforced by Marlowe’s use of a chorus throughout the play, a common feature within traditional Greek tragedies. Its purpose is to pass judgement over the play and to prevent Faustus being perceived as being a tragic hero but rather a fool who is ‘condemned to die’. The final chorus of the play pleads that Faustus’s ‘fiendful fortune may exhort the wise/ only to wonder at unlawful things’. This can be seen as a clear indication that the purpose of the play is to warn of the disturbing nature of the unknown and in doing so prevent further questioning. Although, it can be questioned if this is Marlowe’s own view or is in fact the result of the Catholic Church’s censorship during the time. The Church had a great power during the Elizabethan era so Marlowe may have feared punishment if he were to write a play that appear to question the power and existence of God. Indeed, from this view it may be said that Faustus is symbolic of the Renaissance ideals which questioned past ideas on religion, science and art. The Church condemned these views and believed it would result in damnation thus potentially influencing the way in which Marlowe was able to explore the unknown.

Similarly, Angela Carter depicts the exportation of the unknown as being horrific and disturbing in her collection of short stories ‘The Bloody Chamber’. The title tale of the collection can be seen as being an allegory of the Christian tale of Geneses. This is due to its questioning of the borders of human knowledge and warning of the consequences of reaching for forbidden knowledge. In the narrative the narrator, a newly wed bride, is warned by her husband the Marquis not to enter his secret chamber while he is away. However, the narrator, ‘like Eve’, ignores this warning and enters ‘the bloody chamber’ anyway to find the ‘mutilation’ and ‘annihilation’ of the Marquis’s past wives. As punishment for her disobedience the Marquis condemns her to death, yet is saved by her mother through Carter’s use of Deus ex machine plot device. This can be seen as clearly reflecting the Christian perspective that reaching beyond the limits of human knowledge of the unknown will result in pain or death. Indeed, the disturbing nature of this is emphasised by the strongly gothic description of the gratuitous interior of the chamber. Although, it may be seen that Carter’s intention with this tale, and the collection as a whole, was to invert traditional fairy tales with a feminist perspective. In this case the Marquis horror and cruelty may be seen as reflecting that of patriarchal society which is why it is the bride’s mother that comes to the rescue not another male character.

On the other hand, the tale of ‘The Lady of the House of Love’ in the collection depicts the known world as being far more disturbing than the unknown. In the tale the Countess is characterised as being a supernatural creature since she is part of the ‘gothic eternity of the vampires’ and is herself ‘unnatural’. Whereas, the young British soldier is described as being ‘rational’ thus he becomes symbolic of masculine single mindedness. It can be seen that the soldier’s initial approach to the Countess fulfills expectation for a disturbing exploration of the unknown due to Carter’s use of an overtly gothic setting: ‘cobwebs, worm-eaten beams…endless corridors…winding staircases…eyes of family portraits briefly flicked as they passed’. However, the climax of the narrative does not appear to fulfill this expectation due to it being the masculine rationality that overcomes the supernatural creature. In fact, these events are overshadowed by the fact that the soldier ‘will learn to shudder in the trenches. But this girl cannot make him shudder’. Therefore, Carter appears to suggest that the horrors of war, especially the First World War, and that of the known world are in truth far more disturbing than anyone unknown creature.

Furthermore, Emily Bronte’s exploration of the unknown and supernatural within her novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ can be seen as being extremely disturbing. The extravagance of the ghostly, the supernatural and the unknown in this novel can be seen as being devoted to the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff, and to the descriptions of them as individuals. Throughout the course of the novel both characters are portrayed as being almost gothic creatures rather than people; both are described as being a ‘demon’ and a ‘devil’ alongside other supernatural associations. In fact, they appear to possess a strong attachment to the supernatural, to the extent that Heathcliff has ‘a strong faith in ghosts…that they can and do exist’. The summation of this spectral presence can be seen as being in Lockwood’s dream of Cathy at the beginning of the novel. This dream can be seen as being disturbing on two levels. Firstly, the gratuitous horror of Lockwood sawing the ghosts arm on the broken window is disconcerting. Secondly, the fact that neither Lockwood nor Heathcliff, appear to believe that it was merely a dream; that they both sense some form of supernatural presence. Therefore, within ‘Wuthering Heights’ there appears to a deeply sinister exploration of the unknown nature the afterlife. However, this perspective seems almost contradicted by the closing line of the novel in which Lockwood questions ‘how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumber, for the sleepers in the quite earth’. Bronte’s use sibilance and personification of the earth appear to suggest as peaceful afterlife in which ghosts do not exist. By extension this suggests that gothic exploration of the unknown within the novel is in fact only an illusion brought on by fear of the unknown. Ultimately, Bronte appears to highlight the irrationality of the fear of the unknown and suggests that it is not in fact disturbing.

Clearly, the exploration of the unknown is an aspect that is present extensively within gothic writing. It appears as though this exploration is disturbing due to the horrific events and violence that it is associated with. Although, gothic writing does question the sense in fearing the unknown and discusses the perceived boundaries of human knowledge. Overall, I may be said that it is not the unknown which gothic writing depicts as being disturbing, but rather the questioning of the things the society holds to be true which is truly disconcerting.