Gothic novel : Pauline, by Alexandre Dumas. 

  • The author : Alexandre Dumas.

Alexandre Dumas was a French writer, born in 1802, and died in 1870. He is close to the romantic author, and he turned to theater.

This author wrote historical dramas, like Henry III and his court, (in 1829). He also writes historical novels, like the trilogy The Three Musketeers (in 1844), or The Queen Margot (in 1845).However, Pauline, is his first novel, and his first gothic novel, published in 1838.


  • Summary :

This novel is about the meeting between Alexandre Dumas, character and narrator of the book, and his old friend Alfred de Nerval. The latter tells him the fascinating story of Pauline, who died a year earlier. She went through many adventures with Alfred de Nerval.



  • What makes this story gothic ?

The setting, atmosphere, and feelings.

The action takes place in different places, all scary: abbey, vault, secret passage, secret doors, ruin, cemetery, old building, dark corridors... A mysterious and frightening atmosphere surrounds these places.

The scenes are nightmarish. We feel the unease and anxiety of the young woman. We perceive her concerns, doubts, interrogations, her discomfort, anxiety, and fear … All these places are, more or less, a summary of the different places where the action takes place in all gothic novels, with recurrent feelings such as fear, distress, doubts and anxieties.., and a mysterious and frightening atmosphere specific to the gothic genre.

The characters.




Pauline : Before her meeting with the count, Pauline Meulien is a girl a bit naive, but intelligent. She has everything for her: young, rich, and beautiful.

However, her personnality is changing rapidly through her adventures: she becomes more subjective, with a different view on the world. She becomes mature. Finally, she becomes very realistic with her life experiences.


Alfred de Nerval : is a young aristocrat, aged twenty years old. He knows how to fight with sword as a gun, ride a horse .. It's a brave person, he knows how to keep his calm.Alfred is the confidant and protector of Pauline. Beside, his only reason for living is Pauline. The latter will unveil her story because it sees it as his "brother". But, Alfred has stronger feelings
The characters of Gothic novels are often derived from stereotypes:young women persecuted, like the character of Pauline, a man torn between Reason and Passion, like the character of Alfred.They are put in recurring situations: identity theft, persecution, murder ... like the characters of the Gothic novel, Pauline.

Alexandre Dumas associated in Pauline all the ingredients of the Gothic novel, with a romantic trend : storm in the sea, shipwreck, moonlit night that reveals the shadows, an abbey in ruins, joined to an abandoned castle, with dark underground corridors, the killing of innocent people, the kidnapping of an innocent woman, a poor lover who becomes a hero with a heart noble and faithful ...

However, it is important to note that this is a book that is influenced by the Romantic movement, it is not only a Gothic book. He is close to the black novel.

  • Immaginery :

Imagination : Who is created by the imagination, which only exists in the imagination. ex : Imaginary fears.

Writing allows to the author to express his thoughts, his world. His imagination coming to life.

Gothic gives a considerable place for imagination, the suggestion, the supernatural, the superstition, the magic, anxiety, strangeness and fear. It allows to articulate and highlight, generally, our fears and anxieties, with recurring themes such as death, women persecuted or in danger, secrets and mysteries, inexplicable events in frightening places, dark and empty. The themes are present in Pauline.

This literary genre allows us to imagine things like people, monsters, or stories that have happened, because the facts are not rational.

In Pauline, the facts are inexplicable: we imagine why and how the elements elapsed. For example, Pauline arrived, suddenly, in a vault.She does not remember.

The places are secret and fascinating; we wonder and imagine what they hide. For example, the abbey ruins, or secret passages are an inspiration, a nostalgic and fantasy world to explore.
This imagination is created by a certain misunderstanding of the facts, then it stimulates the history.