The eighteenth century literary style known as Gothicism was part of the Romanic Era of literature. This genre was associated with sin, evil, disorder, chaos, mystery, madness, dark imagery, and the fall of man. Within the fall of man, or reason, one’s sinful state is often embraced and emphasized. Gothicism enabled Herman Melville to give dramatic life to what would have been just another seafaring voyage. In Melville’s novel, Moby Dick, there is …showed first 75 words of 980 total…

…showed last 75 words of 980 total…House of Usher.” The tragic dimension of Moby Dick is that Captain Ahab goes out for revenge against evil, when the real evil is bottled up inside him the whole time. He is out for retribution against Moby Dick, the whale, because the great beast took his leg, and against the wound of human existence. Through an adaptation of customary Gothic qualities, Moby Dick manages to accomplish the power and dimensions of a classic tragedy.