Question

What is gothic literature designed to do

Answer 1

Gothic literature is meant to horrify. Its heavy use of dark, brooding imagery (enchanted forests, crumbling castles, ghosts, etc.) are designed to confuse the relationship of the reader's mind to the reader's senses. Basically, the reader knows that the story is fictional, but somehow the story still creates powerful feelings in the reader's body—like when you jump or scream during a horror movie.