INTRODUCTION

The present work aims to analyse the novel The Cutting Room by the Scottish writer,
Louise Welsh. This analysis has been triggered by several questions concerning the

gothic influence on the novel not only to identify the elements of the gothic novel in the
story, but to discover why the author brings this style back in a non-gothic period. Do

the gothic elements serve a specific purpose or are they merely the result of a stylistic

choice that helps the development of the plot? This work tries to show that the author
has a specific reason to choose the gothic style to convey an actual message through the

novel. In this respect, it is necessary to talk about the historical context of the gothic

style, the main characteristics of the gothic novel and its essential elements, and the
position of this genre in society.

SHORT REVIEW OF THE NOVEL

The Cutting Room is a novel written by the Scottish writer Louise Welsh. The novel, set

in Glasgow, narrates how Rilke, the main character, an auctioneer who has agreed to
sell the valuable personal property of an old lady, comes across a collection of savage

pornographic photographs, which belonged to her already deceased brother, that

apparently documents the death of a young lady.

The character is obsessed with these photographs and does everything to find out if this
girl was actually killed. He visits marginal places infected with sex and drugs and
collects information that finally leads him nowhere in particular.

THE GOTHIC: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND

LITERATURE

ITS INFLUENCE UPON

The Gothic was an Anglo-Saxon movement that began at the end of the XVIII century
as a reaction against Rationalism. Its emotional, philosophic and aesthetic form of

expression contradicted the rational view which tried to reach absolute knowledge
through reasoning as its only method. In this respect, both movements can be seen as

total opposites; the gothic novel aims to create fear and its elements will always depend
upon this requisite.

All the elements that constitute the genre were essentially introduced by Horace
Walpole in his novel The Castle of Otranto this novel is considered to be the one that
gave rise to the gothic genre. The novel influenced not only other novels but short
stories and poems as well and this influence was always present even until these days.

Although the end of the style was premature, there was a revival at the end of XIX

century thanks to authors like Edgar Allan Poe. This revival took place during the
Victorian era, when the gothic has ceased to be the dominant genre and was still

dismissed by most critics. The 1880s saw the revival of the Gothic as a powerful literary
form allied to the end of a century which fictionalized contemporary fears like ethical
degeneration and questioned social structures of the time.

Taking this into consideration, it is not surprising that the author writes the novel in

2002; the Gothic influence is inevitable. At the end of every century, there is a change

in perspective which is expressed, generally, through artistic ways. Literature is just one
of them and Welsh, by bringing back this style is making a statement with respect to
social concerns that are questioned at least by her. The topics dealt with in the novel,
some indirectly, are pornography, sexual perversion and the role of women in this
context. These are some of the objects of concern that Welsh questions and, naturally,

related to which makes a statement. Rilke is then positioned as the antihero who fights

against this whole new world that he discovers, despite the fact that his is open with
sexuality.

Gothic not only questions social structures but those taboo topics that are always present

in many societies and which are related to ethical perversion: Gothic speaks to such

elemental parts of human nature and to all those taboos I mentioned. It will

never go away; it will always reinvent itself and appear in different

manifestations. (Welsh, 2004)

SOCIAL POSITION OF THE GOTHIC AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE NOVEL

Another important aspect of the Gothic movement is that it was originally born as a

marginal movement. Since it was born as a reaction against Enlightenment, its authors
were criticized and the use of gothic style was highly rejected.

One of the reasons why this style was not seen as a serious form of writing was that it

was difficult to label gothic literature as a specific genre within the canon because it was

not clear where it came from and what it had to say. These questions can be easily
answered when studying Gothic literature, but its first reception was hostile.

Naturally, its authors were marginal as well, and Welsh, in this respect, is not the

exception. Although the reception of her novel was extremely positive, this marginal
atmosphere is present in the setting of the novel. From a geographical standpoint, it is

not innocent to choose Scotland as the country where the entire story takes place.

Moreover and more specifically, the places visited by Rilke in the city of Glasgow are
nothing but marginal. Underground buildings infected with sex, drugs, violence and
where ethical degeneration is common.

Then again, these series of choices are, clearly, a manifestation against the position of
her country and of certain people within a society. The main character of the novel is an

alcoholic, homosexual auctioneer and throughout times societies have had the tendency
to seclude these kinds of people. Gothic deals with taboos and people who are different.

However, and maybe because of this, there is a naturalization of the places Rilke visits.
Of course this can be the result of a narrator in the first person, a narrator who tells the
story from his own point of view, being subjective and creating his own discourse. In

spite of that, this is also a strategy used by Welsh to be assertive; these places as well as
the situations Rilke faces are so common to him that they appear common to the reader

as well and it is at this point that the questions arise. Why does this correlation with the
Gothic style serve her purpose? This is the way she finds to express her position
concerning social structures as well as the role of Scotland.

In this respect, there is also a correlation between what happened with the first reception

of the Gothic movement and the historical attempt of Scotland to gain independence not
only for the sake of autonomy but for the sake of recognition as well.

GOTHIC ELEMENTS IN THE CUTTING ROOM

The main concern of a gothic novel is to create an atmosphere filled with suspense, fear

and mistery. All these elements are present in The Cutting Room, and as previously

discussed, they serve a purpose. But how does the writer achieves a gothic style?
Among the main characteristics of the gothic novel are:

Setting: generally, the first gothic novels took place in castles or monasteries,

their architecture helped the creation of suspense thanks to hidden corridors and secret
passages.

In modern gothic novels, this setting is changed to that of an old house or mansion and

this is the case of The Cutting Room. The house of Mrs. McKindless was enormous and

it dominated the road, a dark, sober faade intersected by three rows of

darkened windows. No clue of what lay inside except you could bet it would
be expensive.

Fascination for the past: although originally this obsession with the past of

gothic authors had to do with the idealisation of a past time as opposes to a complicated

and unacceptable present, this is a present topic in the novel because Rilke is obsessed

with finding out whether the girl from the photos was actually murdered or not. These
photos were taken so long ago that it almost impossible to tell and this endless search
finally leads him nowhere.

Women in distress and threatened by powerful men: this is one of the central

topics in the novel and together with the previously mentioned, one of the most
distinctive characteristic of the gothic novel. The female character, Anne Marie is
presented as an oppressed heroine whose suffering becomes the focus of attention.

CONCLUSION:
The purpose of this work was to provide an answer for several questions like why the

author use gothic elements in a non-gothic period and what was the intention behind
that, if any. The analysis of the style explains in itself how a series of choices help not
only the plot of the novel but the message behind. It is important to bear in mind that a

novel is not only constructed through a plot, some characters and a conflict. Social
aspects play an important role and the way of expressing that can vary according to

what is that and author wants to say. Gothic style provides Welsh with all the tools she
need to make a statement; leaving aside the fact that this is not a gothic period.

The same happens with a genre, or a style, which are not constructed only by a couple
of central characteristics but thanks to certain social contexts.

The Cutting Room is a very good example of this and can be further analysed to show
how literary styles are universal and timeless.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
JACKSON, R. (1986) Fantasy: Literatura y subversin. Catlogos Editora.
LOPEZ SANTOS, M. (2008). La novela gtica, sus mitos y la nueva literatura
espaola.

Congreso

Internacional

de

Literatura

Contemporneas. Memoria Acadmica. FaHCE, UNLP.

Culturas

Espaolas

STEVENS, D. (2000). Contexts in literature. The gothic tradition. Cambridge

University Press.

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http://www.erasingclouds.com/0907welsh.html
http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/bib/portal/novelagotica/include/p_historia.html
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrativa_g%C3%B3tica
http://www.louisewelsh.com/cutting.html
http://allreaders.com/book-review-summary/the-cutting-room-20928
http://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction
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