Contrasting Visions in Poe, Hawthorne and Melville Gothic Romanticism has eight basic characteristics. All of Gothic stories carry most of these traits. These traits are hero-villain conflict; a person, place or object possessing a great power; a virtue is hidden in the story-line; personal magnetism is evident; usually includes some criminal act; "explained supernatural"; an enchanted setting such as an ancient castle; and extensive and insistent literary allusion. Edgar A. Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman …showed first 75 words of 984 total…

…showed last 75 words of 984 total…also makes statements but on a different level. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Birth-Mark". The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 1998. 1261-73. Melville, Herman. "Bartleby, the Scrivener". The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 1998. 2330-55. Poe, Edgar A. "The Tale-Tell Heart". The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 1998. 1546-50.