The Evolution of Irish Folklore in Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Tales of Terror

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873), may be used as a prime example of the result of the decaying Anglo-Irish culture. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest master of the Victorian Gothic, his works encompassing the dreads of his time, and surpassing many of the efforts of his contemporaries. Le Fanu's short stories which involve Irish myth can be measured via the characters propinquity with the setting of Ireland. The tales that are Irish based which involving a heavy use of lore, such as ‘The White Cat of Drumgunniol', ‘The Ghost and the Bone-setter', and ‘The Child that went with the Fairies', prove to degenerate into a farce, mocking the superstitious peasantry and avoiding the standard gothic tradition. Those tales that are specifically set in Ireland where the idea of Irish folklore is more extended by Le Fanu, such as ‘The Familiar', prove to find a happy medium between satire towards the superstitious, and idea of the gothic, preserving a balance of both levity and suspense. Lastly, those stories set in a mere ‘Ireland-like' setting, such as ‘Carmilla', seem to go beyond all tradition and extend fantasy to brilliant ends. While Le Fanu does not necessarily follow this progression chronologically, it is important to keep front of mind that the author was a great revisionist, and no idea, character, theme or name avoided constant change. Therefore, chronology is in most cases irrelevant while examining the artist's developing motifs, unless in relation to new influences and acquaintances that would rekindle and old theme. Throughout the evolution of Le Fanu's manipulation of Irish folklore, the idea of the main protagonists relation to the harbinger of death continues to change, ranging from the traditional to the newly invented, all once again in relation of the emphasis of the Irish setting. It is Le Fanu's manipulation of the Irish folklore towards new fantastic means that create his own kind of spectacular gothic.