ABSTRACT

Carson McCullers is one of the most famous Gothic novelists in the 20th century. She is good at using a variety of gothic writing techniques in her works. In these works, she combines traditional gothic features with southern reality through describing gloomy and depressing environment, and narrating many plots of violence and death. The Ballad of the Sad Café is one of her representative works, in which McCullers created three main characters, namely, Miss Amelia, Cousin Lymon and Marvin Macy, and described the abnormal love of these three lonely eccentrics.

The present thesis attempts to explore the gothic features in this novel, with grotesque characters, fantastic plots and theme of loneliness included. Also, this thesis investigates into the causes of McCullers’ special gothic style from three aspects: social background, her bizarre mental state, and her literary preference. 

Keywords: Carson McCullers; The Ballad of the Sad Cafe; gothic features; loneliness 

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-3

Chapter Three GOTHIC FEATURES IN THE BALLAD OF THE SAD CAFE-6

3.1 Grotesque Characters-6

3. 2 Fantastic Plot-9

3. 3 Theme of Loneliness-10

Chapter Four UNDERLYING CAUSES OF MCCULLERS’S UNIQUE GOTHIC STYLE-12

4.1 Social Background-12

4.2 McCullers’ Bizarre Mental State-13

4.3 McCullers’ Literary Preference-14

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-15

WORKS CITED-17