


	The traditional "Gothic Novel" is, in substance and in name an "oxymoron for 'Old-New,'" as Ian Watt describes it in The Rise of the Gothic Novel. The Gothic mode has been disparaged, praised, accused of having no real depth, and lauded for the 'terrible sublime' aspect it seemed to evoke (Burke).  The original "Gothic Novel," Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, used the ideas of both "the ancient and the modern" romances to create the proto-Gothic genre, and to create a new method of literary expression. Walpole uses "old" theatrical elements and 'new' mimicry of nature in 'modern' novels to present what he terms "A Gothic Story" (Walpole 4). The Gothic genre uses many throwbacks to medieval gothic theatre, architecture, and traditions. Even at the time of the publication of The Castle of Otranto, the word "gothic" had been used to describe many different peoples, styles, and time periods. It was perceived as archaic or unsophisticated in the face of "modern" societal and literary "advancements." The combination of the more theatrical "Gothic" and the new format of the novel (allowing the reader a more personal view of the psychology of the characters) is what allows Gothic to remain for such a long time, and become at once obsolete and new to a reader much displaced in time from the original writing.
	One of the most prominent gothic ideas present in Gothic novels is the concept of Chivalry. The medieval idea of chivalry, the process of training a proper knight, is both retained and transmuted in the original Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. Chivalry is especially important to Gothic writers because of what it represented—the classic knight, brave, honorable, competent—and the supposed or perceived lack of that ideal those writers (particularly Walpole) saw in society. Through the use of the chivalric concepts and manners the  "gothic past" become idealized and romanticized (hinting at the future evolution of Gothic to Romantic) and is used to attempt to improve the present. Walpole was, when he wrote The Castle of Otranto, in the midst of a politically troubled time, and was despairing over the possible future. He, immersed in politics and (debatably) unfair accusations, may have began to think, even if not explicitly, that the supposed morality and innate "goodness" in people present in the gothic era had been somehow lost in those individuals that made up the 'present' society. In his writing this concept is clearly seen in several characters, one being the character Frederic. The reader can see before meeting Frederic that he embodies many chivalric traits, he is described as: 

The description of him includes a great many traditionally chivalric images; Frederic is, foremost, a prince, he has suffered, been suitably affected by tragedy that he leaves, and is currently supposed to have been killed by infidels. The figure of the "gallant and courteous Knight" is, of course exaggerated, bringing the soon to be Gothic trope of excess into play (66). 