gothic lit and death - the pardoners tale

To what extent do you think gothic lit is characterised by a fascination with death ?
Intro – certainly can’t discount this theory – very prevalent in gothic lit – resurrection in dracuula, Macbeth – centred around death, beginning and end // punter “Gothic literature enacts our fear of death but perhaps also our fear of immortality” – A03 link to old man “Knokke with my staf”
1. “O glutonye ful of cursednesse!” apostrophising – a02 in sermon digression – a02 emphasises the sin people have and so makes them more afraid of dying in it .
Throughout the sermon digression talk about the different types of sin and how terrible they are “ “stompe , streyne, grynde” – power of 3 and onomatopoeia to create horror of the sin – a02 this sin at the time- a04 would incite terrible fear into an audience of dying in sin – pardoner uses this threat of death in sin to encourage them to buy pardons – aim of tale
2. “deeth” “hath a thousand slain in this pestilence” in the exemplum another voice personifies death – a02 this use of making him a character makes death all the more real – the w sounds of “wente his way withouten words” building an image of death swooping into the town and taking “ a thousand” souls – gothic image – a02 foreshadowing od events to come
3. Old man “ Ne deeth wol nat han my lyf”
Portrays this fascination with death – most important passage – gothic preoccupation with immortality – life in death // “ thus I walke lyk a restless kaitif” – wandering jew image – gothic figure – a01 contention amongst critics – a03+4 is he the personification of death ? or a nice chap ?
4. Uses fear of death as a prompt to buy his pardons “paravnture they may fall one or two doun of his hors and breke his nekke atwo.”
Paired with the harsh k sounds this pondering leaves a lasting image of having fallen and died in sin – leaving the exemplum on a note of terror
Conclusion : overall – I think gothic lit does have a preoccupation with death – this can be seen in this text through events and characters as in an array of other texts – as preoccupation with death has practically become a “convention of the gothic”