In the following, my research paper will draw on an article by Kathy Prendergast entitled “Introduction to the Gothic Tradition”. The interest of this article lies in the fact that it contributes to recapitulating the different characteristics of the Gothic tradition. In this article, the author argues that to subvert the Enlightenment and realistic literary mores, many 18th-century novelists resorted to traditional romantic conventions in their works of fiction, such as the legendary Arthurian tales (Prendergast). Romantic literature, as Kathy Prendergast further states that it highlighted things like splendor, grandeur, vivacity, expressiveness, intense feelings of passion and breathtaking beauty. The romantic literary genre favored “parts” over “whole” and “content” over “form.” The writer argues that although the Romantic literary genre and the Gothic artistic mode were medieval in nature, they came to conflict with what were called classical conventions. This is why concerns with the supernatural, the horrible, the appalling, the loathsome, and the grotesque were central to the 19th-century Gothic novel. While some critics perceived Gothic as a subgenre of Romanticism, others saw it as a genre in its own right (Prendergast). Kathy Prendergast further argues that it was this convergence of the Gothic artistic style and the Romantic genre that was quintessential to the 19th century era. The two collided to highlight terror, worthless emotion and vulnerability. The two collided to perpetuate a sense of wonder in the reader/viewer, a feeling of helplessness in the face of a superior force. Gothic architecture with its particularity, its mystery and its danger; Gothic architecture with its......middle of paper......norms and moral codes. Both are seen as examples of cruelty that repel and, paradoxically, attract. Their similarities coincide especially at the beginning of the novel; especially when Heathcliff begs for Catherine’s return: “Cathy, come. Oh, again! Oh! My heart is darling, listen to me this time... Catherine, finally! (Emily Bronte: 23). Kristena Ceron goes on to argue that these particular words of Emily's Byronic hero certainly match those spoken by Byron's vampire in Act 2, Scene 4 of "Manfred," when he addressed his beloved Astarte with the following words: “Listen to me, listen to me” (88) (LISA Revue). The similarities between the two characters, says Cristina Ceron, also align in Manfred's first act soliloquy, in which the Byronic hero praises his superhuman powers by announcing himself as the devil and ruler of the world.: