The Gothic Sensibility: Victorian “Gloomths” & the Contemporary “Death Curious” | An Illustrated Lecture with Romany Reagan

The modern term “goth,” given to people of a certain music scene or fashion subculture, is not a new one.

What we have come to think of as a “Gothic Sensibility” has been around since the mid-eighteenth century; beginning with the Graveyard Poets, who were characterized by their gloomy meditations on mortality elicited by spending time in graveyards. This illustrated lecture will examine the evolution of the “Gothic Sensibility” from its literary roots in the 18th-century Graveyard Poets and ‘Gloomths’ to the music and fashion turns of the gothic revival of the late 20th century, to the contemporary Death Positive movement of today.