The gothic imagination in literature and film

The influence of the Gothic novel on French literature and on expressionist cinema is still little addressed in interdisciplinary research. As far as his romantic universe is concerned certain literary topoi be it the fantastic plot medieval settings or numinous characters are the constants on which he is built. In order to identify its manifestations and explain its influences this thesis proposes to study within the short story La Morteamour by Théophile Gautier and the filmNosferatu le vampire by Wilhelm Murnau the updating of its major characteristics codified by Maurice Lévy namely the presence of the Beyond the use of medieval architecture and an atmosphere of anguish and mystery.