The Moral Educating Mechanism of Gothic Elements in Literary Fairy Tales
In response to the controversial existence of Gothic elements in literary fairy tales,this paper argues that they are endowed with irreplaceable educational significance,which allows Gothic elements to bring light to young readers'hearts.With regard to its educating mechanism,the paper explores its emotional mechanism and narrative mechanism from the perspective of literary ethical criticism and taking Wilde's and Andersen's fairy tales as examples.We believe that the emotional response based on Gothic emotional clues,and the"all black or all white"Gothic narrative help children—in the"uncanny"Gothic context and the"curious"Gothic mood sympathizing and empathizing with the characters—familiarize with the ethical choices between good and evil,and therefore not only establish their ethical identity as"human",but also gradually develop rational emotions,so as to form healthy social ethics and ethics of self,achieving ethical balance.