Hide us from the wrath of the lamb: Gótico e simbolismo religioso na série Hannibal

Abstract

The present work falls within the scope of Literary Studies and aims to comprehend the Gothic mode and religious allegories in the American television series Hannibal, created by Bryan Fuller and aired by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) between 2013 and 2015. In this context, the research focuses on six episodes featured in the second half of the series‟ third and final season, which adapt the book Red Dragon (1981), written by Thomas Harris. Using a bibliographical approach, the study involved a survey of theories in the field of Gothic literature (Hogle, 2002; Martoni, 2011; Sá, 2019; Spooner, 2006), in order to analyze the television adaptation in line with the work‟s objectives and in light of these contributions. The results demonstrate that Gothic elements such as abjection, the sublime, horror and terror appears in the series through psychological conflicts, social transgressions, dreamlike imagery, dark scenarios, duality of Nature, unreal settings and shocking representations of physical and psychological violence. Furthermore, it was observed that the collection of paintings The Great Red Dragon (1805-1810) by William Blake serves as a visual and thematic reference to create a Gothic language, based on allegorical representations of the characters as figures from the Book of Revelation. In light of this discussion, it can be concluded that Hannibal appropriates a religious aesthetic in a sentimental and subversive manner, creating its own Gothic mode characterized by its multiplicity of discourses.