▁sc orn ed ▁it ▁as ▁well . ▁The ▁use ▁of ▁sp ont aneous ▁comb ust ion ▁especially ▁has ▁been ▁pointed ▁at ▁as ▁a ▁cont riv ed ▁element . ▁In ▁Brown ' s ▁time , ▁critics ▁har sh ly ▁fault ed ▁Brown ▁for ▁using ▁vent ril o qu ism ▁as ▁the ▁device ▁that ▁drove ▁the ▁plot ▁of ▁the ▁novel . ▁Crit ics ▁today ▁have ▁also ▁dis d ained ▁the ▁vent ril o qu ism ▁in ▁Wiel and . ▁In ▁Brown ' s ▁time , ▁critics ▁considered ▁the ▁work ▁to ▁be ▁uns oph istic ated ▁because ▁of ▁its ▁dependence ▁on ▁the ▁convent ions ▁of ▁Goth ic ▁nov els ▁and ▁nov els ▁of ▁s edu ction . ▁Reg ard less ▁of ▁its ▁weak ness es , ▁however , ▁Wiel and ▁is ▁thought ▁to ▁be ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁significant ▁nov els ▁published ▁by ▁an ▁American , ▁and ▁it ▁is ▁most ▁certainly ▁Brown ' s ▁most ▁successful ▁work . ▁Joy ce ▁Carol ▁O ates ▁describes ▁Wiel and ▁as ▁" a ▁night m are ▁expression ▁of ▁the ▁ful fill ment ▁of ▁repr essed ▁desire , ▁anticip ating ▁Ed gar ▁All an ▁Po e ' s ▁similarly ▁cla ust roph ob ic ▁tales ▁of ▁the ▁gro tes que ." ▁ ▁References ▁ ▁External ▁links ▁▁▁▁ ▁Category : 1 7 9 8 ▁nov els ▁Category : American ▁g oth ic ▁nov els ▁Category : 1 8 th - century ▁American ▁nov els ▁Category : Nov els ▁set ▁in ▁Pennsylvania ▁Category : Nov els ▁by ▁Charles ▁Bro ck den ▁Brown <0x0A>