Frankenstein Gothic Tale Essay

throughout this novel and the movie. The decline is a less gradual one in the novel but a

Frankenstein stands as a victim, along with the very people he treasures most, to his own deeds. Victor noted, "For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart" (42). The fruit of his experimentation, his monster, murders many of those close to the scientist. He loses his long time friend, Henry Clerval, as well as his wife, Elizabeth, to his creation. His younger brother William and his beloved servant Justine were also brought to their sad ends at the hands of the creation. The monster brings fear and suffering to all those he meets, if not by cold blooded murder, then by the sheer horror of his corpselike appearance. Though not

The most distinct element of Shelley’s novel is the way in which the mortal world is connected to the supernatural. Victor Frankenstein constructs

Frankenstein Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelly. We can tell by Mary Shelly’s back ground, were she has incorporated some of her social experiences in to her novel. Mary was the daughter of an anarchist father (William Godwin) and a feminist mother (Mary Wollstonecraft). In today’s terms this could be thought as a ‘wild upbringing’. Mary grew up in an environment that suggested she needed to question the way society was being run.

This is a literary criticism on the book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, in which the education, science, history, imagery, language, symbols, and themes in Frankenstein will be discussed. Along with these the following paragraphs will contain personal insight on the novel and its author. While talking about education stops will be made in large interests in the novel including the letters at the beginning of the novel. Science and history will be in the same paragraph and will explain a few different thoughts and facts about the novel, some of them being like Victor’s interest in electricity, biology, and anatomy. In the region of imagery, language, and symbols many ideas will be talked about including description of Frankenstein’s monster and what a couple of his features and his dialogue.

Frankenstein was a gruesome creature created in a laboratory out of old, miscellaneous body parts. Victor, Frankenstein’s creator, feels that he is omniscient in the field of science and irrational attempts to “play God” in order to create his monster. Shelley uses supernatural elements in the novel by having Victor construct a monster and “raise him from the dead.” This dreadful creature provides an intense element of fright and terror to the novel which contributes to its gothic aspects.

     The term Gothic refers to a genre that came about in the late eighteenth century. It can be a type of story, clothing, or music nowadays. In this paper it will refer to a style of literature. A very good example of this type of literature is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the whole novel, which is one of the basic necessities of the Gothic. This theme of the Gothic has different characteristics that all fit into the story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster and make this one of the first horror stories every told.

With his warm brown eyes starting back at you all you could do is smile. The brown curly hair sprouting out each way like blooming flowers put a soft image in your head. The smell of his breathe while he looks at you and smiles makes you smile. His fury touch feels like you are wearing a warm wool coat during winter. He runs around with his mouth wide open and his tong sticking out. Everyone wishes to be as happy as him. This warm and loving creature is a fury poodle named Buzz.

Crafted through dark and supernatural ideas Frankenstein was written in 1818. In the mid 1800’s the gothic theme became prevalent throughout literature, carried by authors like Horace Walpole and Edgar Allen Poe. These authors used dark, supernatural events and gloomy, dreary settings to further cement the story as a gothic piece. Throughout the novel Mary Shelley uses dark and gloomy settings and backdrops, as well as the sheer amount of death and terror from death, along supernatural elements which conveys how the novel portrays gothic literature.

The monster confesses to killing William in order to try and hurt Victor because Victor rejected him. The monster begged Victor to create another monster, a soulmate made just for him to spend the rest of his life with. Victor begrudgingly agreed to this most likely hoping that it would keep him occupied and from hurting humans, and begins to complete the other monster. As Victor is completing the female monster he looks out the window and sees his original creation grinning at him. Victor quickly realized the horror bringing a second monster into the world will create so he destroys the second creation before it is finished. This enrages his original monstrous creation and is warned that he will see him again on his own wedding night. Victor fears for his life, and at this point in the book, Two people have been murdered/killed, and one monster was dumped in a lake and destroyed. This novel is about as dark and mysterious as it gets, as we don’t know what Frankenstein’s creation has planned on Victor’s wedding

The novel Frankenstein has many gothic features in it. The mysterious and gloomy feelings or emotions you get while reading this novel is the way Mary uses the gothic theme to make you really grasp the supernatural theme.

The Gothic Fiction genre is described as a “...mystery and supernatural horror, often set in a dark castle or other medieval setting” (Dictionary.com). This genre began in the late 1700s and has continued to today. In 1817, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrote a gothic novel called Frankenstein. She came up with the idea when some of her friends suggested they have a competition to see who could write the best ghost story. This novel is about Victor Frankenstein reanimating a creature from parts of different people’s bodies. This process was frowned upon in the novel, but the main character, Victor Frankenstein, continues with the project and finishes it. However, when he finishes, he is horrified at what he has done. Throughout the events that

He is overwhelmed with these emotions and the only way to release the anger is to bring death to the loved ones of Frankenstein. The monster is deprived of any sort of love from the very beginning of his life; thus, he will make it his goal to replicate this feeling for Victor. The beast does succeed in bringing terror into the life of Victor with the murders of William, Justine, Henry, and Elizabeth. This active desire to harm your creator is something unique about the relationship between the creator and created in Frankenstein.

The concept of ‘other’, and the act of ‘othering’ is a powerful idea used in many literary texts to in order to

Eagleton’s idea by underscoring the concept that “Mary Shelley’s answer [in the novel Frankenstein] does not entail the restructuring of society, the elimination of the class system; it does entail a revolution of the human spirit and of the emotions which will issue in benevolent action towards one’s fellow human beings, and in so doing, creating a better society whilst alleviating present ills” (89). In this instance, Mary Shelley’s piece of gothic literature can be defined as alive and purposeful as it strives to promote action and change by the people. Developed through imagination and creativity, it carries political weight that contrasts the rational capitalism of the time and instead is aimed at change in support of the people. Literature of the past can be defined as imaginative, creative, and soul-stirring as can literature of the present.