George Levine's Frankenstein And The Tradition Of Realism

Throughout history, there have been many novels and short stories written in the form of gothic genre. This genre consists of different elements, such as damsels in distress, supernatural events, omens and turbulent weather. An embodiment of this genre is Marry Shelly’s Frankenstein. She incorporated supernatural events or happenings, such as the creation of Frankenstein’s monster. Furthermore, the atmosphere and setting during the first few chapters have shown many aspects of the gothic literature. Of the myriad gothic stories written, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is considered to be an important part of the gothic genre.

This is shown through the treatment of a certain character within the book. When deciding whether Shelley's 'Frankenstein' can be considered a Gothic novel we have to take into account each aspect of a 'typical Gothic novel' and compare it with Shelley's work. In a Gothic novel the setting in which the story has been told usually consists of a grand castle, (or similar) which may be isolated or at least very mysterious.

As one of the first gothic novels Frankenstein explores the darker side of human nature, ambitions, and the human mind.

This source goes over the later forms of the horror story and it included the novel Frankenstein. At one point, it touched upon the alienation and isolation that the creature went through and how it had affected him later on.

A multitude of signs illustrates similarities between the Frankenstein’s creature and Mary Shelley. These indications show that the novel may be an autobiography. However, the novel shows a lot of the characteristics of science fiction. The novel can be a real description or fiction narrative, but not both. An informed opinion about this controversy requires the evaluation of relevant critics. Sherry Ginn uses “Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein: Science, Science Fiction, or Autobiography?” to adequately argue that the novel Frankenstein is based on Shelley’s experiences and fears, that it is not an autobiography, and that it has all the characteristics of a science fiction narrative.

(Favert 1) We must begin to read Frankenstein more as a well-wrought "baggy monster" of correspondences, and less as a singular, alien phenomenon. If we read it as an interactive combination of tales, rather than one linear narrative, we can refrain from casting the novelist into the narrow role of a "young girl" with "so very hideous an idea." Frankenstein is Mary Shelley's novel; it is no more her story than Walton's, Victor's or the monster's. Within the text, the various narrators slide from their own stories into the histories of others, and with each movement, we are asked to extend our "willing suspension of disbelief." As the novel multiplies its story-tellers and listeners, it renews the problem of narrative authority. Whose story do we believe? -- the novel defuses such a question. The fantastic nature of the stories preclude rational explanation or judgment, and we do not,

     Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein does indeed do a lot more than simply tell story, and in this case, horrify and frighten the reader. Through her careful and deliberate construction of characters as representations of certain dominant beliefs, Shelley supports a value system and way of life that challenges those that prevailed in the late eighteenth century during the ‘Age of Reason’. Thus the novel can be said to be challenging prevailant ideologies, of which the dominant society was constructed, and endorsing many of the alternative views and thoughts of the society. Shelley can be said to be influenced by her mothers early feminist views, her father’s

Frankenstein feels utter remorse when he is aware that Justine will not be spared. An analogy is used here – Justine's tortures are being compared to those of Frankenstein. A sophisticated metaphor

The above quote by Bloom is an explanation of the view that all the gothic novels are interpretation of psychological and social factors and this is especially true in the case of Mary Shelley. Shelley began her novel at the age of 18 when the most prominent materials in the consciousness and unconsciousness of Shelley were concerned with the conflicts stemming from the death of her mother. Frankenstein is the outcome of Shelley’s unresolved grief for the death of her mother which was the crisis she needed to work through to forget her own adult identity.

The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, was a piece written in 1817 during a time when women weren’t considered to be adequate authors. Shelley’s work is both intriguing as it is thought provoking. She brings to light the true nature of society and life altogether when tested. She factors in how the outside world can influence our choices in writing. George Levine from “The Ambiguous Heritage of Frankenstein” and Benjamin Truitt from “Frankenstein Critical Analysis and Literary Criticism” both share their opinions about Shelley’s piece of written work.

"The faults of Frankenstein were the occasional extravagance and overwriting;... everything is cold, crude, inconsecutive, and wearisome; -- not one flash of imagination, not one spark of passion.” (Knights Quarterly Review 1824). These words from an unknown man have sparked a literary debate. Moreover, these words dive into the opinions of whoever reads Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, and makes the reader formulate his own opinion on the literary work. The critic is correct in some matters of the quote, yet in others, he could not be further from the truth.

Mary Shelley creates a sense of gloom, mystery, and suspense, in her novel Frankenstein. The book generates these perceptions though the setting and the terrible events that go on throughout the book. Gothic novels came from the English genre of fiction popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Gothics are defined by the mysterious and horrific atmosphere, similar to that of Mary Shelley’s writing. Frankenstein is a gothic novel because of the combined elements of extreme and sinister landscapes, horrifying events, supernatural elements, and a passionate, wilful villain.

The essay chosen for the second style analysis is a close reading essay of Mary Shelly’s science fiction novel, Frankenstein. The assignment instructed students to build an argument and present supporting details from the novel that assists the critical analysis. The argument I selected to present is the inadequate representation of female characters in the novel through the imposed gender roles by the men of society. During the semester, the course investigated the gothic imagination as a major focus for eighteenth and nineteenth century British literature. Two of the most reoccurring themes in the course consisted of human sexuality and the subject of gender roles between men and women. The inspiration for the essay had been to demonstrate

A story of mystery, tragedy, and terror, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein continues to captivate millions. She writes the tale of mankind’s obsession of the unknown, pulling readers to Frankenstein’s many lessons. Mary Shelley affects literature with her seemingly paradoxical use of both Romanticism and Gothicism. Shelley takes elements of romanticism, such as heavy use of emotions, innocence, and characters achievements, while also using gothic aspects like death, violence, and dark weather. Weaving the two genres together, Mary Shelley creates a timeless science fiction novel containing characteristics of serenity with a sense of eeriness.

Frankenstein is a novel that gives readers an opportunity to imagine a world very different and unique from their current one. One where man can in fact create a creature who exhibits human like qualities such as loneliness, kindness, intelligence and anger even if it looks like a monster. Mary Shelley does a fantastic job in writing a work of fiction that is filled with imagination, mystery, knowledge of human anatomy, loss and love. Many critics find the novel Frankenstein to be a great work of literature and believe Mary Shelley does a wonderful job in writing this beautiful novel. The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany; A New Series of the “The Scots Magazine” included a review of the work edited by Shanon Lawson describing the novel as “the highest style of caricature and exaggeration.” The Edinburgh Review or the Critical Journal was a Scottish Magazine that was published from 1802-1929. This magazine provided literary and political criticism making it very prestigious during that time “contributing to the development of the modern periodical of literary criticism” (Encyclopedia Britannica). The Edinburg Magazine effectively argues that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a beautifully written fiction novel that also has some reality attached to it.