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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: A Gothic Novel

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Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is one of the greatest Gothic novels to come out during the Romantic Period. Frankenstein is a prime example of what a Gothic novel should present to its reader through the genre’s twisted themes. Even though it was written in the Romantic period, Mary Shelley still wrote Frankenstein to be a Gothic work of literature. Many characteristics of Gothic novel can be seen within this novel. Mary Shelley’s outstanding novel Frankenstein is a prime example of a Gothic novel because of the many characteristics of a Gothic novel that point it to being a Gothic work. The Gothic genre, or otherwise known as a Gothic romance, was a popular form of literature during the time that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Mary …show more content…

(Abrams 117-118). Frankenstein shows these characteristics in the way that Mary Shelley structured the complex and fascinating story. It can easily be seen that Frankenstein is a Gothic novel. For instance, Frankenstein definitely evokes terror through both the physical and psychological violence (Abrams 117-118). Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein uses this Gothic characteristic through the monster both physical and phycological. In Frankenstein, the monster is described as being hideous and physically grotesque. Victor Frankenstein describes him as, “His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same color as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips (Shelley 42).” The use of this terrifying description of the monster shows how Mary Shelley was trying to show the Gothic theme of the novel. People wanted to be scared when they read a Gothic novel, so the usage of a terrifying description like this made it Gothic (Williams 2). Mary

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