Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Employs Typical Features of the Gothic Tradition

Thesis Statement: In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature’s identity as a monster is due to societal rejection, isolation, and misinterpretation.

Another character that creates fear for the reader and thereby creates a gothic atmosphere is Frankenstein’s monster. Its outer appearance is described by Walton as “… horrible […] that I shut my eyes involuntarily” (Shelley 221). Hence, the horror to the gothic element is added thorough the appearance of the monster.

“He looked around him as if seeing the world for the first time. The world was beautiful, strange, and mysterious.” (page 39)

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.

In the novel, the readers learn that the main antagonist, Victor Frankenstein, is trying to reanimate life and create a “new generation” of advanced humans. Despite being successful in creating the monster, Victor would abandon his creation which forces it to have and conceive different identities and creates conflicting perspectives for the readers. This technique of giving the monster different identities is used by Shelley to portray the monster as a complex being. In the book, Victor abandons his creation because he is horribly terrified as he sees his creation is dreadful looking and says, “I beheld the wretch

In Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein the creature created by Victor Frankenstein is often misunderstood and mistreated because of his appearance. The people around him around him hurt him and make him filled with anger, causing the creature’s character to flip and out lash and swear vengeance on anyone he sees. This makes the reader see the creature as a morally ambiguous character because he constantly switches between both categories of good and evil. The creature being an ambiguous character helps support the meaning of the work as a whole which is good character can be manipulated by outside forces.

faces were distorted with terror.”(ch2, pg 20-1) The author is drawing a sharp mental image of

In this essay I will examine how the monster’s looks and actions reflect the predominant cultural feelings that those who look different are bad, evil or incapable of normal feelings. That somehow because one may look different from the rest of us there must be something emotionally as well as physically wrong with them.

(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,

Who is the real monster?” acts as the dominant question throughout the novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelly as the reader explores the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creation. As the novel progresses, the reader notices how the relationship between the two characters goes far beyond a neglectful creature and resentful creation, for the two influence the thoughts, actions and emotions of each other. Furthermore, the creature’s physical appearance acts as his purpose throughout the novel as well as a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s true identity. Additionally, the creature’s lack of identity begins to initiate Frankenstein’s shame towards his own identity, revealing the flawed character of Frankenstein and determining the resolution to the question “Who is the true monster? Who is the true catalyst of destruction?” During the novel, the reader is able to identify the creature as the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein because the creature causes: Frankenstein to view the action of the creature as his own work, the shift between pride and shame in Frankenstein, and his physical appearance demonstrates his purpose to reveal the true character of Victor Frankenstein.

“ I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest...” Here, Frankenstein has isolated himself to create another creature but he states that he is scared of what future generations may think of his work, for he is on the verge of creating a another specimen on Earth who is just as if not more abnormal and loathed than the first. In chapter 15, the creature visits a blind man and is accepted as a friend, but as soon as the blind man’s son sets eyes on the creature, he is seemingly judged as a monster and villain. This exemplifies how standards of appearance in society must be met in order to be accepted and in this case, the creature is far from appearing “ normal,” and is shunned by mankind. The two fall into misery and blame each other, causing much conflict and

     The very first characteristic of a Gothic novel is its sinister setting. The opening sentence in Frankenstein sets the mood

On the other extreme of Romanticism, Frankenstein can also be considered a gothic novel,"tales of macabre, fantastic . . . usually set in graveyards, ruins, and wild picturesque

As the story develops, the relationship between the creature and Frankenstein changes. We notice, when reading the novel, how Frankenstein and the creature feel the same a lot of the time. They are both extremely lonely and feel isolated in their world. Chapter 5 is when we start to observe Victor Frankenstein’s feelings towards the creature. This chapter begins with ‘it was a dreary night’, which sets the tone for the rest of the chapter.

Even though it is mysterious and cannot be fathomed, just like Romanticism, the mystery in Gothic Literature is horrific, while in Romanticism it is beautiful. Gothic fiction relates to prudishness (especially in the Victorian era) as it focuses on taboo subjects, such as: sex, vice, and murder. Therefore, it is, to great extent, going beyond peoples emotional limitations. To add to that, the typical feature of Gothic Literature would be expressing nature in the threat of monsters, ghosts, or in other words, supernatural forces conflicting with humanity. On the whole, a great representation of these gothic and romantic influences would be the novel Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, which was published in 1818 and written during the Romantic Period.