NAME: PRERANA SARKAR

SEMESTER: 4

ENGLISH HONOURS

Frankenstein as a Gothic Novel

Originating from the name of some of the Germanic tribes who sacked and rampaged across

Europe from the 3rd to 5th centuries, the term ‘Gothic’ connotes a fascination accompanying or

an investment in the ominous side of human psychology, accompanying a stress on ‘life after

death’ or the inscrutable and the potentially frightening and upsetting. The Gothic tradition in

literary works highlight the grotesque, relies on detached and mysterious scenes and is

destined to revoke fear, also served to show the belief in bad outcome of psychology of

humankind.

The first mention of “Gothic,” as pertaining to literature was in the label of Horace Walpole’s

1765 story The Castle of Otranto. The genre being an extreme form of Romanticism where

the mysterious comes in addition to the abstract to create, not just awe but fear additionally.

The foundation of the Gothic works in literature rely heavily on the inclusions of supernatural

elements and beings, secrets and mystery, curses, looming threats, dark and creepy settings

such as wild, stormy landscapes, eerie manors or castle, personal loss, an outcasted

protagonist whose human psyche is flawed with plot conventions that build up suspense and

tension. There often is an evident struggle between good and evil along with a dark

atmosphere that creates an image of the plotline for the readers.

Frankenstein written by Mary W. Shelley is perhaps the most noteworthy Romantic Gothic

work of all times as it examines anxieties over modernity, rationalism and the uncertainty

raised by rapid scientific progress throughout the plot of the novel. The novel holds

fundamentals of depression, low lighting, melancholy and private loss and they integrate to

devise a dense dull atmosphere. The setting of the novel in the Church backyards and

cemeteries are exclusively designed to cater to the theme of the story. The protagonist, Victor

Frankenstein, unafraid of the dark, spends his time in the “vaults and channel- houses”,

boldly visiting the cemeteries at the dead of the night. Details of the creaking doors , the soft

blowing of the wind in the still of the night and the quiet footsteps in the house all lead up to

a feeling of fear and suspense, creating an eerie atmosphere, typical of the gothic tradition.

The plot progresses with Victor’s interest in creating life showcasing an extension of his

desire to escape death. By assembling body parts of the dead and using the energy from the

thunderstorm to shock life into his creations, Victor makes a “monster”, a massive grotesque

being that first breathes on “a dreary night of November…… when the rain pattered dismally

against the panes, and the candle was nearly burnt out” in a remote laboratory at Ingolstadt.

The plot evidently consists of elements of mystery and secrecy in the way Victor creates the

monster, the use of body parts with distinctive human attributes and actions helps to link the

language to the genre, both of that implore portraits of the Monster in Shelly’s Gothic novel.

There are three archetypes in Gothic novel: the wanderer, the vampire and the seeker of

outlawed knowledge. Frankenstein employs the third paradigm through Victor who is trying

to play God, trying to experience what is presumed to be unknown. When the monster finds

his creator, Victor sees the creature “by the light of the moon”, creating association of

darkness with evil and the monster. Another convention of the genre is the danger of a

looming threat, that lurks and stalks and watches. Though the plot of Frankenstein works on

it differently and the horror of the monster is known, it stalks and lurks upon Victor as the

monster intends to destroy its creator. The suspense, the true fear changes from ‘what’ will

come instead not knowing ‘when’ it will come.

The concept of death is a Gothic fundamental that Shelley uses in Frankenstein as a habit to

scare the reader. Gothic literature focuses laboriously in respect of death. There are an

abundance of demises in the novel, specifically people who are close to Victor. Victor’s mom

dwindles of scarlet fever, William is murdered by the monster, Justine gets executed, Henry

is killed by the monster, and Elizabeth is murdered by the monster. The murder of Elizabeth

is described in gruesome and grotesque detail. The writings of death forge a somber attitude

that invokes a sense of fear and suspense for the reader thus inculcating the element of

personal loss, another fundamental of the Gothic literature.

One of the important details of Romanticism is the prominence on the verbalization of

empathy. Shelley categorically crafted Victor and the Creature in a habit to stress the

sensitive chaos they are in. The creature’s way of life becomes erratic and hurtful when he is

rebuffed by society. It burns down a cottage and, the blast tore along like a gigantic

avalanche, and caused a somewhat insanity in [his] spirit that burst all bounds of rationale

and thinking. Through the creature’s concern compelled conduct, Shelley shows in what way

or manner he has been pressured to his limit and that he cannot tolerate the feeling of

rejection anymore creating the “outcasted” character driven in the mountains of the Swiss

Alps , whole the scenery is beautiful, is isolated and foreboding, enhancing the desolation
and loneliness of the monster.

Gothic novels frequently address the facets of society that pose uncertainties and warn the

standard ideas of regular growth. Just as Frankenstein’s Monster is a result of society, but

doubtful of how to fit into it, the use of body parts as individual bodies helps to base the

pursuit of identity as times change. The monster maybe studied both as a villain and a

sufferer as can his creator but because they both narrate the story, by the time it reaches the

reader, further affected by the disorderly and changeable surroundings in which the

conclusive version of the tale is built, it is doubtful who is the villain and who is the victim,

or if both personalities play each part. As the roles are vague, the readers cannot anticipate

what will occur next or what the effect will be, keeping them enthralled. The Gothic and
Romantic fundamentals that Mary Shelley processed into Frankenstein all aid a purpose in

building character progression and illustrating the complete themes of the novel.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORKS CITED

 Barfoot, C.C. 1995. ‘The gist of the Gothic in English fiction; or, Gothic and the

invasion of boundaries’ in Tinkler-Villani, V. and P. Davidson (Eds.). 1995.

Exhibited by Candlelight Sources and Developments in the Gothic Tradition.

Amsterdam and Atlanta GA: Rodopi.

 Clery, E.J. 2002. ‘The genesis of “Gothic” fiction’ in Hogle, J.E (Ed.). 2002. The

Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

 Milbank, A. 2002. ‘The Victorian Gothic in English novels and stories, 1830-1880’ in

Hogle, J.E (Ed.). 2002. The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge:

Cambridge UP