Frankenstein as a gothic novel

 

As the most popular literary term, Gothic literature can be defined as the way of writing that displays dark and disastrous scenes, unexpected melodramatic narrative, and finally an overall atmosphere of exoticism (strangeness), mystery, horror, and apprehension. A Gothic narrative often revolves around a large ancient house that conceals a terrible secret or that serves as the refuge of an especially frightening and threatening character. Despite the common use of bleak imageries, Gothic writers have also used supernatural elements and moments of romance in order to create a world which is in fact far removed from real life.

 

Gothic literature developed during the Romantic period in Britain. The first mention of "Gothic," as pertaining to literature was in the subtitle of Horace Walpole's 1765 story The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story which, the British Library says, was meant by the author as a subtle joke: "When he used the word it meant something like brutal as well as inhuman.

 

The most influential and popular 18th-century Gothic writers were Horace Walpole (The Castle of Otranto, 1765), Ann Radcliffe (Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794), Matthew Lewis (The Monk, 1796), and Charles Brockden Brown (Wieland, 1798). This genre embraced a large readership in the 19th century. Initially, Romantic authors such as Sir Walter Scott (The Tapestried Chamber, 1829) adopted Gothic conventions. Later Victorian writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1886) and Bram Stoker (Dracula, 1897) incorporated Gothic designs in their stories of horror and suspense. Elements of Gothic fiction are prevalent in several of the acknowledged classics of 19th-century literature including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables (1851), Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847), Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831 in French), and many of the tales written by Edgar Allan Poe (The Murders in the Rue Morgue, 1841; The Tell-Tale Heart, 1843).

 

Gothic Elements in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

Mary Shelley invented a style of her own by using certain gothic segments in her narrative. The Gothic fiction is characterized by the use of desolate or obscure settings and shockingly mysterious or violent incidents, or at a deeper level, the exploration of social and moral values and concerns of good versus evil and questions regarding the boundaries between what is human, monstrous, natural, supernatural and divine. The Gothic genre is an extreme form of Romanticism as it employs the scope of imagination at its zenith. The term ‘‘Gothic’’ is derived from Germanic architecture that was prevalent across Europe.

 

Frankenstein written by Mary W. Shelley is perhaps the most well-known Gothic science fiction of all times. Mary Shelley’s monster remains a kind of  intimidating impression upon readers. 

 

The novel is not just a science fiction nor is it just a narrative of Gothic horror. The novel is the story of mankind, the Faustian desire to know the forbidden is central to the story. The novel illustrates the story of a man who violates or rather goes against the rules of nature and eventually dies miserably. His excessive pride ambitiousness to become a God-like figure causes his own destruction.

 

Although Gothic novels were written mainly to evoke terror among readers, they also served to show the dark and evil side of human beings. Novels such as Frankenstein draw the reader's attention to the developments of science and technology instead of focusing only to the superstitious aspects. In fact Mary shelly explores some seriously thought provoking ideas such as the monstrous consequences of human invention as it clearly marks the fact that behind every horror and evil there will be human brain.

 

If we read Frankenstein as a Gothic novel, we can suggest that what Victor does and what he creates is unnatural. He goes too far, breaks the laws of nature, crosses forbidden boundaries, and what he unleashes within himself and in society is disruption and destruction.

 

The main protagonist of a Gothic novel is usually a solitary character who has an egocentric (selfish) nature. The solitary character represents both Victor and his Creature as they both lived their lives in social isolation.

 

……………………………………………………………………………………

 

The Gothic mode has been seen as a reaction against the humanistic, rationalist literature of ‘‘The Age of Reason’’. With an appreciation of the power of the unconscious, Mary Shelley counters a mechanistic view of the world and human nature. The Gothic suggests the power of the human will to dream what it desires and the power of the human intellect to realize these dreams. The novel Frankenstein acts as a window to the unconscious mind or rather the dream world.