The innocent and the guilty is a contrast used in both the foreground and the background of the novel. In the foreground we have the death of innocents at the hands of the guilty; the deaths of William, Henry, and Elizabeth. We also have the prosecution of innocents due to the cowardliness of the guilty; this in the form of Justine’s trial and execution based on a crime she never committed when all along Victor knows the real criminal. Also we have the guilty reaping the consequences of the death of the innocents; Victors sorrow over Justine’s death and the further sorrow that the monster causes as he is left unpunished, and the monsters loss of a potential mate when Victor loses his patience and destroys what he almost created. In the background of the novel we have the question of who truly is guilty for the death of the innocent people. Is it Victor or the monster? The creator who abandoned his creation or the creation itself? Or perhaps it is a question of the careless and thoughtless scientist against the science and effects of science? Mary Shelley explores this theme throughout in the form of the moral and social journey that Victor is taken on by his own guilty conscience and ends with his death at the very end of the novel. Victor Frankenstein, the creator, the scientist, dies and yet his creation, his science lives on and ‘disappears into the darkness’ darkness of course being symbolic of evil or impurity. Many critics argue that the survival and continuance of the monster is symbolic of science’s immorality. There will always be those curious enough to dig deeper and experiment with the boundaries of modern science and that is why Mary Shelley’s novel and its message remains timeless.
Linked with innocence and guilt is the concept of imprisonment and freedom. As well as the literal sense of imprisonment; in the case of Justine whilst accused of William’s murder and Victor Frankenstein when accused of Henry’s murder, there is also imprisonment in symbolic terms. Imprisonment takes the form of guilt as the shadow of Frankenstein’s deeds hangs over him like the albatross of the ancient mariner. Imprisonment also takes the form of a promise, Victor promises to marry Elizabeth which leads to her death on the wedding night and Victor also promises to make the monster a bride but fails to complete in causing the monster’s further anger. It may appear that Victor is the only victim of imprisonment but this is not so. The monster is imprisoned in that he cannot enter society freely as others can due to his grotesque appearance. This is proved when the monster meets the blind old man; verbally the monster is convincing as an ordinary human being and manages to impress the old man with manners and a plea for help, it isn’t until the seeing members of the family enter the room that chaos occurs since they make a snap judgement about his intentions based on his appearance and his appearance alone. The monster is also imprisoned by the threats that he makes; the chilling ‘I’ll be with you on your wedding night…’ comment is made in response to Victor’s destruction of the monsters potential mate. The monster has made the threat and fully intends to stick to it and in this he is imprisoned by the looming death of another innocent. Contrasting the imprisoned are the free; the number of free characters is large to begin with but slowly diminishes as the novel wears on and the burdens of each character are apparent. William Frankenstein is a young boy and so it would appear that he should be free and yet he is killed by Frankenstein’s monster. Henry Clerval would be among the most free of the characters (though it should be pointed out that he is weighted by the burden of Frankenstein’s personality and indeed the emotional burden of the Frankenstein family) and yet he too is killed by the monster. It soon becomes apparent that all of the characters suffer burdens or imprisonment, some of which are inflicted by the monster and therefore inadvertently Frankenstein himself. This could be symbolic once more of Mary Shelley’s views of science as not simply just beneficial but also horrific and the cause of many an innocent murder or death. Some critics would argue that Mary Shelley’s obvious view of science is similar to her father William Godwin’s condemnation of political justice in it’s passion of argument and steady criticism. While some feminists would argue that she is using the novel as a way of expressing her views and opinions on society as a whole simply because as a woman she could not enter politics or any other high authority position as a woman and therefore a novel was her way of ventilating the conflicting opinions that she battled with. Gothic fiction was the perfect medium under whose style to write in since it gave her the chance to explore these conflicting opinions and offer them to the general public for their interpretation.
As well as making contrasts Mary Shelley also makes comparisons and ‘uncanny doubles’. The most obvious doubles being in the form of characters within the novels and their differing personalities, which somehow come together to form a similarity, or double. David Punter wrote a comment that described the stereotypical tendencies of all gothic novels, they all tended to include a shy and retiring heroine, a tyrannical and heavy handed father, a string of comedic servants or minor characters, and perhaps most importantly a villain whose presence was lifted over the novel like a dark storm cloud; dark and constant. Some of the listed stereotypical characters are included in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein however some are not. Like Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ and Louis Stevenson’s ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ Mary Shelley makes comparisons and pairings of the characters. Perhaps the most important pairing is that of the monster and Victor Frankenstein. Both are imprisoned in their secret that has only once known a surviving witness to the secret, that witness being Robert Walton and his knowing of the monster’s existence. Both lead psychologically twisted lives as they struggle with the consequential guilt of their deeds. Both are either advertently or inadvertently responsible for the death of innocents, and both are abnormal in one form or another. Other pairings include; Henry Clerval and Elizabeth in their devotion to Victor Frankenstein and in their love of poetry, Frankenstein and Robert Walton in their devotion to the romantic and isolation, Frankenstein and Elizabeth in their incompleteness until reunited, Frankenstein and Henry in their passion for knowledge and inquisitive minds. The pairings are a typical gothic feature, but not only that, these pairings also highlight the gothic themes; isolation, romance, incompleteness or character flaws, passion for knowledge, and poetry are all typically gothic themed and fit in with the gothic genre. It is therefore interesting that Shelley’s characters are linked in typical gothic fashion by typically gothic themes. Many critics would argue that this was to satisfy the growing adoration of the gothic fiction over the previously fashionable genre of romantic novels.
At this time, the Age of Enlightenment was in full swing and things like the economy and wealth of the people we rising again. Add this to the fact that major rival France was suffering the after effects of an expensive revolution; England was a wealthy place to be. In times of hardship literature often reflects hope and images of a happier life. The gothic genre incorporates that hope and contrasts it with the horror that could be. This looming horror reminds society to appreciate and enjoy good fortune whilst it is there. The entire genre of gothic fiction is based on the contrast and therefore the contrasting characters that arise. Those that bode well from the booming society are often times the heroes of the story, many critics would argue that they are heroes because they have the wealth to be heroes and can therefore afford to take extravagant adventures. Whilst other critics would argue that being an underdog was not a respectable position in those times whereas in modern literature and society an underdog who achieves is highly respected and admired.
Laura Kranzler stated that gothic fiction is defined by these characteristics, the contrasts of the evils and shadowy dark world of society with the everyday normality and purity of celestial beings such as Elizabeth Lavenza in Frankenstein. She could be entirely contrasted with Frankenstein’s monster. In both looks; ‘lustrous black hair…straight black lips’ ‘her hair was the brightest living gold….cloudless blue eyes’ and personality; ‘so distinct in their sensitivity and sweetness that none could look on her without believing her to be of a distinct species’ ‘while it’s unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible to be observed with human eyes’. At the same time these two characters pair in a way that is also typical of the gothic genre. Elizabeth is described as a distinct species in the quote above, this is commenting that perhaps she is more than human, pieced together with human body parts to create something of a higher status than a human. This sounds very similar to the monster though he is at the opposite end of the scale. He is pieced together with human parts but combined he is considered a distinct species that is less than human. Perhaps this is because he is constructed of dead body parts or maybe it is because his creation is so unnatural. In any case this contrast between the celestial beauty of Elizabeth and the unearthly ugliness of the monster is the very essence of the gothic genre especially since this important contrast contains small traces of parallels. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein therefore follows and includes the gothic genre in its formation.