Gothic novels

"While my right hand grasped a pistol which was hidden in my bosom; every sound terrified me, but I resolved that I would sell my life dearly and not shrink from the conflict until my own life or that of my adversary was extinguished."

Here you can see Mary shelly has used a long sentence to start to build up the suspense and she has also included "every sound terrified me" which shows Frankenstein's anxiety. This novel even includes the supernatural element where the monster has "pale yellow skin", which describes the non-human looks. The weather features a lot in the novel as a reflection of impending doors and tragedy, such as the opening words in chapter 5, where the setting for Frankenstein's monster happens on a "dreary night of November", with the rain, "pattering dismally against the panes", of Frankenstein's laboratory. Another Example of this is before Elizabeth's death in chapter 23 where "suddenly a heavy storm of rain descended", this hints at what is to follow.

I decided to study and analyse chapter 5 from Frankenstein. In this chapter Frankenstein had tried to create a beautiful being, but is disgusted by its ugliness. This is where Frankenstein abandons it at its birth when it is most in need. Frankenstein also feels guilt, but has no duty to the life that he created and shows no love. This is the first time in the story that we here of the monsters rejection, throughout the story he is unwanted by everyone he meets, therefore this makes him evil and hating every human in his way. In this chapter Frankenstein first realises that he has been creating evil and is sickened by what he has done. He also knows he should not try to act as god and his attitude had changed from respected scientist to a possessed and obsessive person.

Chapter 5 starts of with a description of the weather and this sets the scene instantly. Before the monster awakes Frankenstein says "my candle was nearly burnt out", which suggests he had given up and was going mad but then we get the first introduction to the monster at the bottom of the 1st paragraph where it says,

"I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated the limbs."

From this first description you can start to imagine the ugliness of the creation Frankenstein had created.

The next thing that is said is a rhetorical question and this is there to make the reader imagine how hideous the monster must be. This is also where you see Frankenstein question what he has created and he starts to realise the horrifying thing he has done. The rest of this paragraph describes the monster and how horrifying it looks.

Now that Frankenstein had created the monster, he couldn't bare to look at his own creations face, "the beauty of the dream vanished, and the breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.", this also shows he wanted to make mankind and become god like. He is filled with regret and horror with his creation and then runs away from the room it was in, he also couldn't sleep or compose his mind all night long;

" At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured, and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness"

Here Mary Shelly has used a long sentence to reflect the length of the night and alliteration to emphasis Frankenstein's complete exhaustion. Just after he had been struggling to sleep he got a fever and this is because he became ill when every he was in contact with the monster and this happens throughout the story. This maybe some kind of retribution that god has given him because if you do bad it will come back to you. At the bottom of page 56 it use a short sentence, "I passed the night wretchedly", to create more drama.

When Frankenstein fell asleep he had an awful nightmare of Elizabeth.

"I embarrassed her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the coarspse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the funnel."

This is a long sentence that helps to build up tension, which helps create drama and atmosphere. The long sentence makes you, the reader run out of breath physically and this is to feel and give you an idea about his nervousness now that he has created this monster. This sentence also hints at what is to happen to Elizabeth as later on in the novel she is killed by the monster on there wedding night and in the sentence Mary Shelly has used the alliteration of "folds of the funnel" to emphasise the death element.

At the beginning of page 57 there are a lot of descriptive words,

"Morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned and discovered to my sleepless and aching eyes the church of Ingolstadt"

At this point Mary Shelly uses this to reflect the story and it shows how Frankenstein is feeling. Mary Shelly also uses the weather "black and comfortless sky" to reflect his fillings by using these dull and grim colours. You can also see he has become very stressed "the load that weighed upon my mind", and needs rescuing

Cherval comes in to the novel at the bottom of page 57 and his arrival changes the complexion of the text to a calmer, happier one that has saved Frankenstein.

"Nothing could equal my delight on seeing Cherval;"

This becomes a very familiar sight throughout the play where it goes from sad to happy with a person being rescued. Here he is also brought back to reality.

We once again see how ill Frankenstein is,

"I did not before remark how very ill you appear; so thin and pale; and look as if you had been watching for several nights"

Here you get a good descriptive image of how ill he has become, and how much he has worked.

He can't even think of the creation when he is with Cherval and what he had done on the night he created him.

"I trembled excessively; I could not endure to think of, and far less to allude to, the occurrences of the pending night."

This shows his feelings changing from calm back to dread and anxiety as he thinks of the monster again.

This gothic novel used all of the typical ingredients, which make up an admirable gothic novel. Mary Shelly made up a creation that was supernatural and this monster was opposite to humans as it had unnatural strength and its looks where just to horrifying to be human. Mary Shelly included long sentence, which built up suspence, and tension that made the reader feel more frightened and scared. I liked how she included the struggle between good and evil through the protagonists and she varied their views. Death was also a major part as we seen death all the way through, starting with a cholera epidemic and Frankenstein raiding graveyards for the various parts of the human body, then later the murders of his family and friends by his creation. I think the atmosphere was built up mainly by the use of the weather and how it always reflected his feelings and what it was trying to hint at. Atmosphere was there to frighten the reader and build up the fear.

In my opinion I didn't find this novel to be that scary as I am used to seeing visual effects i.e. in cinemas and on tele where they use modern technology to create monsters ect. I believe around 90+ years ago everyone would find this scary as all the elements for a gothic novel are in there and it is very well written.