Another time where there is tension in the novel, is when Victor Frankenstein first brings the creature to life. After he does this, he falls asleep and he has a nightmare, in this dream Elizabeth's "features appeared to change" and she turned in to his dead mother. This seems to be an insight into the future, as Elizabeth will die in the future due to his actions. This creates a Gothic feeling, as it is supernatural, as his dreams seem to show him the future, and this is what sometimes happens in a typically Gothic novel. It also creates tension and suspense, as you also know that it is going to happen sometime during the book, but you do not know when or how will happen, is why it is also typical of the horror genre. So this part of the book has horror and the Gothic genre in it.
Another time that Victor Frankenstein feels fear is when he sees the monster near Mount Blanc. This is definitely similar to other horror stories, as there is a thunder storm in the background when he sees the monster. He also only sees the monster when "A flash of lightning illuminated the object" and he also only saw his outline, and this is very typical of horror stories. After the monster disappears, Victor "remained motionless" this shows he is so terrified the he cannot even move. The atmosphere in this part of the novel is very tense and deliberately eerie, it is designed to frighten both Victor Frankenstein and also the reader.
Another moment in the novel that there is real fear is when Victor Frankenstein sees the creature at the window of his house in the Orkneys. When he saw him, he said that his "heart trembled" and that his "heart failed," at this point he is felling true terror. This is because he knows that the monster is here to get revenge, as he has destroyed the work that he promised he would finish. This part of the novel is a true horror moment, and it is very typical, this part creates a lot of tension, as you don't know what the monster is going to do, as he has so much rage within him at this point. when the monster enters the room and Victor Frankenstein "trembled from head to foot," this shows that he does not know what to do and that he is absolutely terrified. All of these parts of the novel are very typical of the Gothic and horror genre, this shows that Frankenstein is definitely a horror story, but I do not believe that it is just a horror story.
Another genre that is in the novel is the romantic genre and to help me answer the above question, I am going to analyse the parts of the novel where the Romantic genre apparent. Right from the beginning of the novel, the Romantic genre is a dominant feature of the book, before the novel has even started there is already one of the generic features is evident. The main generic feature is that the people of the Romantic period had a desire to change society for the better. The first example of this is the letters and the start of the novel, Robert Walton is trying to find the Northern passage through the Arctic. He is doing this, so he can help mankind and make it easier for transporting goods, this shows that the book is already typical of the Romantic genre. This means that the novel is already typical of the Romantic genre and it sets the trend for the rest of the book, as most of the rest of the novel is also typical of the Romantic genre.
Another generic feature of the Romantic period is that the people had a fascination with nature. This happens when Victor Frankenstein finds out that William had just died, he then went for a walk then he said that "the snowy mountains... heavenly scene restored me." This shows that however sad or grief-stricken he is, nature seems to re-lift his spirits and he seems to feel all right again. This happens quite often during the novel, another example of when this happens is when Victor Frankenstein goes to Belrive, just after Justine dies. He feels extremely miserable and suicidal, but after he has his trip on the boat on the lake he seems to feel a lot better. Due to these parts, he is a typical Romantic person and as he is the main character, the whole novel becomes very typical of the Romantic period.
Another point in the novel that the Romantic genre is evident, is the idea of the monster. This is Romantic because to create the monster he had to have great imagination, and the ideas and ambitions that he has are definitely typical of the Romantic genre. The Romantic period, was one of the periods when they started to understand and believe in then power of science. Victor Frankenstein was a very good scientist, and the Romantics would have definitely related to this as they believed highly in science and they would have wanted to read about science. I believe that Frankenstein is a horror story, but it is mostly a Romantic book, as there are only parts that are typical of the horror story, but most of the book is typical of the Romantic genre. Due to the time period Shelly had to write a book that was typical of the Romanic period. If she had only written a horror story, then the people would have thought to be less important than what it was. They wanted something that was not horror anymore and a novel that had nature and science as a dominant feature.
I have already proven that Frankenstein is a horror, Gothic and mainly a Romantic story. It also contains many other genres though, these include; Parable or Allegory, action and adventure, Science-Fiction and romance. I am going to be concentrating on the “Science-Fiction” genre, and how this novel is typical of this genre. The first time that the Science-Fiction genre is present was in chapter 4. During this chapter, Victor Frankenstein has a “thirst for knowledge,” the word “thirst” shows that he needs knowledge, and that he must have it because he is a scientist. This is typical of a Science-Fiction novel as most of the characters in these novels need knowledge and they have a “thirst“ for it, just like Victor Frankenstein has.
It is also a Science-Fiction story, as the creation of the monster is based on science, although Shelly never tells you how Frankenstein brought the creature to life. Most Science-Fiction stories expand on what is theoretically possible, and it is not humanly possible to created a living being like Victor Frankenstein did. Although, like other Science-Fiction stories, it asks the question, what would happen if humans got that power? This is typical of Science-Fiction stories, as they tell you what would happen if we got the power to do something that we are not now able to do now. It tells you that if we got this power, it should not be used, or we could all suffer terrible consequences, So the novel also caries a moral, this is another generic feature of Science-Fiction novels. The final Frankenstein is typical of the Science-Fiction genre, but it is not one of the main genres in the book, as it is not typical through out all of the book.
I believe that Frankenstein is definitely a horror story and that it is also a Gothic story, because it has many features that are typical of these genres. I do not believe that they are the main genres though, as the Romantic genre is a lot more dominant in this novel. I believe that this is mainly because of the time period that it was set in, as it was written in 1818, and this was when people were starting to discard the horror genre, and they were starting to believe in nature. Also the horror genre is only present in a few of the chapters and the Romantic genre is present in most. There are many other genres present, but none of them are feature as much as the Romantic genre. I do believe that Frankenstein is typical of the horror genre, but only in some of the novel, and it is more typical of the Romantic genre.
By Joseph Ogden