To what extent can Mary Shelley(TM)s Frankenstein(TM) be seen as a Gothic Novel?

To what extent can Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ be seen as a Gothic Novel?

The author of ‘Frankenstein’ Mary Shelley was born in 1797, London, England. She was the second daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, who died eleven days after giving birth to her. Her parents were well known for their writings. Her father William Godwin was a philosopher, her mother Mary Wollstonecraft was a feminist educator and writer. Although Mary wasn’t given any formal education, she was given an excellent education at home by her father.

In 1812, she met Percy Bysshe Shelley, when he and his wife visited the Godwin’s home and bookshop. Percy was very unhappy in his marriage to his wife, Harriet, began to visit the Godwin more frequently, but this time alone. In the summer of 1814, Percy and Mary fell in love although Percy was still married and Mary was only sixteen years old. On 17th July they eloped to France, along with Mary’s step sister. Upon their return several weeks later, they were dismayed to find that Godwin had refused to see them as well as not speaking to Mary for over two years. Percy and Mary shared a love of language and literature; they both enjoyed reading and discussing books together.

During May 1816, the couple travelled to Lake Geneva along with Claire. Forced to stay indoors one particular day, the group of writers decided to have a ghost story writing contest. One person came up with The Vampyre, which later was the influence on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Other guest wrote tales of equal horror, but Mary found herself unable to invent one. That she had a dream where she saw the “the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together”, this was the start of her gothic novel named, ‘Frankenstein’. This novel is now recognized as a gothic romance novel.

'Frankenstein' is typical of gothic literature as it fulfils and contains many of the characteristics of a gothic genre for example: good versus evil, supernatural elements, grotesque and savage creatures, nature used to create atmosphere, the dark side of human nature, isolated characters, developments in science and technology, suspense and mystery and the breakdown of boundaries and the exploration of what is forbidden.

‘Frankenstein’ was written at a time of great changes in British society and at a time of social and political upheaval. The idea of galvanism was just being explored at this time and Mary Shelley applies this ...

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As well as galvanism, the industrial evolution was changing the lifestyles of people all over the country. Shelley reflects on these changes about social injustice and passionate desire for reform. The industrial revolution is one the gothic aspects of the novel. It was a time of major changes; these changes were seen as gothic because the new ideas were being found. As well as this science was evolving. Many people did not understand and were horrified with these inventions. Mary Shelley reflects on how science and knowledge can change a person.

Frankenstein was not the only gothic novel written during the industrial revolution. There were many authors who had the passion for this type of genre. The first ever gothic novel was “The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Walpole in 1764. Other authors include, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ann Radcliffe, Charles Brockden Brown, Thomas Ingoldsby and W.W. Jacobs. These are some of the gothic authors of the industrial revolution. Novels include, The Italian, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Phantom of the Opera and many more. Since these novelists have written many novels during the industrial revolution, it shows how gothic this era was and how it affected many people.

The passion for knowledge and science can be seen as a gothic idea in this novel, the urge to create a monster and the monster not accepted in society is also gothic. This is because the monster does not know why it is being rejected, although he is trying to socialize with the society. However the urge to create a monster is not common in the other novels written during the industrial era.

The novel identifies all of the new discoveries can be a danger to the society of man kind. The search for knowledge can also be seen a gothic, this can be seen in Robert Walton’s journey to find the Northwest Passage. ‘I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot man’.

Shelley highlights the danger of Walton’s journey as desperate and dangerous. The phrase ‘I shall satiate my ardent curiosity’ shows Walton’s desire for this new discovery, and leads the reader into thinking that Walton’s voyage is very dangerous. It is a dangerous journey because no one has attempted it before. This is one of the examples where Shelley shows that social progress and the new discoveries are not always good for the world, and may lead to instability. This is gothic because the instability of the world could mean the end of Earth. This is known to be one of the ideas of gothic genre because knowledge, as Shelley points out it to be the destruction of man kind.

As well as Walton’s quest to fine the north, Victor Frankenstein’s early obsession with science and knowledge shows a gothic idea. This can be linked the industrial revolution, which can be seen as gothic. This portrays a link with the world outside and progress of knowledge and science in society. Victor Frankenstein is the mad scientist who has the passion for science and decides to create a monster.

“It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.” The ‘dreary night’ shows the connection between the novel and the real society as it states the human misery. This phrase is what he states after he had finished creating the monster. “Might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless”, shows that he is using electricity to bring the monster into life. This is one example where Mary Shelley is connecting the discoveries made in the real world.

Although the monster was rejected by Victor it had decided to fight its way into society. He lived like an animal, living ion the forest and eating seed and grass. This is also gothic because the idea of isolated characters is displayed on the monster. He had very much grown into an animal with a gentle and harmless heart, which no one understands. “No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused.” Shows that the monster is like a baby, he doesn’t understand how the society works. The monster lives in the forest with animalistic characters. During his life as an animal he found the house of the Delacey’s. He watched and observed the house and people of the house. The monster starts as ignorant little baby, but after watching the Delaceys he learns about humans and his knowledge grows. After a few days he steals some books from the Delaceys. From these books he learns to read and write. From reading the books the monster’s passion for knowledge grows. After this happens he becomes a savage beast with knowledge about the society, and decides to get revenge on Victor. This refers to Rousseau’s noble savage, which states that when someone is new to the world, they are innocent and confused as to where they are. Here is another example of Shelley blaming the society as the corruption of the society changes the monster to a murder. Here, Mary Shelley points out the monster that was innocent at first becomes a savage beast after reading some book and gaining knowledge about the society. She uses this to criticise the world about how knowledge can change person in to a beast.

In conclusion Mary Shelley has used this novel to criticise the mistakes made by the society. The novel is gothic genre due the fact that she uses many gothic ideas such as murder, isolated characters and dangerous voyages. In the novel the monster is an isolated character when he is rejected by the society and Robert Walton’s desperate voyage to the northern passage. Referring back to the question, “To what extent can Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ be seen as a Gothic Novel?” Mary Shelley has used the different aspects of gothic to make this novel a gothic novel. She uses the monster to criticise the society about how new scientific discoveries can change the world in a bad way. She also shows that the passion for knowledge should be kept at a limit, because as shown in the novel exceeding the limit can lead regretful decisions in the future. For example, Victor’s desire to make a monster, which he regrets, because it ends in his wholde family being killed. As well as Robert Watson’s journey to find the north passage, which fails.

Peer Reviews

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groat

13th of Apr 2012

Quality of writing

The structure here is awful. There are three paragraphs which have no relevance to the task whatsoever, including pointless historical information. I can tell you that examiners will be fed up with your essay already, and you haven't even started any relevant points. An introduction should be concise and relevant, posing a strong argument which you then go onto explain. There doesn't seem to be any logical flow to the essay, and points are jumbled around. A clear signpost to each paragraph, showing what you are about to explain, can offer a more structured approach. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are fine. I didn't like how the conclusion had to state "referring back to the question" as this shows the essay has not been crafted to answer the question, but more of as a mind dump of historical factors and gothic knowledge.

Level of analysis

The analysis here is okay. The essay identifies gothic concepts well, for example "The passion for knowledge and science can be seen as a gothic idea" but there is no in depth analysis of how the concept is displayed. If I were answering this question I would be aiming to analyse some key examples which provide an overall effect. There is a big difference between acknowledging concepts and analysis. This essay tends to retell the story and uses a narration of the plot to explain why it is gothic. For example a sentence such as "The monster lives in the forest with animalistic characters." adds nothing to the argument other than to "point out the monster that was innocent at first". Examiners will be looking for analysis of the language, form and structure used, and how these shape meanings and contribute to the gothic genre. Unfortunately the essay misses out on the chance to get some strong analysis in. There are some relevant pieces of contextual information, and these would be great if accompanied with analysis. For example stating "The idea of galvanism was just being explored" is good, but would be much more relevant if it was weaved in with the extract where the monster is created with electricity, creating a horror in the reader. There needs to be much more reader response to get the top marks.

Response to question

This essay responds averagely to the question. What I like about this essay, against other similar ones discussing the gothic, is the way they look at concepts as a whole rather than feature spotting. This shows that you have the ability to look at the gothic as a whole genre, making for a more convincing argument. However, these gothic concepts are not evaluated strongly, and there is no discussion of the effects they have. The question's key phrase is "to what extent" yet this is not fully addressed. There is no exploration of alternative interpretations, which go towards forming an argument. It is not good enough at GCSE to simply state it is gothic as some concepts are evident.

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