Mary Shelly"s Frankenstein

Frankenstein and the Gothic Elements

            In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the author presents many examples of classic gothic literature, to fully understand where the author came from while writing this novel we must know what was happening during this time period. When Shelly actually began to write Frankenstein it was during the year with no summer. It was called this because a volcano had erupted that year, leading to very dreary days and landscapes. The new atmosphere that came from the eruption gave Mary the feeling of the sublime. This feeling would be very inspirational to her when writing Frankenstein.

The extreme landscapes and weather in her novel are elements of the gothic novel.  Even from the start, she starts the book in the North Pole. A strange and mysterious place that is also creates this isolating feeling, “surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides” (P25). Throughout the novel she has sudden burst of wind and thunder to represent the monster in one-way or another. Shelly also uses a lot of dark settings, which is one of the most common traits in gothic literature, but these setting seem to always be connected to the monster that victor creates and reinforces the idea that the action he preformed was wrong and evil. When he describes the day he created the monster he says it took place, “on a dreary night of November.” (pg58). This foreshadows the evil and darkness that will come within the novel.

Not only was the landscape surrounding her an important inspiration, so was the current modern medicine of the time.  This inspiration of using lighting to reanimate the dead came from the scientist called Galvani. Galvani discovered that he could “reanimate” a dead frog’s leg using electricity. Shelly took this idea and used it within her novel to create the famous monster that still lives today. This science of creating life from death was also used as another element this novel, as Victor’s flaw. Another gothic element is the main character having a flaw that would ultimately be they’re downfall. Victor’s flaw would be his unrelenting thirst for knowledge and the unknown. This led him to create the monster that would destroy he life leaving him all alone in the world, like the creature he created.  Without his thirst nobody would have died, he had the chance to stop the monster, but never did.  Though without shelly giving him an undying thirst for knowledge, there wouldn’t be a story.