Frankenstein Essay

Lizzy Hammett
Period 4
March 3, 2015
Hilbert
Frankenstein Essay Throughout the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the main character Victor leaps into a realm of grotesque and appalling horror. Although this story was not the first gothic novel known to be published, the genre had only been around since seventeen fifty-four. Just the thought alone of raising the dead was enough to have people cringing in disbelief, and Shelley purposely hoped to evoke a sense of revulsion in her readers while they dreaded what would happen to the characters next. In Frankenstein, Shelley creates a sense of terror just by describing the ominous and creepy locations and settings throughout the story. Gothic novels tend to take place in gloomy places, such as old buildings, castles, and dungeons, solely to set a backdrop to serve the mysterious circumstances taking place during the story. Frankenstein is set off in a far country so that her readers would not know the location that it took place adding to the mystery of the novel. “Victor’s laboratory is the perfect place to create a new type of human being. Laboratories and experiments were not known to the average reader, thus this was an added element of mystery and gloom (Article 1 page 2)”. Victor talks how the dreary mountains and thunder caves are his refuge, symbolizing his all-consuming loneliness and inevitable return to complete isolation and utter despair. The “dreary night of November (shelly 42)” where the monster is given life sets the mood for the entire story, and underlying theme of desolation. Throughout the whole story, the readers will sense a feeling of desolate isolation. “Shelley does this by adding a terrible storm, adding a dreary thunder and lightning and by enhancing the gloom and dread of her gothic scenes (Article 1 page 4)”. Shelley does an admirable job of foreshadowing Elizabeth’s death. One of the most prominent features of a gothic novel is the setting, and the overall mood and tone that it sets and Frankenstein displays it vastly. When reading this story, an auditor would be able to make the connection that most gothic novels create a metaphorical bridge between the mortal world and the supernatural. “The Frankenstein monster seems to have some sort of communication between himself and his creator, because the monster appears where Victor does (Article 2 page 1)”. There’s kind of an unspoken bond between the monster and Victor that happened when Victor did what he did. When Victor went into the supernatural world he created a bridge metaphorically. “The monster also moves at amazing superhuman speed with Victor matching him in the chase towards the North Pole (Article 2 page 1)”. No matter the distance, the monster always manages to be neck and neck with Victor, referencing back to the “bridge”. “… I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, moving toward me with superhuman speed (shelley 85)”. Frankenstein contains the ability to move at superhuman speed because he is from the supernatural world that Victor created him from. There is a metaphorical bridge that connects the two realms. Mary Shelley wanted to create a connecter between the two realms of the mortal life and the supernatural one. One of the most prominent, if not most important theme of a gothic novel, is the grotesque and shocking horror and

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