Frankenstein (Mary Shelley):A Gothic Fiction

The term ‘Gothic’ is highly amorphous and open to diverse interpretations. It is suggestive of an uncanny atmosphere of wilderness, gloom and horror based on the supernatural. The weird and eerie atmosphere of the Gothic fiction was derived from the Gothic architecture: castles, cathedrals, forts and monasteries with labyrinths of dark corridors, cellars and tunnels which evoked the feelings of horror, wilderness, gloom and suspense. The haunted castles with secret passages, vaults and dark galleries full of terrible howling wind, which caused thunderous noises of a mysterious nature aroused fear and terror in the minds of the readers as if they were trapped within a graveyard. Belief in the supernatural, and in the existence of spirits and ghosts have always haunted man.

        In the preface to Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explains the origin of the novel. Shelley spent the summer of 1816 near Geneva, Switzerland, where much of the novel takes place. One rainy night, Shelley and her friends challenged each other to write ghost stories. Frankenstein was the only one of the stories to be completed. However, the Preface also reveals Shelley's aim in writing the novel: to present a flattering depiction of domestic affection and universal virtue.

         There are many passages which evoke the feelings of fear and terror. Victor collecting bones in the charnel houses and graves, and working in his filthy workshop totally cut off from the rest of the habitation. He himself feels horror when he looks at his own creation – the yellow skin which scarcely covered the muscles and arteries, watery eyes almost of the same colour, shriveled complexion and black-lips. The gigantic figure he creates horrifies him and he rushes out, tries to get sleep but finds the monster looking at him. The very sight shocks him and he rushes out to spend the entire night walking about in the courtyard down below. There is then the monster’s attempt to coax the child William to befriend him and strangle him.

         Though the narratives come from the mouth of the Monster to Victor and Victor to Walton, the effect is truly uncanny and eerie. The same feelings are evoked by the long chase by Victor all through the wilds, hazardous terrains, then getting a sledge, exchanging it with another to pursue the monster as he follows the words carved and engraved on the bark of the trees and on stones, and finally, getting trapped in the ice.

        All the descriptions above are sufficient to consider Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus to be a Gothic Fiction.