Gothic Elements of Frankenstein
Spooky castles, ominous portents, mystery, and suspense: these are all elements of a Gothic novel. Though Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written in the early 19th century, certainly contains many components of a Gothic novel, can it be correctly grouped under that genre? Shelley employs various literary devices to support the elements, a supernatural event, portent dream, overwrought emotion, and metonymy of gloom, which classify Frankenstein as a Gothic novel.The supernatural event, Frankenstein's creation, is one element the author utilizes to support the Gothic genre. The setting around the creation creates an ominous mood. For example, Chapter
that I might wreck the utmost abhorrence on his head, and avenge the deaths of William and Justine" (62). Immediately after Frankenstein's supernatural creation, Victor's horrifying dream foreshadows Elizabeth's death to come in Chapter Twenty-Three. The rain and absence of light are metaphors for sorrow and distress; the metonymies further the cheerlessness of the conception scene. Victor dreams that he "saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking. The setting also implements the gothic element of the metonymy of gloom and horror. I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they begin livid with the hue of death" (35). Additionally, the monster's birth results in Shelley's use of another element of the Gothic genre, Victor's overwrought emotion. November, a bleak and gloomy month, marks the beginning of wintry weather, a time of isolation and cold. This is symbolic for the beginning of Victor and the creature's "November," the birth of their misery. Looking back on the event, Victor expresses almost ineffable remorse and despair. This portentous dream that eventually becomes reality is a consequence of Victor's desertion and society's rejection of his creation.
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