Gothic Literature in Frankenstein

Frankenstein was a much different book than I thought it was going to be. When I think of Frankenstein I
think of a goofy caricature of the actual thing. There is so much more to the story than what meets the eye
and that is one of the first aspects of gothic literature it shows. I always thought the book would just be a
simple story about creating life out of a bunch of human parts and then it goes wrong but it’s so much
more complex. It’s about the nature of humanity, isolation, and madness. These are all concepts often
shown in gothic literature.

The setting is also important when it comes to gothic literature. We often think of darkness, nighttime,
and old large buildings when we think of it and that is certainly true for Frankenstein. Mary Shelley makes
sure that we know it’s a dark and scary atmosphere by always telling us about how it is night. Although it
isn’t the classic haunted house on the hill, Victor is still surrounded by large buildings such as his
apartment and his university.

One of the biggest theme in the book is madness and isolation. Victor wasn’t always a “mad scientist” but
due to his intense passion for his project he brought himself to isolation. This lead him to not taking into
account people’s disagreement with his project and he became completely consumed by creating his
monster. One of the biggest revelations in the book is the fact that he realizes that he made an abomination
, but one could argue that he would have easily been able to see that if he hadn’t locked himself away to
complete his experiment.

Frankenstein is a very good example of gothic literature and hits almost all of the tropes of the genre. She
does an amazing job at making the world, and the thoughts and actions of the characters believable and I
found myself enjoying the book much more than I thought I would.