Name :Bhaliya Hansa G.
Course :M. A.
Semester :2
Roll no :10
Batch: 2018-20
Enrollment no :206910862090004
Paper no :Romantic literature
Popic: Frankenstein as a Gothic
Scientific fiction
Email id: hansabhaliya20@gmail.com
Submitted to : Smt. S. B. Gardi Dept. Of
English MKBU
Frankenstein as a Gothic Scientific fiction
About the author
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a
British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, biographer, travel writer,
essayist and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and
philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political
philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and
feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.
Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though
reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death,
however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley
and as the author of Frankenstein.
It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning
biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly
biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their
historical context was published.
Introducing the Novel
"I busied myself to think of a story, . . . One which would speak to
the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror".
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by the English
author Shelley. she started writing the story when she was 18, and the
first edition of the novel was published secretly in London in 1818, when she
was 20. Shelley's name first appeared on the second edition, published in
France in 1823.
Frankenstien is a story with many ideas. The main being scientists should not
play god and judging by appearances.
The author
Mary Shelley brings these ideas to light through a story about an ambitious
inventor named Frankenstien and his creation the monster. Frankenstien has
spent many years trying to create something better than human-angelic even but
the outcome is not what he expects when he creates what appears to be a monster
After
being abandoned by his creator the monster goes in search of love and
friendship but soon finds out that life doesn’t work that way the story follows
his search for friendship and his downfall.
#Frankenstein as a Science Fiction
* Definition of Gothic fiction
Gothic
fiction is a type of novel or romance popular in the late 18th and early 19th
c. The word ‘gothic’ had come to mean ‘wild’, ‘barbarous’ and ‘crude’. The
plots hinged on suspense and mystery, involving the fantastic and the
supernatural.
Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of
literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is
generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole,
with his 1764 novel The Castle of Ottranto.
Science Fiction :-
This is where it gets interesting: Frankenstein is often considered
the first work of science fiction. What's key is that the science isn't just
window-dressing: the whole point of the novel is to explore heavy questions
about What It All Means, where "It" can be loosely
translated as "science, fate, free will, nature, and humanity."
# What are some characteristics of gothic
science fiction?
Gothic literature has certain qualities the influence the story or paper.
It usually has a mystery involved, secrets, curses, murder, and the
illusion of ghosts or the supernatural.
The setting
often entails components such as castles, mansions, secluded streets, fog,
chilly air, and remote areas. Writers from the Victorian era began to
include the dynamic of psychologically confused or torn characters.
Romantic undertones are also present.n
# Frankenstein
as a Gothic Science Fiction
Frankenstein is an example of a gothic novel. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley,
the Romantic, Gothic and Science Fiction elements are combined to create a
mysterious and supernatural novel.
The situation were Victor Frankenstein use body parts to create a monster gives
a sense of terror and the idea of creating life is just unbelievable and
terrifying. The way Victor develops this task with science and technology is a
new element for the readers at 1818, which adds to the story Science Fiction
and causes the public to question or give an opinion on Victor's use of death
for scientific experimentation and the creation of new life.
There is no logical or valid reason why Victor decides to create a monster
other than ambition. This feeling is often being presented as wrong, and this
is why it is represented by Frankenstein, a monster.
"Supremely
frightful would be the effect of any human Endeavor to mock the
stupendous mechanism of the creator of the world."
-Mary Shelley
# Creation of monsters or supernatural beings
It
is one of the themes of the gothic novel and gothic fiction which is common to
the two works of fiction. In Frankenstein, the hero decides to invent a
creature that will resemble a human being. He says:
“I
resolved to make the being of a gigantic stature, that is to say, about
eight feet in height, and proportionally large.”
He starts
assembling materials: “I collected bones from charnel-houses and
disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame. The
dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials.”
The
reader witnesses the creation of the monster in chapter 5. The weather is
queer, it is raining, the narrator is anxious. The operation takes place in
a “dreary night”.
The time is symbolic: “It was already one in the
morning”.
The
narrator describes the coming into life of the monster: I saw the dull yellow
eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated
its limbs.
Frankenstein also has a certain spiritualism and you could say that Mary
Shelley wants to give the reader a kind of warning and teaching through the
death of Victor's brother William and the tragic events that the Frankenstein
family experience due to this fatal experiment: the monster, his own
creation.
# Frankenstein is Science fiction
Science fiction explores "the marvels of discovery and achievement
that may result from future developments in science and technology".
Mary Shelley used some of the most recent technological finding of her time to
create Frankenstein.
She has replaced the heavenly fire of the Prometheus myth with the spark of
newly discovered electricity. The concepts of electricity and warmth led to the
discovery of the galvanization process, which was said to be the key
to the animation of life. Indeed, it is this process which animates
Frankenstein's monster.
The use of
science in the novel is, of course, much deeper than this simple description
and shortly will be discussed further, but this basic description is sufficient
for the pure purpose of establishing the novel as a work of science fictio
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a Gothic Scientific Fiction novel in
genre. And we prove this thing with the help of this all the things. What
Makes Frankenstein endure as an exemplary Gothic Scientific
Fiction is the fact that it takes on these characteristics and concerns that
are so central to romantic writing and challenges the common use and treatment
of them.
Frankenstein is
an example of a gothic novel. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the Romantic,
Gothic and Science Fiction elements are combined to create a mysterious and
supernatural novel.
The
supernatural is an important element in any Gothic literature. However, In
early Gothic novels, women were presented as stereotypically weak, helpless and
prone to threats by powerful and tyrannical male characters. In Frankenstein,
Mary Shelley does draw on some of the elements of the traditional Gothic female
for her female characters however Shelley’s female characters have much more of
an influential role than their traditional counterparts. For example, Elizabeth
demonstrates the level of wisdom that some of the male characters in particular
Victor lack. After the death of Justine Moritz, Elizabeth observes how “misery
has come home, and men appear to me as monsters thirsting for each other’s
blood”. This emphasises how the monstrous can lurk in the hearts of men as the
words “thirsting” and “blood” provide a horrific, almost disturbing image of
death because “thirsting” suggests a passion for brutality and cruelty. Most
important however, Elizabeth’s words dig deep into Victor’s conscience; there
is also dramatic irony as the reader is aware of Victor’s guilt for the deaths
of both William and Justine. Thus, the high level of intellect and
understanding from Elizabeth emphasises the importance of such a character.
However, the dramatic language Elizabeth uses in the imagery: “I feel as if I
were walking on the edges of a precipice, towards which thousands are crowding,
and endeavouring to plunge me into the abyss” is typical of Gothic fiction. The
use of the words “edge”, “precipice” and “abyss” emphasises the narrow line
between life and death, safety and danger. The word “precipice” refers to very
steep hills where falling down into the “abyss” would almost certainly result
in death due to the massive distances. Furthermore, “edge” brings in the idea
of closeness, emphasising the fragility of life and the sense of imminent
danger. “Abyss”, from Greek, literally means ‘bottomless’. Thus, the word has
religious connotations because the “abyss” could refer to the underworld or to
hell- this is the link to Gothic genre because in many Gothic texts, references
to hell are common as they provide the horror element of the Gothic genre.
Therefore, it can also be argued that Elizabeth does represent the traditional
Gothic female. Generally in Gothic novels, women are normally threatened
however in Frankenstein, the threats to men and women are balanced with the
male characters: William, Clerval and Victor’s father falling victim to the
creature. Thus, Mary Shelley is clearly supportive of the equalisation of both
genders and the position of women in society. Referring to context, Shelley’s
parents would have influenced her to include social issues such as position of
women in her novel because they were radicals, Shelly’s mother in particular
having written ‘A vindication of the Rights of Women’. Although the older,
traditional Gothic novels portray women as helpless and weak, Shelley wanted to
give the female characters in her novel more independence and influence to put
forward her view on position of women. Also, Shelley had a deep respect for her
father and husband throughout her life. Therefore, it is unlikely that she
wanted to present men as dominative and destructive towards females. Thus, the
novel cannot be considered to be purely Gothic because of its deviations from the
traditional gothic stereotype of wome
Conclusion
Another
key feature of Gothic novels is the use of doppelganger relationships where a
good character is followed by a darker, more sinister double. An example of
such a relationship in Frankenstein is between Victor and the creature. Shelley
creates verbal ties between Victor and the creature in order to emphasise the
connections between the creator and creature. For example, Shelley makes use of
the word “consummate” with regards to Victor’s wedding night. The word actually
has a double meaning in this context because it could refer to the night that
the creature ‘accomplishes’ his crime of murdering Elizabeth as well as the
night that for the first time Victor and Elizabeth make love. This is
interesting because while the creature’s actions destroy the marriage of Victor
and Elizabeth, it creates a new ‘marriage’ between Victor and the creature-
this ‘marriage’ is not of love but instead of deadly pursuit. This language
technique emphasises the connections between Victor and the creature as it
shows that they both think and speak in the same terms. It is also interesting
how both Victor and the creature do not fully experience companionship; this
causes Victor to neglect Elizabeth and this is shown by his misinterpretation
of the creature’s words: “I shall be with you on your wedding night”. Victor
assumes that the creature will kill him rather than Elizabeth and so by
ignoring the creature’s threat, Victor is ironically ensuring the death of the
person he claims to love and value most. Therefore, it can be argued that both
Victor and the creature are responsible for the death of Elizabeth, suggesting
that the two characters are tied to each other inseparably. The creature can
therefore be seen as a physical representation of Victor’s ‘hidden’ evil and
monstrous personality. Most importantly however, this doppelganger relationship
between the two main and crucial characters provides strong evidence for why
the novel can be considered gothic.
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