The extreme weather helps exemplify a gothic novel. Throughout the book Frankenstein the weather predicts of what evil is to come in different chapters of the book. Mary Shelley uses the weather to help readers get a better image of Gothic literature. Throughout the chapters the weather is used to portray victor’s emotions and guilt as he grows as a character in the book. As the audience reads the book they will begin to identify that Victor emotions goes with the bad weather. Mary Shelley uses lightning to foreshadow the miserable feelings that Victor Frankenstein encounters when believing that the creature he created murdered his brother William." A flash of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape plainly to me,"(Shelley 67) telling by this quote a flash of lightning is symbolic of Victor's self being because Mary Shelley wanted readers to think that the shadow Frankenstein saw was the creature but in actuality it was the self-image of himself. Another example of weather being used in this book "The wind...rose with great violence in the west... Suddenly a heavy storm of rain descended." (Shelley 185) Wind and rain is used to foreshadow of what danger is going to transpire on this day. This horrible day was Elizabeth and Victor's wedding day. The wind and rain predicted of the dangers that were going to appear and the weather played as warnings to Victor of something tragic about to take place. Unfortunately the weather was right about what was going to happen because later on readers find out it was not Victor the creature wanted but instead took the life of Elizabeth. The significance of the weather plays a vital role in Gothic literatures to help create the mood in different scenes of the book. Alongside with weather Mary Shelley also uses a passion driven by a villain to help turn Frankenstein into a gothic novel. Another gothic element used in this novel is a passion driven by a villain. Mary Shelley uses the main character Victor Frankenstein to play the role as the villain. Throughout the book readers see the real side of Victor and how he plays the role of a two dynamic character. Readers will start to notice the drastic change in which Victor undergoes from the beginning of the book. "I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of the part of the world never before visited,"(Shelley 61) telling by this quote Victors interests changes as soon as he is interested and intrigued by creating life. Victor is adamant on creating life and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal even at the cost of losing his friends and family to his work. His passion for life instantly turns into a crazy obsession, needing to prove something to himself that the world will appreciate him for. Towards the end of the book the dynamics change and it is the creature who is the one with the passion but for all the wrong reasons. "If you comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace, but if you refuse I will gut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends,"(Shelley 121) the Creature is driven by a passion; this passion is driven by anger and animosity towards someone, the wrong passion to have. The Creature is determined to get what he demands from his Creator because he feels Victor owes it to him as his creator. In addition to driven passions by someone evil, the supernatural is among one of the gothic elements. The main focus Mary Shelley was trying to lure her readers was the fact on bringing something back to life (the supernatural). Mary Shelley was trying to create science that was not created in her time. Still to this day we do not have the medical advances to try to bring the dead alive. Since Mary saw science experiments happening in her time, that is where she got her idea of creating life back into someone and Victor Frankenstein would be the perfect character to play that role of bringing the dead alive. “I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay on my feet,” (Shelley 68) Victor tries to achieve the goal of creating life back into the dead. Frankenstein plays with the law of science because of a simple occurrence that happened to him and intrigued him. The fact that Victor achieved his goal in creating life into his creature is something science has never achieved before. “ I had worked hard for two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body,”(Shelley 74) Frankenstein does not start on a whole body, he decides to create life by using different body parts of different people and bringing them into one person. Frankenstein creating his creature from start to finish is the essence of the supernatural and by doing so Mary Shelley took science to a whole new meaning through her book, Frankenstein which is a perfect example of a Gothic Novel. Not only is the supernatural an element of gothic literature but also terrifying events. With a Gothic Novel comes with horrifying events in the book. Through this book plenty of events take place that are horrible and disturbing but the two that had a major impact on Victor is the death of his friend Henry and his wife Elizabeth. Every time there is a horrible event that has occurred readers will soon notice the pattern of Victor not taking responsibility for his actions and putting peoples life’s at risk. “Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life? Two I have already destroyed other victims await their destiny, but you, Clerval, my friend, my benefactor,” (Shelley 189) telling by this quote this hurt Victor more than the other deaths that had happened. Victor explained that the other two was bound to happen but not Henrys death. He was completely shocked that the creature would go this far and kill someone so innocent as Henry who did absolutely nothing to the Creature, Henry’s death was simply out of revenge. The Creature had so much anger in him that forced him to kill an innocent man whom had done no wrong to him. “Why did I not then expire! Why am I here to relate the destruction of the best hope and the purest creature on earth? She was there, lifeless and inanimate,”(Victor215) by this quote reader can realize the monster had killed his innocent wife and Victor is shocked and feels helpless. Victor realizes it was not him the creature was after it was his loved ones he wanted. The Creature wanted to hurt Victor the same way Victor had hurt him and the only way to destroy Victor was to hurt the people he loved. It is horrifying to know that the creature killed all his loved ones, especially Henry and Elizabeth out of revenge. These horrifying events are the cause of one person alone and that is Victor. He is the one who murdered these innocent lives, creating the creature came with the price of losing his loved ones. In conclusion it is evident that Frankenstein is indeed a gothic novel. This is obvious because of the menacing setting which it uses and it supernatural terrors that it consist of. The usage of Mary Shelley’s weather, passion driven by a villain, horrifying events, and supernatural activity exploits the themes and meaning of what a true gothic novel is. Mary Shelley makes this a gothic novel by the way she uses the elements to induce the fear and horror in the book to grasp the reader’s attention.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
To begin with, for there to be an outsider to live in today’s society, would be an absolute disaster for it to live here. Like the monster that was created in the 1800s by, Victor Frankenstein, in the story Frankenstein. Not many people would even think of accepting it. There is a lot of police brutality going on with black people, and some officers are not being convicted of being killing these innocent people. Some Hispanics are being judged being a different race! With that being said, I believe that the monster will not survive at all. If normal people are being killed for their race, which they did not choose, imagine how they would treat a monster made from a dead corpse. He would be killed and the first thing someone would say is they felt their life was in danger, yet the monster was sitting on a park bench asleep. In today’s…
- 1070 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In “Frankenstein” a gothic novel by Mary Shelley there is much suffering and affliction, some attribute this to victors search for glory, however it is by his ravenous search for knowledge that he meets his tragic fate. This novel often presents knowledge as destructive, and dangerous, but this does not only apply to Victor, all who wish to expand their knowledge find destruction eventually in this novel.…
- 71 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
The concept of ‘The Blonde’ has been ever changing over time and across different contexts. Meanings and cultural ideologies associated with blondeness have shifted due to the change in context at varying points of time. Blondeness has been represented and viewed differently from one culture to another where the context and values play a crucial role in these representations. In the movie, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, Marilyn Monroe is portrayed as the archetypal blonde bombshell that uses her sexuality to appeal to rich men and hence portraying her as a ‘gold-digger’. The other text in which the ‘Blonde’ concept is portrayed in a different culture is Boticelli’s painting “The Birth of Venus”. It incorporates values from Greek Mythology as well as the context in which it was composed that is the Renaissance period specifically in 1485. The shaping of dominant meanings associated with being blonde is implied differently through the L’OREAL Blonde hair dye commercial as it shows how values and ideologies connected with blondeness have emerged in contemporary Western culture.…
- 1285 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Mind control is generally thought of to be very explicit; usually with a director telling their victim exactly what to do regardless of what the victim wants. However, there are more forms of mind control other than the common overtaking scenario. The two father/creator figures in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Chaim Potok’s The Chosen are affecting their children subconsciously. They are both raising their children with little to no verbal or physical influence, which affects different results on both creations. The differing outputs of similar inputs shown in the two novels testifies that controlling another being is a risky project that can either shatter the being’s soul or develop it to the point of moral success.…
- 675 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In the novel Frankenstein by, Marry Shelly there is a unique narrative structure that uses characters telling stories to one another. There are three main narratives used in the novel. These narratives are; Victor telling Walton his tale, so that Walton does not make the same mistakes that Victor himself made. The second is the monster telling victor of his acquisition of knowledge and time spent with the cottagers and, the third is Walton writing to his sister to inform her of his journeys events, and the story of Victor. Shelly’s Narrative structure is significant in that it enables the reader to see how Victor and the monster effect one another and how this relationship impacts the plot of the novel, allowing the reader to create a deeper understanding of and connection with the characters, as shown through each narrative.…
- 1012 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Victor Frankenstein and Ernest V. Nelson are two men with similar goals. Victor Frankenstein's main goal was to create a human being, out of dead body parts, that would live for very long and be free of diseases. He wanted to make a perfect human. Ernest V. Nelson on the other hand, cut cadavers and sold them to medical research companies. The main reason he did this was to raise money for lupus research because his daughter suffered from this disease. Cutting up bodies may seem scary to most, but not to these two men.…
- 519 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
For each of the categories that were decided to be the most important qualities in a president, there were many past presidents that appeared to excel in each area.…
- 1053 Words
- 5 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Blade Runner (directors cut, 1992) directed by Ridley Scott are both exposed to the continuing nature dominant paradigms presented in the 19th and 20th century. Mary Shelly and Ridley Scott challenge the dominant assumptions of the romantic and scientific paradigms, this ultimately challenges society’s understanding of humanity, and the concept of what makes someone human. Although 200 years separate these texts are both cautionary tales about the creation of life through science and technology, and both present similar ideas and perspectives on creation. Frankenstein and Blade runner both criticize the dangers of applying uncontrolled use of science and technology. These texts also question values and models of heroism through the characterization of the protagonists. Furthermore Frankenstein and Blade Runner critique humanity through the characterization of the created ‘monster’. This critique presents values of self-knowledge, repentance and the celebration of life.…
- 1121 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Authors’ desire to convey the meanings of their texts are influenced by the era in which they live. However, the themes about human nature will remain timeless and universal as they examine and critically inquire into the follies of greed, ambition and moral corruption. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein illustrates the innate and insatiable appetite for knowledge and the according descent to blindness and self-loathing. In a similar fashion, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner touches on Shelley’s notions of the danger of human enterprise and the uncontrollable impetus of scientific evolution. The two texts, despite having a century in between, similarly exemplify the consequences of playing God, and entice the audience to evaluate what it truly means to be a human being. Both texts vividly demonstrate that the essence of humanity lies not in the desire to achieve a sense of well-being but in the persistent willingness to allow the darker side of human nature to take a hold of one self.…
- 1101 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein places an emphasis on evil and its origins. Through Victor Frankenstein's monster, Shelley implies that solitude and emotional immaturity, not an innate evil, are responsible for one's wrongdoings. Abandoned at the moment of its creation and forced to raise itself, the monster is incapable of discerning right from wrong as he fosters irrational hatreds and resentments towards mankind without opposition. His involuntary isolation not only serves as an explanation for his homicidal tendencies, but causes his untimely death. Shelley suggests that companionship is imperative to nurture a capable and self sufficient member of society.…
- 507 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Some characters keep a secret intending not to cause harm, but may do so anyways. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelly thinks secrecy is a necessity for Victor because he has the secret to life, and if he told, people will think he is crazy and may blame him for the destruction of the monster. Shelly makes it evident there are always consequences for a character’s choice to keep a secret because Victor becomes the newly lonesome being after all ones close to him die. Frankenstein begins, “pursued [his] nature to her hiding places who shall conceive the horrors of his secret toil” as “[he] dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave” (Shelley 45). This quote proves secrecy was necessary for Victor to complete his source of life. He already as he begins his project refuses to let anyone know of the secret to life by his words “hiding places” and “Secret toils” that suggests secrecy and that it is highly important to him. Victor Frankenstein soon learns if he would choose to reveal his secret sooner then maybe it would have made a difference in his ultimate downfall.…
- 1319 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
“If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done”-Anonymous. There are some ideasin the world that are considered impossible, but as they all say nothing is impossible and neither is the idea of creating an monster name Frankenstein. To start with in the 1800’s girls being able to attend a medical school was a joke, but that did not stop Ingrid Vdw Frankenstein from fulfilling her dream of going to one and learning about the creation of our body and how to recreating one. During this time girls were seen to have the roles of staying home and doing all the household chores, but not Ingrid, on the other hand though is Giselle Frankenstein who is an proper young lady. Such two different people yet they…
- 1258 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is arguably one of the most controversial novels of the 19th Century. It discusses the concept of science verses human conscience in a technological world. The Gothic atmosphere of the novel reflects the dark feelings of society at the time, and Shelley utilised pathetic fallacy, her chosen form and imagery to suggest a twist on the real monster of her story. Shelley uses poetical language and perspective to emphasise how the monster is a model Romaticist, and to express the importance of belonging and communication to a judgemental society. Symbols, contrasts and ‘heavenly’ adjectives are used to portray Victor Frankenstein as a God-like figure; expressing how we must never interfere with nature’s course and take on God’s role to the knowledge-greedy culture of the 1800’s, which was consumed with the Industrial Revolution. Shelley has manipulated her writing to convey her personal ideologies, and to reflect her concern for a loss of ethics in a society fixated on the pursuit for answers.…
- 2201 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
Mary Shelley’s science fiction novel, Frankenstein, is a Gothic horror story that captures reader’s attention leaving them with questions of their own morals and of the main characters. The novel arouses questions like, who should be allowed to create life? Is it right to kill for a greater good? Are some secrets best untold? These are all questions of morality and individuals will come up with their own opinions and answers based on their upbringing. In Frankenstein, main characters Victor Frankenstein and ‘The Monster’ are morally put to the test with decisions that will greatly affect their lives. In the end many readers find themselves wondering who are the antagonist and protagonist of the novel; Did Victor do wrong by creating The Monster, or did the Monster do wrong by killing innocent people? In this case both made morally bad decisions but in the end one decision had more of a lasting impact. The Monster’s quest of killing is only justified due to the fact that he was hunting his creator.…
- 1585 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
In the novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley tells the story of a newborn creature who does not understand his existence and does not know a thing about the world he lives in. Narrated by the creature himself, Shelley gives the reader an insight into the hardships he faced as a monster that was never nurtured or loved. Throughout the passage Shelley uses various techniques to convey the impression of the creature as a baby just learning about life and his new world.…
- 466 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays