Mary Shelley's Gothic Novel Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Gothic Novel Frankenstein

As intended by the author, Mary Shelley, the novel Frankenstein falls under the category of fiction know as Gothic or Horror.   According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Gothic Novels are defined as:   “Of or relating to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate.”   Therefore, Shelley’s work would fit this bill.   Frankenstein is very much full of the horrible elements that make up mankind and his society.   In addition to conforming to the load that many gothic novels do, Mary Shelley illustrates many of the facets of Mankind that are not necessarily positive attributes.   This includes such things as Mankind’s oppression of certain individuals due to their looks and a few of the conflicts that have always been prevalent within the frameworks of organized society.   Mary Shelley not only uses her novel Frankenstein to tell a great horror or Gothic story, but she also used it as a critique on the establishments of man and his faults due to ever-present conflict.
In the horror genre, usually there is a sense of remoteness and a sense of indefiniteness.   This is also present in Frankenstein in that the reader is never told exactly where it is that Victor creates his monster.   The only information as to the location is that it is somewhere in Ingolsadt.   On top of that, Ingolstadt is a very unfamiliar place for most readers as well, so that most definitely adds to the mystery that the novel presents as well.   Another such event that is left unexplained is that of Henry Clerval and the monster arriving at the coast of Ireland.   Never was the means of getting there explained.
Also prevalent in stories of the horror genre are descriptions by the author that are “spooky” or result in the reader becoming a bit “frightened.”   Mary Shelley does not shy away from using descriptions to invoke fear in the reader one bit throughout this novel.   She writes with real relish about the dismembered bodies and maggots.   One attribute that Shelley...