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Frankenstein - Gothic, Romantic, Science Fiction

 

            "That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong"" (F. Scott Fitzgerald). In the novel "Frankenstein," written by English novelist, Mary Shelley, a scientist plays "God" and has to pay the consequences. The charm of this masterpiece is not only is it a gothic novel, but a romantic and science fiction novel as well.
             Often, Gothic literature is steeped in dark and mysterious atmospheres, damsels in distress, and a solitary protagonist. In "Frankenstein," Victor Frankenstein becomes mad and determined to give life to the dead, Victor goes to extraordinary measures to seek it through, "I collected bones from charnel-houses and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame." Victor goes to morgues and cemeteries to collect the human body parts that he needed in order to create the monster. Shelley is showing the reader the darkness and eeriness of the novel through Victor, demonstrating how far Victor is willing to go in order to make the monster. .
             On the night of Victor and Elizabeth's honey moon, Victor prowls around the estate waiting for the monster to fulfill his promise of visiting him on his honeymoon, "When suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream. It came from the room into which Elizabeth had retired." As Victor stays up all night awaiting the monsters arrival, he hears a cry from the room his wife was staying in. The author is again showing another aspect of gothic literature by showing the damsel in distress, Victor worried that the monster will come and try to take his life away is taken by surprise when he hears his wife scream. Shelly follows it up with Victor finding his wife dead in her room adding to the gothic nature of the novel. .
             After touring some months in London with his childhood friend Henry,, "Having parted from my friend, I determined to visit some remote spot of Scotland, and finished my work in solitude.


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