1

“Scared Monsters: The Gothic Nineteenth Century

and The Theology of Evil”
By
Bijaylaxmi saho

A thesis submitted to the faculty of the Shailabala Women’s Auto. College (Cuttack) in partial fullfillnent of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Arts Department of English. Shailabala Women’s Auto. College
Cuttack, Odisha
Date- 10/04/2018
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Declaration

I declare that this thesis is my own work and tha all critical or other sources (literary) have been specially acknowledged, as and
when they occure in the body of text.

Signed-
Date-
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Acknowledgement

I express my sincere respect a gratitude to my guide (Abanti Roy) who was given her valuable support cooperation and suggestions
from time to time in successfully completing this thesis work.

Date- Name-
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Content

● Introduction
● Abstract
● Chapter 1- The Myth of Frankenstein.
● Chapter 2- A mare tale of Spectets : The ontology of
Frankenstein
● Capter 3 - The Concept of monster and Monstrocity in
Shelly’s Frankenstein.
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Abstract

The Gothic imagination continues to exercise a powerful

influences over twenty first century cultural life. After all,
Vampire, monsters are still familiar inhabitants of our
contemporary literary and cultural landscape. Some of
the most iconic texts of the Nineteenth century which
either created or breathed fresh life into the gener's
conventions.

At the beginning of the Gothic in the nineteenth

century, there was an anxiety surrounding consumption
and appetite for the Gothic text itself and for the excessive,
and sensational themes that the Gothic discussed. To be
abnormal during the Romantic and Victorian ages meant
that there was something wrong with you according to the
laws of God, society, and nature. To ne a freak or to be
deformed was cause for redicule and spectacle. Various
fictions display what it means to bean a abnormal person
in nineteenth century and how the freaks of society could
be projected through various deformaties of freakish
manifestations. Being placed on the role of “other” was
cause and bought a great deal of concern to those who had
to associates interminging within normal society can be
viewed in works such as Shelly's “Frankenstein”. This tale
contain s various forms of the deformity and monstrosity
that represent social anxiety and the possibility of the
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invasion of the “other”band the loss of abnormally within

society. This author play upon the idea of physical
deformaties placed in their own world in order ti show
that this is not a foreign concept to jave those who many
viewed as abnormal living among normal society.
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Introduction

The nineteenth century era, Gothic fiction had lases ti be a

dominant literary genre. However, the Gothic tropes used
earlier in thr eighteenth century in texts such as Ann
Redcliff's The Mysteries of Udolpho we're transported and
interwoven inti many late-ninwteenth century narratives.
These tropes included psychological and psysical terror,
mystery and the supernatural; madness, doubling and
heardity curse.

The gloomy atmosphere and persistent melodrama

present in Dicken's Black House and Oliver Twist,
examplifies the trashference of Gothic compositions into
an urban, modern setting. Thr Nineteenth century on
Victorian Gothic moves away from the mamiliar themes of
Gothic fictiok-ruined castles helpless heroin and evil
villains.

The Gothic has been a unusually productive field

for school as of late and has been a similar boom in
popular culture as well. The rise cultural representatian s
of tge horrific sema ti suggests thar our collective interest
kn the darker side of the imagination has never been
higher.
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As a tern whose meaning has come to signal a certain

foreboding awstgic as well as its own discursivr field of
inquiry, the Gothic in all of its aminousness has begun to
find its place jn the Academic as well. But what of
theology?

Given the common dismissal of the Gothic as a

morally questionable area, a cultural mode best suited
for”the trash of the circulating libraries’ kn Coledrige's
memorable phrase, it may seem odd to posit the Gothic as
a discursivr find well overdue for theological examination.

As a cultural and literary form, the Gothic emerges

in the same historical era as British Romanticism and thus
amidst a time of great philosophical and literary change.
In practice what this entailed was the assimilation of
Christian language and though into areas traditional
considered secular.

For it is concurrent with the rise of a theologically

literate and spiritually sensitive writing that a wave of
Gothic writing uniquely interested in monstrosity, eviland
the failure of the Romantic imagination, begins to surface.
Far from seeing the progress of the new man of the 1800s
as an upward journey towards a redempive unity with
both creation and its Creator, the Gothic perspective
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uneartgs the unresolved tensions of the Romantic

literature, philosophy and aesthetic of the time.

The Gothic perspective is thus the more philosophical

ly cynical flip side to the transdentally informed
Romanticism of poets like Wordsworth. As such, it
becomes the means of questioning and subverting various
theological ideas.

In the course of next few lines, I will examine the

substance of this Gothic perspective, its critique of
spiritual or theoliterature, and the possibilities of often for
addressing, both creatively and theologically, the issues of
evil, the falls, and of course the monster.
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The Myth of Frankenstein

The word myth brings to mind stories from ancient

times, and in our western world often evokes an as
assortment of Greek and Roman gods and Goddesses.
The nineteenth century “Frankenstein” does not fit tge
modes uet. Writer consistently describe Frankenstein as
a myth. Many clearify the story's contemporary origins
specifically catagorizing Frankenstein as a “modern
myth”. Like ancient myths, modern myths are
comprised of characters that capture the public’
imagination and transcend a single adpation. The story
Frankenstein, Faust, Don Quixote and Dracula are
usually acknowledged an examples of modern
mythology, given their recent developemntand the fact
they represent more than a fictional character or story.
However, Frankenstein appears distingcly different
from these other modern myths. Tha idea of
Frankenstein is anchored deeply enough in our
language, thoughts and culture that it can be used a wise
reference in a news story about genetically mofified.
There id something particularly rare and exceptional
about thr many ways we continue to use and be
interested in the myth kf Frankenstein.
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Anne K. Mellor writes that Frankenstein”can claim

TV states of muth” because it “so profoundly resonate
in its implications for our comprehension of our selves
abd our place in the world. Susan Tyler Hitchcock
addresses Frankenstein's mythology stating ‘ the story of
Frankenstein's monster is a myth kf claiming
long-forbidden knowledge and facing the
consequences”. Qhen interviewed about the 2011
Frankenstein Nick Dear called the story a “modern
creation myth” with “resonate and strong dramatic
possibilities “, with somany people describing
Frankenstein as a myth it is difficult to understand what
definition of myth is being used. Complicating the issue
is tge uniqueness of the Frankenstein myth. It is often
compared as a myth in itz own right. Its long history if
dramatizatiin add to its mythology. The simplicity if
leveling Frankenstein a myth frequently ignores the
complexifies of mythology and Frankenstein.

In this chapter 1 clarify hoe Frankenstein is amytg

and what is means for Frankenstein to be considered a
myth. However, Frankenstein:s mythology remains
aparate from these stories and does not adhere to the
sane standards ancient myths do. Using Roland Barthe's
Mytgologies, I will show how the cultural investment in
the kytb of Frankenstein recurs through thr many
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incarnations the story has as anovel and dramatizatiin.

From Shelly's novel, through the 1820s, 1930s, AMD
theatheatter half of the twentieth century, the myth of
Frankenstein reflects our cultural fear of progress. The
ideological framing of Frankenstein proves that the
story continues to intrigue us as it finds new ways to
reflect our anxieties.

Somewhere betwwn the many loves of Frankenstein

and many definitions of Myth the intersection of the two
has created a story thar continues to enthrall us and
envelop us. On his deathbed the young Dr.
Frankensteun in Shelly's novelreneners the creation
thar “destroyed his friends’ and “devoted to destruction
beings who passessed exquisite sensations, happiness
ans wisdom”. Frankenstein's hunted memories
demonstrate the possible ramifications in the pursuit if
progress. The story of Frankenstein is a moderate myth,
and as O’ Flinn reminds us, “if ideology has taken hold
of Frankenstein and remade it for its own purpose,
Maru Shelly led with her own suggestion about how it
might be done”.

The Merriam Wenster's Dictionary defirez myth as

“ a usually traditional story kf ostensibly historical
events that serves to unfold oart of the world view of a
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people or explain a prwctice, belief, or natural

phenomenal. By many accounts Frankenstein fulfills the
definition. Frankenstein us a story that is used to
explain the potential dangers in the unruliness of
certain social, political, scientific phenomena. The full
title of Shelly's novel Frankenstein; or the Modern
Promethes reference an ancient Green myth. The myth
protrays a wily Prometgesus who is capable of deceiving
Zeus. In earlier version “ He was probably Nothi g more
than a clever trickster but in later translations by
Hesiod, Aeschylus, Prometheus becomes “man's creator
and savior “. Dr. Frankenstein ‘steals’ the gift of creating
life, often considered a gift from God in Judeo Christian
religion in Various Frankwnatein dramatizatiin the
creature compares himself ti Adan in the Garden of
Eden. In Dear's script the creature tells Frankenstein, “I
should be Adan. God was proud of Adam. But Satan's
the one I sympathize with. “

Many isolated incidents occurs in the retellings

Frankenstein. Regardless of how Frankwnstein's
wedding night. De Lacey's cottage and fve creation scene
are depicted, these isolated elements do not inform the
meaning if the myth.
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Labeling Frankenstein a myth means more than a

qualification or categorization. The fascinating aspect
about the myth of Frankenstein is how the myth is used
and reconstructed to reflect current times over the last
twohundred years TV introduction of many
ideZinvolving science, morality, politics, and religion
have been woven through the myth.

The anomaly of Frankenstein is that it transform

with us, articulating our fears but remaining a
captivating story to watch, the qwation remains
however, why Frankenstein continues to engage us
whereas other sotires have not lasted as long or become
as prevalent. Thr 1930s, universal studios Form
embraced the Myth in its most formidable shape. John
Turhey iterates “that cinema is the pre-eminent Vehicle
for thr propagation of myth in contemporary mass
societies. Frankenstein has left a monithic imprint kn
the public imagination. Some critic says “the first
Universal film revitalized the muth”. The course of
Frankenstein reflects a “source of anxiety in a deranged
indivifual” and how “imminent castatrophe” lies jn his
hands. In thr film Dr. Frankenstein recklessly murder
without any sign of guilt and n enjoys the horror of thr
Monster he has crafted. The Monster id simply the
destructive bomb released upon the world by the evil
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Dr. Frankenstein. The movie is a reactionary reply to the

fears of cold war puranoia, shared by the mass
audiences that attended the film.

The myth kf Frankenstein may appear oepn the

countless oossibilites and readings. Yet, Baldick reminds
us there is closer for myth. It contend the use of the
myth to reflect our own hopes and disappointments.
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A Mare tale of spectres: the Ontology

of Frankenstein

“I shall be with you on your wedding night”, the lonely

creature the eatens, when Victor Frankenstein refuses
to create a companion for him. Victor assumes that he
himself is being threatened, but thr reader knows better
that the creature is threatening Victor's Fiance
Elizabeth. The reader has picked up on several clues
that Victor Frankenstein has overlooked, most notably
that Victor has just destroyed the Female who would
have been a wife or partner for the creature, and the
creature is clearly threatening retribution. Dure enough,
on the night of wedding Victor hears “a Shrill qnd
dreadful scream. It came from the room into Elizabeth
had retried. As I heard it, “Victor says, “ the whole truth
rushed into my mind”. Thr creatures intentions are
suddenly revealed to Victor. What the creature’s
language gas failed to communicate, Elizabeth scene is
an interesting one for several reasons. For one, it
highlights Victor u reliability, his inability to interpriate
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things the way everyone else does. For another, it

revealed the novel's anxiety about the relationship
between the naturural world, perhaps embodied by
Elizabeth, and the supernatural embodied by the
creature. But primarily, it encapsulated a larger doubt
that pervades the novel, doubt the ability of language to
communicate certain things effective in the novel, when
an inaeticulate scream express what language has not.

Gothic novel such as Frankenstein betray much

about what was at stake ontologically and -
epistemological in the Enlightment revolutaion. Gothic
novels are keenly aware that issues of subjectivity
permeateary narrative, and all Gothic narratuvely
thematise ontologicak questions, issues surrounding
interpretation and problems with representation. For one
thing, in Frankenstein we have a first person narrator, a
narrator is the best way to present TV fantastic, which
is true because we are particularly vulnerable to
ambiguity in first person narration.

To understand Shelly's deviation from the dominant

literary force of course, we must examine thr
characteristics of moves that Frankenstein resests. In
volume 3 of Shelly's novel, Victor Frankenstein laments
the murder of his friend, Hendry Clerval. “And where
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does he bow exist? ” Victor asks, “Is this gentle and

lovely being lost forever, has this mind so replete and
magnificent, which formed a world, whose existence
depended on the life of its creator; has this mind
perished? ” In si asking, victor alludez ti one of the
central preoccupation of the novel; what the nature of
the physical word might be. In this lementatiin, Victor
claims that Clerval's mind has “formed a world”. It is not
clearly to the reader, and ultimately no even to Victor,
whether the world thar Clearval’s mind's has formed is
coextensivr with or identical to the real world. In general
Frankstein has very little to do with ordinary life; it deals
events thar strain even the most willing reader's
credulity, and the difficulty in understanding the
difference between what is real and what is not play a
central role, as do questions of the fantastic and of the
merely improbable.

Frankenstein deals explicitly with seemingly

supernatural events and is thus usually considered a
Gothic novel. In Shelly's novel qe find a damsel in
distress and the action takes place is distant lands. Still,
just what role the supernatural plays in Frankenstein is
unclear. At the heart of th story, of course, is the central
question of the fantastic that arises with Victor's best
working life Ina lifeless body. For his part Victor insists
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thar digging around among corpses does not bother

him, that he is particularly invulerable to “supernatural
horrors”, at tale of superstition, or to have feared the
apparition of a sprit. Darkness had no effect upon any
fancy; any fancy ; and a churchyard was to me merely
the receptable of bodies deprived kf life, which had
become food for the worm”. According ti Victor, at least
initially, his story has Nothing to do with the
supernatural or the fantastic ; his bringing the creature
to life is, he claims merely scientific. Margaret Carter
points out that “ the creation of the monster, through
not supernatural is in the sense kf going beyond and
violating nature as conventionally understood.

Still, the nivel itself turns out ti be much less sure

about the starts of the creation than Victor at first seems
to be. Shelley herself or rather Percy Shelly, famous
anticipated questions over the story's probability and
the violation of the laws of nature, in the preface to the
novel. The preface ambiguously describes the creatures
being brought to life :
The event on which the Fiction is founded has
been supposed as not of impossible occurrence.
I shall not be supposed as according the remotest
degree of serious Faith to such an imagination;
In assuming it as tge basis of a work if fancy.
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I have not considered myself as merely weaving

a series of supernatural terrors. The event on
which the interest of the story depends is
exempt from the disadvantages of a mere tale of
Specters or enchantment impossible as a physical
fact.

The meaning of this passage could hardly be less clear,

and it anything is conveyed to the reader, it is that
possible to say whether the story includes supernatural
elements or not. Twice, the preface describes the
creation as “impossible” and twice the preface claims
the creation is not supernatural”. Further more, the
preface characterised the nature of the event primarily
in terms of the intrepritation, of which who supposed or
consider what not interns of what many or may not be
true. What is important here is not the question of the
possibility of the creatures coming to life ve answered,
but that there us question of all. Especially after Victor's
reliability and sanity are undermined later in the novel,
it is much reader to take his word for thr nature of his
creation, and with thus uncertainty regarding the
ontological states of the events in the novel, the novel
maimntains what would normally be mere hesitation,
tge state kf the fantastic. The reader is left, not just with
the doubt that the novel in still, but with the strange
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knowledge that, in circumscribing the limits of

representation. The novel jas in a very real way
represented the problem of enligjtment. And in
generally sympathy for the creature, the novel has
managed to represent his struggles effectively. Ot is the
gaps in the text that which represent that manages to
represent more effectively that want is present. Such
irony is no consolation for the creature however, whose
murder of Elizabeth is the culmination of his revenge
against Victor. Yet while his revenge is complete his
victory is not. The creator mourns Victor's death with
the grief of an orphan, and then concludes that he
hismslef has no more creature wants. It turns out, is not
vengeance at all, but a language powerful enough to
cenvey to others his heartbreaking experience of the
world.
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The concept of monster and Monstrocity in

Mery Shelly's Frankenstein

Monster are defined by seven different aspect pertaing

to their appearance, character or representation.
Monsters are alwys symbols and representation of a
cultere. They are brought into being because of certain
places or feelings of a time period. Monsters are “an
embodiment of a certain cultural moment”. They are
never be fought of if they will return. It may change
from or dress, but it will come back. When a monster
killed there is always some remnant of it behind. If there
is no physical elements left behind, there is at least a
small glimplse monster or footprints, something that
makes people uncertain of its death and ultimate
destruction. Monster can not bs assigned to a specific
classification of animals or people.

We see the damage that the Monster wreaks, the

material remain but the monster itslwwf turns I
material abd Vanishes to reappear someplace else”. In
Frankenstein, by Mery Shelly this idea is very
prominent as the monster seems to follow this idea
throughout the novel, often disappearing aa he is about
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to be confronted or caught. From offer killing William

after Elizabeth's death and his final run in the Arctic the
monster always manage to escape when capture seems
to close.

One of the most prominent seens emanating is that

when Victor returns home after finding out his brother
was murdered by strangulatiin. Arriving home late at
night, Victor was forced to wait outside the gates of
Geneva, until the gates opened at down. While waiting a
thunderstorm forms and between flashes of thunder
Victor catches a glimpse of the Monster in which, “its
gignatic structure, and the deformity of its aspects, more
hideous thn belongs to humanity”. Now believing that
the minster is the murderer of his brother and before
getting the chance to pursue him, “the figure passed
quickly and was lost in the gloom”. Moving on after
being rerunited with Victor, Elizabeth is murdered by
the monster. The monster sought revenge after Victor
broke his promise of creating a companion for the ugly
monster since no one else would accept hin. Distrought
and shocked, Victor sees “ an open window and a figure
most hideous and abhorred….. rush towards the
window, and drawing a pistols and fired” and ran with
the swiftness of lightning plunging into the lake. The
monster escapes from Victor's group feeling death.
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Victor states, “ the sledge was not visible…. nor did I

again lose it. I behold my enemy at no more than a mile
distant, but now when I appeared almost within grasp of
my foe, my hopes we're suddenly extinguished and I lost
trace of him more utterly when I had ever dine be for”.
As a result, it is evident that the monster alwys escape
according to my thesis. Unable to caught results in
further damage and issues ultimately forming an
environment filled with pain and hope.
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Conclusion

The main part of this thesis is design to offer the

intrepritation of ideas, based kn this novel
“Frankenstein”. Thus thesis is chiefly focusses on
the structure of Mary Shelly's monster, monstrous
and the tgeologies of Evil. An indisputabl feature of
monster's monstrosity is his appearence, evoking
fear from thr first sight of it, drawing attention ti his
large and deformed body. The most significant
person un the monster's life and another items if his
review is his creator Victor Frankenstein. He is
responsible for the monster's misery and suffering.

Here I wants to show through thus book that

the act of erring society is extremly evident. One
example of thus judgement is tge Wat tge family is
looked upon society has wrongly treat the monster
kn the assumption that he actually is a monster.
They scorn, attack and shun the monster just
because of his outward appearence. This is not
justified by anything expect his demeanor. They are
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also afraid of it because they are afraid of things

about which they no nothing. Society also unjustly
kills Justine becaus she is tge only person that could
have possibly have done such an evil act. This agin
shows tge ignorance kf society in thus novel. Two of
the most inaccurate assumptions of societyvrevopve
around the central characters of Dr. Frankenstein
and the monster. Society’s labels for the exact
opposite side of tge scale from where theyare
supposed to be Dr Frankenstein is more of a
monster while the monster is the more decent of the
characters. After his creation comes to life, he
refuses to accept his obligation as the creator to his
creation. He does not care for it, she later it provide
it with food or love, nor teaches the creation.
Eventually all the monster wants from the doctor is
a companion like himself. Frankenstein even refuses
to accept the responsibly of providing a source of
companionship for the creation since he does not
allow for any connection betweeb himself and the
monster. The doctor is intensely self in hus ways.
Even after the monster kills his son and frames
Justine, Frankenstein still will not changes his
attitude towards the monster. There after the
creations supplying of wood and helping in the
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familial chores indicates the kindness of this being.

He feels obligated to help tge family in some way
considering he is using their house as shelter. He
even stop talking their food because he sees that it
causes them suffer. The creation ks also Hunan
frspitr the face that he actually kills in the book. He
saves a girl from drowning in a river while in tge
forest. This concern for human life ub addition ti his
feelings of love towards the family is evidence to hus
kindhesrtedness. He does not even mean to kill thr
boy at first. If any character in this tale should be
labelled as a monster it is not this one. Society has
the most infkunece in aperson's poent og view on a
given point. Mostly society causes insconceptuins
about people based in appearence and the unknown.
Thus us especially evident ub the novel
Frankneateun, Where labels placed on the main
characters by society are a skewed.
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Bibliography

Baldick, Chaha. “Assembling Frankenstein”(1987),

in : Frankenstein, 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton
2012.173-183.print

Change, Kevin. “ Alchemy as Studies of Life and

matter: Re considering the Placed of Vitalism in
Early Morden Chymyatry. The History of Science
and Society 102/2 (2011) ; 322-329. Print

Holmes, Richard. “ Mary Shelley and the Power of

Contemporary Science” (2008), in : Frankenstein
2nd ed. New York: W. W.

Joseph, M. K. “The Composition of Frankenstein”

(1969). In: W. W. Nortiin, 2012.170-173.Print.

Shelly, Mary, Frankenstein: The 1818 Text,

Contexts, Criticism. Ed. J, Paul Hunter. 2nd ed. New
York: W. W. Norton, 2012. Print.
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Work Cited
Bruhm, Steven. Gothic Bodies : the politics of pain in
Romantic fiction. Philadelphia : University of
Pennsylvania, 1994,print

Carry, Jonathan. Supensiins of Perception : Attention,

Spectacle, and Modern culture.
Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press, 1999. Print

Caton, Million, The Victorian Freak Show : Tge

Significance of Disability and physical Differences in
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Engar, Ann. “ Mary Shelly and the Romance of

science”. Jane Austen and Mart Shelly, and their
Sisters. Ed.aura Dabundi, LA ham, MD:University of
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Garrett, Peter K. “ Monster Stories : Dr. Jeky II and

Mr. Hyde”. Gothic Reflections: Narrative Force in
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