Gothic Novel

A novel in which supernatural horrors and an

atmosphere of unknown terror pervades the action.
The setting is often a dark, mysterious castle, where
ghosts and sinister humans
roam menacingly
Gothic elements include these:

• Ancient prophecy, especially mysterious, obscure, or hard to understand.

• Mystery and suspense
• High emotion, sentimentalism, but also pronounced anger, surprise, and
especially terror
• Supernatural events (e.g. a giant, a sighing portrait, ghosts or their
apparentpresence, a skeleton)
• Omens, portents, dream visions
• Fainting, frightened, screaming women
• Women threatened by powerful, impetuous male
• Setting in a castle, especially with secret passages
• The metonymy of gloom and horror (wind, rain, doors grating on rusty
hinges, howlsin the distance, distant sighs, footsteps approaching, lights in
abandoned rooms,gusts of wind blowing out lights or blowing suddenly,
characters trapped in rooms orimprisoned)
• The vocabulary of the gothic (use of words indicating fear, mystery, etc.:
apparition,devil, ghost, haunted, terror, fright)
Examples:

• Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764)

• Anne Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
• Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818)
• Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897)
• Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca (1938)
• Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
(1886)
• Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
Setting:
Setting is the principal literary device of Gothic literature. Gothic novels are
largely set in desolate and bare landscapes and in large and often ruined
fortresses. The story and the interactions of the characters usually come to pass
and unravel in and around an old and gloomy castle, which at times seems to
be abandoned and at other times occupied.

Narrative:
Narrative in Gothic literature is the description of an individual or a sequence
of events that may be real or fictional and conceived. It is characterized by
complex and complicated narrative structures. There are usually plots within
plots.
Mood:
The mood of a literary work is the emotional attitude with which the writer handles the
subject matter, diction, setting and narrative. It is essential to Gothic literature and is often
an atmosphere of mystery and suspense and a mood of fear, anxiety, terror, and horror
which invokes on the reader a feeling of threat and a fear that is heightened by the element
of the unknown.

Appearance and Reality:

In Gothic Literature the difference between appearance and reality is not always obvious

Confinement:
Confinement is the sense of claustrophobia in Gothic novels, which often happens when
the heroin is entrapped in some creepy castle. And as she tries to find the way out she finds
herself in a hidden underground passageway.
Justice and Injustice:
Justice and Injustice seem lacking in Gothic novels but guilt and payment for sins replace
them.

Omens, signs and visions:

In most Gothic novels a character in the storyline usually has a disturbing dream vision,
or some phenomenon is seen as a sign of coming events

Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events:

In Gothic novels, often dramatic and amazing events occur, such as walking ghosts or
speaking trees, and sometimes lifeless objects (such as a suit of armor or painting) come
to life.
High or even overwrought emotion:
The storyline may be exceedingly emotional, and the
characters often overcome by grief, rage, shock, and especially
terror.

A Damsel in distress, threatened by a cruel villain:

In Gothic Novels, to gain the sympathy of the reader, the
female character often faces troubles that leave her fainting,
petrified, screaming, and/or sobbing. The central figure of the
novel is often a lonely, pensive, and troubled heroine.
 About the Author

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English

novelist who wrote the Gothic novel
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,
which is considered an early example of
science fiction. She also edited and promoted
the works of her husband, the Romantic poet
and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley.
 Name Mary Shelley

Also known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; Mary Wollstonecraft

Godwin (née)

Occupation Novelist
Born 30 August 1797, Somers Town, London, England

Died 1 February 1851, Chester Square, London, England

Gender Female
Literary period Romantic
Genre Gothic, Romantic literature
 About the Novel

Frankenstein, the title character in Mary Wollstonecraft

Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the prototypical “mad
scientist” who creates a monster by which he is eventually
killed. The name Frankenstein has become popularly
attached to the creature itself, who has become one of the
best-known monsters in the history of motion pictures.
Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus
(1818), is a combination of Gothic horror story and science
fiction. The book tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a
Swiss student of natural science who creates an artificial man
from pieces of corpses and brings his creature to life. Though
it initially seeks affection, the monster inspires loathing in
everyone who meets it. Lonely and miserable, the monster
turns upon its creator, who eventually loses his life.
Victor Frankenstein
The doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story.
Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the secret of life and creates an
intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. Victor
keeps his creation of the monster a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and
ashamed as he realizes how helpless he is to prevent the monster from
ruining his life and the lives of others.
The Monster
The eight-foot-tall, hideously ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein.
Intelligent and sensitive, the Monster attempts to integrate himself
into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. His
feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his
creator.
Robert Walton
The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein.
Walton picks the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps
nurse him back to health, and hears Victor’s story. He records the
incredible tale in a series of letters addressed to his sister, Margaret
Saville, in England.

Henry Clerval
Victor’s boyhood friend, who nurses Victor back to health in
Ingolstadt. After working unhappily for his father, Henry begins to
follow in Victor’s footsteps as a scientist. His cheerfulness counters
Victor’s moroseness
Alphonse Frankenstein
Victor’s father, very sympathetic toward his son. Alphonse consoles Victor
in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of
family.

Elizabeth Lavenza
An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins
adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, Elizabeth is Victor’s cousin, the
child of Alphonse Frankenstein’s sister. In the 1831 edition, Victor’s
mother rescues Elizabeth from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy.
Elizabeth embodies the novel’s motif of passive women, as she waits
patiently for Victor’s attention.
William Frankenstein
Victor’s youngest brother and the darling of the Frankenstein
family. The monster strangles William in the woods outside
Geneva in order to hurt Victor for abandoning him. William’s
death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous
guilt about having created the monster.

Justine Moritz
A young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household while Victor
is growing up. Justine is blamed and executed for William’s
murder, which is actually committed by the monster.
Beaufort
A merchant and friend of Victor’s father; the father of Caroline
Beaufort.

Peasants
A family of peasants, including a blind old man, De Lacey; his son
and daughter, Felix and Agatha; and a foreign woman named Safie.
The monster learns how to speak and interact by observing them.
When he reveals himself to them, hoping for friendship, they beat
him and chase him away.
 Frankenstein Literary Elements

Genre- science fiction; horror

Setting and Context- Early 19th century, Much of Frankenstein’s

story unfolds in Switzerland, the country in central Europe where Mary
Shelley was staying when she began writing the novel. However, the novel
ranges widely within Europe and across the globe