AP Literature & Composition

From London to Boston to Salt Lake City, and all points in between, it’s now time to return to Bethel Park High School and my academic studies. As I look into Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I reflect upon I must call to my memory my favorite section that I read while travelling through Olympic National Park in Washington. About a year has elapsed since I first read this novel, but one quote from the monster still remains in my mind from the following passage:

“Sweet and beloved Elizabeth! I read and re-read her letter and some softened feelings stole into my heart and dared to whisper paradisiacal

dreams of love and joy; but the apple was already eaten, and the angel’s arm bared to drive me from all hope. Yet I would die to make her happy. If the monster executed his threat, death was inevitable; yet, again, I considered whether my marriage would hasten my fate. My destruction might indeed arrive a few months sooner; but if my torturer should suspect that I postponed it influenced by his menaces he would surely find other, and perhaps more dreadful, means of revenge. He had vowed to be with me on my wedding-night, yet he did not consider that threat as binding him to peace in the meantime; for as if to show me that he was not yet satiated with blood, he had murdered Clerval immediately after the enunciation of his threats. I resolved, therefore, that if my immediate union with my cousin would conduce either to hers or my father’s happiness, my adversary’s designs against my life should not retard it a single hour.” -Frankenstein Chapter XXII

When I first thought of this passage I had the intent of writing about how it’s rather gothic, but after rereading it, I notice how it shifts from romantic to gothic. Has Frankenstein first addresses his lover Elizabeth, Shelley gives him a very romantic tone. Using such language as; “Stole into my heart,” and “I would die to make her happy.”  As the passage progresses it definitely becomes gothic as the underlying tone of death becomes evident. Victor Frankenstein writes the rest of the letter to Elizabeth with a gothic tone. This is quite understandable considering the monster that he created is now planning to kill his fiancée. The use of both of these tones and elements help to continue the novels pattern of a rollercoaster. It also helps to make the romanticism seem sharper and brighter while the Gothicism seems darker and more foreboding. I can’t say that was the feeling I got in any of the cities I have been in recently.

Over 13,000 Miles in 1 Month

“These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle, and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike. To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honour that can befall a sensitive being; to be base and vicious, as many on record have been, appeared the lowest degradation , a condition more abject than that of the blind mole or harmless worm. For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing.

This quote from chapter 13 sets a scene full of both Gothic and Romantic sentiments when Felix begins to read as the monster eavesdrops as he typically does, but tonight the monster receives his first lesson in human kind’s history, as he listens and hears of both humanity’s meteoric rises triumphs and failures followed by catastrophic falls. Both of these elements astound and repulse the monster causing him  to  even consider his own position within the world and how the world seems to function. Shelly creates this atmosphere of astonishment through the use of loaded words describing  time periods that are already considered both peaks and lows in human history, by using these two simple tactics together Shelly manages to magnify the splendor and decrepit state of the civilizations she describes creating an intense feeling within her readers that  allows them to understand just how deeply this book that Felix is reading affects the monster and his conceptions of the world and self.

In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, I found the most interesting passage that got my eye and pertained to the elements of Gothic horror was on my 147-148. The passage begins with, “As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on
which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew.  I left the room, and locking the door, made a solemn vow in my own heart never to resume my labours; and then, with trembling steps, I sought my own apartment. I was alone; none were near me to dissipate the gloom and relieve me
from the sickening oppression of the most terrible reveries. Several hours passed, and I remained near my window gazing on the sea; it
was almost motionless, for the winds were hushed, and all nature reposed under the eye of the quiet moon. A few fishing vessels alone specked the water, and now and then the gentle breeze wafted the sound of voices as the fishermen called to one another. I felt the silence, although I was hardly conscious of its extreme profundity, until my ear was suddenly arrested by the paddling of oars near the shore, and a person landed close to my house. In a few minutes after, I heard the creaking of my door, as if some one endeavoured to open it softly. I trembled from head to foot;” (Shelley 147-148).  I selected this passage because of the Gothic aspects it contains. Mary Shelley’s diction choice like the words “malice and treachery”, “howl of devilish despair and revenge”, and  ”trembling steps” all add to the drama of the Gothic theme in this passage. Some of the word choices also provide imagery to provide that image of a creepy and gloomy setting. In the novel Shelley was able to dramatize the Gothic elements in the novel to extract a interested but not disgusted feeling in the readers. It drew our relationship closer to both the creature and Frankenstein and brought up the question whether or not Frankenstein did the right thing by not creating a companion for the creature. Without the eeriness of the diction Ido not believe the same reaction would have come about from the readers.

"the region of beauty and delight"

“I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight. There, Margaret, the sun is forever visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon, and diffusing a perpetual splendour” (Shelley, Letter 1).

This letter from Robert Walton to his sister is the earliest example of romanticism in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Walton is in St. Petersburg, Russia and is headed even further north. His standpoint on the land and his journey perfectly correspond with many ideals of romanticism such as a preference for passion rather than logic. He knows full well that the area he is traveling to could very easily result in his death, but he continues on anyway because his passion for his journey outweighs the warnings of everyone around him. He also demonstrates an extreme reverence for nature, another element of romanticism, through his description of the landscape as splendorous and beautiful, though all around him regard it as barren and dangerous. This quality of seeing beauty in what is generally regarded as ugly is yet another element of romanticism. Lastly, his journey in and of itself demonstrates romanticism in that it is a journey fueled by passion and imagination to a region most people would never go. The character of Robert Walton is one of the greatest romanticist characters in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and his romanticist elements are seen nowhere more clearly than in his first letter to his sister.

““And do you dream?” said the daemon; “do you think that I was then dead to agony and remorse?—He,” he continued, pointing to the corpse, “he suffered not in the consummation of the deed—Oh! not the ten-thousandth portion of the anguish that was mine during the lingering detail of its execution. A frightful selfishness hurried me on, while my heart was poisoned with remorse. Think you that the groans of Clerval were music to my ears? My heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy; and when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred it did not endure the violence of the change without torture such as you cannot even imagine.”

To me, this excerpt stood out because of Shelley’s portrayal of the inert goodness of man. The monster had commited murder, but yet still is trying to express that with all this hate and evil in him he also has remorse, regret, and maybe even repentece for the life he took. It is particularlly romantisit to view people are good at heart even after taking a life. Saying that his heart still feels love and sympathy makes me confused about how I think of the monster. It is different because he is fictional,but I find him interesting. Do all people who slaughter and kill feel sad about it in the small crevices of their beings? I thought that all of her dark and dramtic word choices emphasized the gothic tones not only of the work but also of the monster’s personality. The over-descriptiveness of the whole encounter add depth to the drama. This expression of him trying to put into words how one can do something so wrong, know it’s wrong, and still understand that they have equal feelings of pain and hurt because they did this is truely artful to get across. The first line also stuck with me when talking about dreaming and using its as an opeing to parallel agony and remorse. It premotes the idea of a conscience and invokes feelings of humanity.

Frankenstein describes the scenery he encounters near his home after returning to grieve with his family over the loss of his younger brother William:

“I spent the following day roaming through the valley. I stood beside the sources of the Arveiron, which take their rise in a glacier, that with slow pace is advancing down from the summit of the hills, to barricade the valley. The abrupt sides of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and the solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial Nature was broken only by the brawling waves, or the fall of some vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche, or the cracking reverberated along the mountains of the accumulated ice, which, through the silent working of immutable laws, was ever and anon rent and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in their hands. These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving. They elevated me from all littleness of feeling; and although they did not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquillised it. In some degree, also, they diverted my mind from the thoughts over which it had brooded for the last month. I retired to rest at night; my slumbers, as it were, waited on and ministered to by the assemblance of grand shapes which I had contemplated during the day. They congregated round me; the unstained snowy mountain-top, the glittering pinnacle, the pine woods, and ragged bare ravine; the eagle, soaring amidst the clouds—they all gathered round me and bade me be at peace.

Where had they fled when the next morning I awoke? All of soul-inspiriting fled with sleep, and dark melancholy clouded every thought.” CHAPTER 10

Shelley throws her audience right into the depths of romanticism with her description of Frankenstein’s surroundings.  She spends a lengthy paragraph just telling the reader how tranquil this environment that surrounds him is and then proceeds to tear the picturesque scene limb from limb in the next few paragraphs.

Shelley is very talented at creating an antithesis throughout Frankenstein, and this scene is just one example.  Shelley introduces the reader to a mountainous paradise, praising the surroundings that Frankenstein encounters.  However, when he becomes determined to find his creation, the next day the conditions of the scenery drastically change.  This acts as both foreshadowing to Frankenstein’s encounter with the creature and a backdrop for his grief and guilt.  Frankenstein, during his encounter with the creature, becomes aware that he is inadvertently responsible for the deaths of his loved ones a thought that hangs like a storm cloud over him for the rest of the novel.

“It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate. Before I had quitted your apartment, on a sensation of cold, I had covered myself with some clothes, but these were insufficient to secure me from the dews of night. I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept.

“Soon a gentle light stole over the heavens and gave me a sensation of pleasure. I started up and beheld a radiant form rise from among the trees. I gazed with a kind of wonder. It moved slowly, but it enlightened my path, and I again went out in search of berries. I was still cold when under one of the trees I found a huge cloak, with which I covered myself, and sat down upon the ground. No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused. I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me; the only object that I could distinguish was the bright moon, and I fixed my eyes on that with pleasure.

“Several changes of day and night passed, and the orb of night had greatly lessened, when I began to distinguish my sensations from each other. I gradually saw plainly the clear stream that supplied me with drink and the trees that shaded me with their foliage. I was delighted when I first discovered that a pleasant sound, which often saluted my ears, proceeded from the throats of the little winged animals who had often intercepted the light from my eyes. I began also to observe, with greater accuracy, the forms that surrounded me and to perceive the boundaries of the radiant roof of light which canopied me. Sometimes I tried to imitate the pleasant songs of the birds but was unable. Sometimes I wished to express my sensations in my own mode, but the uncouth and inarticulate sounds which broke from me frightened me into silence again.

Chapter 11

Mary Shelley’s romantic roots reflect throughout Frankenstein. The beauty and near holiness with which the romantic movement portrayed nature is exemplified throughout this passage.  The monster finds comfort and solace in natural surroundings even though he is not a part of it due to the horror of his existence.   Shelley uses imaginative diction with words such as “dews of night,” “gentle,” “radiant,” and “bright” to provide a beautified picture of nature.  Shelley also exemplifies the primitive nature of the monster as he learns of the world for the first time.  His innocence is cast in a positive light, and his emotions are highlighted as major portions of the passage.  In particular, Shelley uses listing to emphasize their importance.  For example, she writes in the Monster’s voice, “I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness.” Overall, this bittersweet passage is a stellar example of Romanticism at its best.

In the beginning, there was one. The one then demanded of its creator that a second be made, so as to alleviate its ever-present pain of desolation. So it went with the creature of Frankenstein and his creator. This is the tale of Frankenstein’s quest to create another creature at his original work’s request.

–”Having parted from my friend, I determined to visit some remote spot of

Scotland and finish my work in solitude.  I did not doubt but that the

monster followed me and would discover himself to me when I should have

finished, that he might receive his companion.  With this resolution I

traversed the northern highlands and fixed on one of the remotest of

the Orkneys as the scene of my labours.  It was a place fitted for such

a work, being hardly more than a rock whose high sides were continually

beaten upon by the waves.  The soil was barren, scarcely affording

pasture for a few miserable cows, and oatmeal for its inhabitants,

which consisted of five persons, whose gaunt and scraggy limbs gave

tokens of their miserable fare.  Vegetables and bread, when they

indulged in such luxuries, and even fresh water, was to be procured

from the mainland, which was about five miles distant.”

Upon reading this passage, one word jumps into the reader’s mind. That word is GOTHIC. One must only look at the setting for the dreadful task that lies ahead of Victor in this section of the novel. Shelley chooses the dreariest locale possible for a task that makes it look sunny in comparison. What this does for the reader is that it adds to the already nauseating mix an extra layer of unsettling thoughts, true to the gothic style in which Shelley wrote the novel. Gothic horror is not quite like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s of today, in that it did not solely rely on blood and guts to unnerve its audience. Gothic horror relied on elements that were fit to unsettle people mentally, or perhaps permeate to a level even deeper than the conscious. Whatever the case, Shelley hits the nail on the head here, adding just the right amount of that “uneasy” factor to her already gruesome story. Nothing sends shivers down the spine like Scotland.

In the beginning of chapter 20, Victor is confronted with the dilemma of whether he should finish the female counterpart of the creature or not.  If he does not create a female counterpart, he would break the promise he made to the creature.  While Victor thinks, the creature watches him.

“I trembled, and my heart failed within me; when, on looking up, I saw, by the light of the moon, the daemon at the casement. A ghastly grin wrinkled his lips as he gazed on me, where I sat fulfilling the task which he had allotted to me. Yes, he had followed me in my travels; he had loitered in forests, hid himself in caves, or taken refuge in wide and desert heaths; and he now came to mark my progress, and claim the fulfilment of my promise.

As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and, with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew.

I left the room, and, locking the door, made a solemn vow in my own heart never to resume my labours; and then, with trembling steps, I sought my own apartment. I was alone; none were near me to dissipate the gloom, and relieve me from the sickening oppression of the most terrible reveries.

Several hours passed, and I remained near my window gazing on the sea; it was almost motionless, for the winds were hushed, and all nature reposed under the eye of the quiet moon. A few fishing vessels alone specked the water, and now and then the gentle breeze wafted the sound of voices, as the fishermen called to one another. I felt the silence, although I was hardly conscious of its extreme profundity, until my ear was suddenly arrested by the paddling of oars near the shore, and a person landed close to my house.

In a few minutes after, I heard the creaking of my door, as if some one endeavoured to open it softly. I trembled from head to foot; I felt a presentiment of who it was, and wished to rouse one of the peasants who dwelt in a cottage not far from mine; but I was overcome by the sensation of helplessness, so often felt in frightful dreams, when you in vain endeavour to fly from an impending danger, and was rooted to the spot.

Presently I heard the sound of footsteps along the passage; the door opened, and the wretch whom I dreaded appeared. Shutting the door, he approached me, and said, in a smothered voice–”You have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break your promise?”

This excerpt from Frankenstein has a plethora of gothic horror.  Shelley shows the elements of gothic horror through the setting she uses, the way she describes the creature, and the way she creates an atmosphere that the evil creature will prevail over Victor.  When Victor looks outside, the moon light shines on the daemon who gazes on Victor with a ghastly grin that wrinkles his lips.  Moon light shining down always has a creepy conotation, let alone also having a monster staring at you with an eerie look.    The creature is also described as having a countenance that “expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery.”   Then Victor destroys the female creation and rips her into pieces which causes an evil howl from the creature.  Take a second, and imagine a body being torn into pieces and then a petrifying creature howling with “devlish despair and revenge.”   If that isn’t freaky and creepy enough, then the setting once again becomes extremely eerie as the ocean becomes motionless and an extreme silence engulfs nature.  You’re just waiting for the creature to run down and kill Victor right??!?!  All of a sudden, the silence becomes interrupted by the sound of someone paddling to the shore!  It must be the creature!  This is a threatening situation where the creature is pursuing Victor fast.  Victor is dead for sure, right?  Then, the door creaks open, Victor is scared out of his mind, and then the dreaded creature walks in and shuts the door behind him.  The sound of the door creaking, and the dreaded creature’s footsteps sets up quite the eerie scene once again.  Finally, the creature reaches Victor and says, “You have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break your promise?”  At this point the reader probably feels that the evil creature will prevail against the vulnerable, puny human. Between the extremely eerie settings and the creature pursuing Victor in rage, elements of gothic horror ooze throughout this passage of Shelley’s work.

Victor Frankenstein has just finished his macabre creation, and is beholding the fruit of his labor for the first time.

“…one hand was stretched out, weemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited; where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and feaing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life. Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.” -Frankenstein, chapter 5

To me, this is the portion of the novel that most accurately portrays Gothic Horror. The scene is set a few paragraphs before this excerpt, and Shelley describes the scene by stating, “It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open.” She also later speaks of the yellow light of the moon. Shelley effectively sets the tone with an eerie and unsettling description of Victor’s surroundings. This is one element of gothic horror. Through Frankenstein’s description of his monster, it is clear that he is at risk of going mad with the knowledge that he created this monstrous being. This is another element of Gothic horror.  These passages create uneasy feelings in the reader and it isn’t something I’d like to read alone at night, but thats just my opinion.

In Chapter 9, Frankenstein is trying to cope with the recent execution of Justine.  His overwhelming guilt for her death, as well as William’s death, consumes his whole person and he finds himself struggling to feel any happiness.  He says that, “…not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven could redeem my soul from woe”.    In attempt to console himself and escape the weight of guilt and regret, Frankenstein embarks on a journey into the natural world  towards the valley of Chamounix.  The following passage describes his journey using an undeniable Romanticist style, notable through the strong emotions, beauty of nature, and supernatural elements.

“The weight upon my spirit was sensibly lightened as I plunged yet deeper in the ravine of Arve. The immense mountains and precipices that overhung me on every side—the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of the waterfalls around, spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence—and I ceased to fear, or to bend before any being less almighty than that which had created and ruled the elements, here displayed in their most terrific guise. Still, as I ascended higher, the valley assumed a more magnificent and astonishing character. Ruined castles hanging on the precipices of piny mountains; the impetuous Arve, and cottages every here and there peeping forth from among the trees, formed a scene of singular beauty. But it was augmented and rendered sublimeby the mighty Alps, whose white and shining pyramids and domes towered above all, as belonging to another earth, the habitations of another race of beings.

“I passed the bridge of Pélissier, where the ravine, which the river forms, opened before me, and I began to ascend the mountain that overhangs it. Soon after I entered the valley of Chamounix. This valley is more wonderful and sublime, but not so beautiful and picturesque, as that of Servox, through which I had just passed. The high and snowy mountains were its immediate boundaries; but I saw no more ruined castles and fertile fields. Immense glaciers approached the road; I heard the rumbling thunder of the falling avalanche, and marked the smoke of its passage. Mont Blanc, the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc, raised itself from the surrounding aiguilles, and its tremendous dôme overlooked the valley.

“A tingling long-lost sense of pleasure often came across me during this journey. Some turn in the road, some new object suddenly perceived and recognised, reminded me of days gone by, and were associated with the light-hearted gaiety of boyhood. The very winds whispered in soothing accents, and maternal nature bade me weep no more.”

Romanticist literature is often recognized by its deep appreciation for nature.   In the previous passage, Shelley writes with eloquent language in a Romanticist style to describe the natural beauty that Frankenstein experiences on his journey.   For example, she uses distinct imagery through words such as “wonderful”, “sublime”, and “picturesque”  to capture  the true beauty of the natural environment.    In addition, she describes the Alps as being “white and shining pyramids and domes towered above all, as belonging to another earth, the habitations of another race of beings”.  By capturing this very real piece of the natural world and describing it in such a fantastical, dreamy way, Shelley fits this very desciption of Romanticist literature.   In addition, Romanticist literature is often found to be full of very strong, heartfelt emotion.  In the previous excerpt, Shelley not only captures this strong emotional state, but is able to link it to natural characteristic of Romanitc literature as well.   It is from the beauty of nature that Frankenstein is able to find his solace.  In addition, Shelley’s descriptions of his natural surroundings are very much parallel to his emotional state at that point.  For example, at the beginning of the passage, the “immense mountains and precipices that overhung [Frankenstein] on every side” can be compared to the guilt and regret that hangs on his shoulders.  As he travels through this natural escape, however, these feelings break away, and he rises to a more positive state of mind, at the same time that he hears “the rumbling thunder of the falling avalanche”  and  he sees “Mont Blanc, the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc, raised itself from the surrounding aiguilles.”   This being said, Shelley successfully portrays the Romanticist style in her writing by her fantastical descriptions of nature, and then by linking this to Frankenstein’s strong emotional state.

The monster saw my determination in my face, and gnashed his teeth in the impotence of anger. “Shall each man,” cried he, “find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone? I had feelings of affection, and they were requited by detestation and scorn. Man! you may hate; but beware! your hours will pass in dread and misery, and soon the bolt will fall which must ravish from you your happiness forever. Are you to be happy while I grovel in the intensity of my wretchedness? You can blast my other passions; but revenge remains—revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food! I may die; but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery. Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful. I will watch with the wiliness of a snake, that I may sting with its venom. Man, you shall repent of the injuries you inflict.”

“Devil, cease; and do not poison the air with these sounds of malice. I have declared my resolution to you, and I am no coward to bend beneath words. Leave me; I am inexorable.”

“It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night.”

This excerpt from chapter 20 reveals the final breaking point of the monster. Having had his last hope of happiness destroyed, he gives up the thought of obtaining it forever, wallowing in misery and respite. The passage reveals the true motives of the monster towards the end, when he goes on his final killing spree, jealousy and hatred, and this oddly enough humanizes him, as he is not a shallow Dr. Evil type of character who is evil just for the sense of being evil, but he is a character who has had his heart broken and wants revenge. He wants Frankenstein to feel just as he did.

The end of the passage also foreshadows events to come, namely Elizabeth’s death. It’s fitting that the monster, who wishes for Frankenstein to feel the misery he did, to take away what was taken from him, a wife. Frankenstein, having created a creature, then let him lose without caring for him, (or doing quite the opposite) is  left to be the same as the creature he had created, an outsider who will never be able to share a meaningful relationship with another human being, unless he wished for their untimely death.

Victor Frankenstein finds himself full of regret and despair after suffering the consequences of creating the Monster.  Mary Shelley, the author, gives the reader insight on the emotional roller coaster Frankenstein struggles through after the murders of his loved ones, all  by the hands of Frankenstein’s creation.  Frankenstein narrates in chapter 24:

My present situation was one in which all voluntary thought was swallowed up and lost.  I was hurried away by fury; revenge alone endowed me with strength and composure; it molded my feelings and allowed me to be calculating and calm at periods when otherwise delirium or death would have been my portion…And now my wanderings began which are to cease but with life.  I have traversed a vast portion of the earth and have endured all the hardships which travelers in deserts and barbarous countries are wont to meet.  How I have lived I hardly know; many times have I stretched my failing limbs upon the sandy plain and prayed for death.  But revenge kept me alive; I dared not die and leave my adversary in being.  When I quitted Geneva my first labor was to gain some clue by which I might trace the steps of my fiendish enemy.  But my plan was unsettle, and I wandered many hours round the confines of the town, uncertain what path I should pursue.  As night approached I found myself at the entrance or the cemetery where William, Elizabeth, and my father reposed,  I entered it and approached the tomb which marked their graves.  Everything was silent except the leaves of the trees, which were gently agitated by the wind; the night was nearly dark, and the scene would have been solemn and affecting even to an uninterested observer.  The spirits of the departed seemed to flit round and to cast a shadow, which was felt but not seen, around the head of the mourner.  The deep grief which this scene had at first excited quickly gave way to rage and despair.  They were dead, and I lived; their murderer also lived, and to destroy him I must drag out my weary existence.  I knelt on the grass and kissed the earth, and with quivering lips exclaimed, “By the sacred earth on which I kneel, by the shades that wander near me, by the deep and eternal grief hat I feel, I swear; and by thee, O Night, and the spirits that preside over thee, to pursue the demon who cause this misery, until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict.  For this purpose I will preserve my life; to execute  this dear revenge will I again behold the sun and tread the green herbage of earth, which otherwise should vanish from my eyes forever.  And I call on you, spirits of the dead, and on you, wandering ministers of vengeance, to aid and conduct me in my work.  Let the cursed and hellish monster drink deep of agony; let him feel the despair that now torments me.”

Mary Shelley uses a significant amount of literary techniques in this passage.  These techniques allow her to create a truly romantic work.  I chose this passage because it embodies several key aspects that developed during the era of romanticism.  Several of these include emotion, nature, and experimentation. 

Frankenstein describes exactly how he is feeling in these paragraphs.  There is no questioning his emotion.  Shelley uses this descriptive use of diction with the intent of highlighting Frankenstein’s terrible state of mind.  The first couple sentences allow the reader to enter the psyche of Frankenstein’s character.  This use of psychological intellect adds to the element of romanticism.

In this excerpt, nature is used as Frankenstein’s sole escape, his only comforter.  Frankenstein roams the cemetery in which his brother, sister, and father remain.  He is filled with immense pangs of grief.  He falls to his knees and speaks to the earth.  This use of personification gives Frankenstein a sense of hope that he can make up for his mistakes.  He speaks to the earth and the night as if they were people who were there to comfort him.  In a small sense, Frankenstein finds solace in nature’s sturdiness.

Finally, the romantic quality of experimentation is presented in this chapter.  Shelley creatively uses irony to add experimentation into her novel.  Romantics value humans in their natural state.  The creature, however, is far from natural.  Some may question why Shelley would create an unnatural character in a romantic novel.  The presence of irony illustrates the consequences of disturbing nature.  Frankenstein created a being, a feat of experimentation.  His experiment went terribly astray, resulting in the death of several individuals. I thought it interesting that the romantic quality of experimentation was taken to a level of unnatural non-romanticism.

When I sat down with my copy of Frankenstein, I started searching for a passage that would be a good example of how Mary Shelley used elements of Gothic horror or romantic literature.  Instead of finding what I was looking for, I stumbled upon a passage that exemplifies both Gothic horror and Romantic literature.  Chapter Twenty in the novel contains many examples of both, but the very first page of the chapter, at least in my opinion, has the most and the best examples of elements from both Gothic horror and Romantic literature.  Chapter Twenty opens with Victor narrating and explaining his thoughts on the promise he made to the creature about creating another being, a female companion.  ”I sat one evening in my laboratory; the sun had set, and the moon was just rising from the sea; I had not sufficient light for my employment, and I remained idle, in a pause of consideration of whether I should leave my labour for the night or hasten its conclusion by an unremitting attention to it. As I sat, a train of reflection occurred to me which led me to consider the effects of what I was now doing. Three years before, I was engaged in the same manner and had created a fiend whose unparalleled barbarity had desolated my heart and filled it forever with the bitterest remorse. I was now about to form another being of whose dispositions I was alike ignorant; she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness. He had sworn to quit the neighbourhood of man and hide himself in deserts, but she had not; and she, who in all probability was to become a thinking and reasoning animal, might refuse to comply with a compact made before her creation. They might even hate each other; the creature who already lived loathed his own deformity, and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes in the female form? She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation of being deserted by one of his own species. Even if they were to leave Europe and inhabit the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first results of those sympathies for which the daemon thirsted would be children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror. Had I right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations? I had before been moved by the sophisms of the being I had created; I had been struck senseless by his fiendish threats; but now, for the first time, the wickedness of my promise burst upon me; I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price, perhaps, of the existence of the whole human race.”  While I believe that this excerpt exemplifies just about all of the characteristics of Gothic horror, the two traits it demonstrates the most are: “There is an atmosphere of fear and dread that evil will prevail over good” and “The main character is at risk of going mad from the extreme pressures of the threatening situation” (quoted from “Scare or Dare,” but an excerpt from Scott Foresman’s Literature and Integrated Studies).  At this pint, the creature is threatening Frankenstein and that evil is prevailing over the good doctor (if that’s how you look at it).  Victor considers defying the creature though, which demonstrates the Romantic Literature idea of “Attraction to rebellion and revolution, especially concerned with human rights, individualism, freedom from oppression.”  Frankenstein contemplates the consequences on the future human race if he follows through with creating this second female monster.  He doesn’t want to be blamed for causing the oppression of humans by the monsters.  Another Romantic Literature characteristic that the novel exemplifies is that “Introspection, psychology, melancholy, and sadness are emphasized. Art often dealt with death, transience and mankind’s feelings about these things.  The artist was an extremely individualistic creator whose creative spirit was more important than strict adherence to the formal rules and traditional procedures” (“Scare or Dare”).  Victor first made the creature because of his own selfish want for knowledge and the power to create life.  The idea of creating life went against the ideas of that time and what his father would have wanted.  If you consider Victor’s creation art, then the art really did deal with death since it was made from death and turned into life.  On a separate note, the beginning of the passage is a fair example of how “Romantics idealize country life and believe that many of the ills of society are a result of urbanization” (Scare or Dare”).  Sure, this excerpt isn’t the greatest instance of the importance of nature and country life in the novel, but the fact that Victor’s thought process begins with the setting of the sun and the observation of nature, shows that “Nature for Romanticists becomes a mean for divine” (“Scare or Dare”).  Jumping back to Gothic Horror, the novel most definitely involves “encounters with otherworldly characters who defy natural laws.” I mean, Victor did defy nature by creating an unnatural life form, and the creature defied nature by actually coming to life and thinking and learning like a human. From this particular excerpt, Victor is contemplating the unnatural creation of a second natural-law-defying being to be the companion for the first unnatural being.  I could go on because this passage is full of Romantic Literature and Gothic horror traits, but i think I’ll stop……….. right now.

Frankenstein trekked his way up to the top of the mountain seeking peace and serenity, only for the beautiful sight to be spoiled by the appearance of the beast he created.  His thoughts wandered:

“’Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life.’  As I said this I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman speed.  He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I had walked with caution; his stature, also, as he approached, seemed to exceed that of man.  I was troubled; a mist came over my eyes, and I felt a faintness seize me; but I was quickly restored by the cold gale of the mountains.  I perceived, as the shape came nearer (sight tremendous and abhorred!) that it was the wretch whom I had created.  I trembled with rage and horror, resolving to wait his approach and then close with him in mortal combat.  He approached; his countenance bespoke bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity, while its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes.  But I scarcely observed this; rage and hatred had at first deprived me of utterance, and I recovered only to overwhelm him with words expressive of furious detestation and contempt.”

(Chapter 10, Page 93).

This is my favorite gothic horror passage in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein because it is such a build up of emotions for Frankenstein.  Frankenstein describes the monsters approach as he bounds across the precarious crevices with unnatural speed and stature.  He instantly feels threatened, as though the battle for his life is about to begin.  Shelley uses strong imagery as Frankenstein “trembles with rage and horror.”  In my mind I see him sitting on a rock on the mountaintop, calm and peaceful.  Suddenly in the mist, a large black figure approaches too quickly to be human, and Frankenstein begins to shake with fear.  Shelley highlights the strong emotions that Frankenstein flashes through upon encountering the monster.  She also describes the monster’s facial expressions well, also.  If the creature was as ugly as Frankenstein makes it seem, how could you tell what the monster felt by his facial expression?  Nevertheless, he approaches full of “bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity, while its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes.”  It paints a picture of a mangled face expressing the most fearful hate.  Shelley’s imagery enhances the work because the strong emotion portrayed on the character’s faces greatly adds the effect of the scene.  It helps the reader comprehend what both Frankenstein and his monster are feeling, and it gives it that perfect gothic horror feeling.  As the hate and fear bounce and echo off of the mountainsides between the two forces, the reader is practically placed in Frankenstein’s shoes because of Shelley’s description of emotion.  The reader is able to feel the fear and hate of the characters, and thus this is my favorite passage in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Frankenstein is literally full of examples of gothic horror and romanticist literature. One of my personal favorite passages, is when the creature is recounting the events of what he had been through, and he tells the story of when he finally went in to talk to the blind man, and then the children come home and are frightened by him. It took him so long to actually work up the courage to do this, and then when he finally went in, he was rejected.

“CURSED, CURSED CREATOR! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants, and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery.

“When night came, I quitted my retreat, and wandered in the wood; and now, no longer restrained by the fear of discovery, I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings. I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils; destroying the objects that obstructed me, and ranging through the wood with a stag-like swiftness. O! what a miserable night I passed! the cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me: now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness. All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment: I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me; and finding myself unsympathised with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.

“But this was a luxury of sensation that could not endure; I became fatigued with excess of bodily exertion, and sank on the damp grass in the sick impotence of despair. There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No: from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and, more than all, against him who had formed me. and sent me forth to this insupportable misery.” (15-16).

This is an example of both gothic horror and romantic literature. It is gothic horror because there is an encounter between the cottagers and the creature, who is technically an “otherworldly character who defies natural laws”. Also, the creature, who is the main character in this case, goes crazy with sorrow and rage after the situation. This passage is bursting with emotion. He is devastated and enraged. He also brings up nature, a romanticist ideal, saying that it “mocks” him. This passage is my favorite example of gothic horror and romantic literature because you really sympathize with the monster because all he wants to do is fit in and make some friends.

At the beginning of chapter 23 Victor and Elizabeth have just reached their honeymoon destination. Victor is trying to be extra cautious because he fears the creature will attack his new wife, however, his efforts are not enough.

…

“I had been calm during the day; but so soon as night obscured the shapes of objects, a thousand fears arose in my mind. I was anxious and watchful, while my right hand grasped a pistol which was hidden in my bosom; every sound terrified me; but I resolved that I would sell my life dearly, and not shrink from the conflict until my own life, or that of my adversary, was extinguished.

Elizabeth observed my agitation for some time in timid and fearful silence; but there was something in my glance which communicated terror to her, and trembling she asked, “What is it that agitates you, my dear Victor? What is it you fear?”

“Oh! peace, peace, my love,” replied I; “this night and all will be safe: but this night is dreadful, very dreadful.”

I passed an hour in this state of mind, when suddenly I reflected how fearful the combat which I momentarily expected would be to my wife, and I earnestly entreated her to retire, resolving not to join her until I had obtained some knowledge as to the situation of my enemy.

She left me, and I continued some time walking up and down the passages of the house, and inspecting every corner that might afford a retreat to my adversary. But I discovered no trace of him, and was beginning to conjecture that some fortunate chance had intervened to prevent the execution of his menaces, when suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream. It came from the room into which Elizabeth had retired. As I heard it, the whole truth rushed into my mind, my arms dropped, the motion of every muscle and fibre was suspended; I could feel the blood trickling in my veins and tingling in the extremities of my limbs. This state lasted but for an instant; the scream was repeated, and I rushed into the room.

Great God! 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, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair. Everywhere I turn I see the same figure—her bloodless arms and relaxed form flung by the murderer on its bridal bier. Could I behold this and live? Alas! life is obstinate and clings closest where it is most hated. For a moment only did I lose recollection; I fell senseless on the ground.”

…

I new immediately that this would be the passage I would use to express the elements of gothic horror. I read this novel almost a year ago over the summer and the scene has stayed with me due to Shelley’s literary techniques, one of which is juxtaposition. The scene she creates is incredible. We are just leaving this beautiful wedding ceremony and the couple is off to their honeymoon.   They land, however, and things begin to get a little creepy. Victor explains this, “as night obscured the shapes of objects, a thousand fears arose in my mind”.  Anyone can relate to the feeling of being frightened once night comes in unfamiliar places, its human instinct!  Shelley uses Elizabeth as the  ”fair maiden” character who is being attacked by the “villain” or the creature. The reader cannot help but be on Elizabeth and Victors side and we feel horror and disgust at the thought of the “creature” taking another life. This feeling of horror climaxes as Victor opens the door and explains what he sees: “she was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair”. This section is one of the most gruesome in the novel and helps with the effect that everything and everyone in Victor’s life is being destroyed. It is also at this moment Victor begins to go slightly mad. Victor lost recollection and “fell senseless on the ground” due to his overwhelming thoughts and emotions. He knows that none of his loved ones are safe. Ohhh the horror!

The cottagers have left for town and should be gone a while so the monster decides now is a good time to put his plan in action. He goes to the door, knocks, and is invited in by the blind old man. After much talking, the subject of friends come up and this ensues:

. . . I paused. This, I thought, was the moment of decision, which was to rob me of, or bestow happiness on me for ever. I struggled vainly for firmness sufficient to answer him, but the effort destroyed all my remaining strength; I sank on the chair, and sobbed aloud. At that moment I heard the steps of my younger protectors. I had not a moment to lose; but seizing the hand of the old man, I cried, ‘Now is the time!—save and protect me! You and your family are the friends whom I seek. Do not you desert me in the hour of trial!’

“ ‘Great God!’ exclaimed the old man, ‘who are you?’

“At that instant the cottage door was opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered. Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me? Agatha fainted; and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung: in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick. I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sank within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. I saw him on the point of repeating his blow, when, overcome by pain and anguish, I quitted the cottage and in the general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel. (Chapter 15)

This excerpt is a prime example of gothic horror, the woman are fainting and scared, the men are strong and brute, and the monster seems to be trying to hurt a loved one. The reader really gets a grasp on who the monster is really becoming, because although he looks scary and murdurous, he is just lonely and wants to be normal. Shelley uses stereotypes when Felix comes in, only to see a giant monster with his father. She breaks from the stereotyping when the monster is alone with the blind father. The monster is treated as a real person and he appreciates that and wants to actually befriend these people he has learned from. She uses a lot of imagery, like most horror books, and that really helps to get points across. When she uses it in reference to the lion and the antelope, she is not only describing a scene vividly but showing the reader that this monster really is smart and learning. HE knows of animals and how they act, he understands how the world works and that is why he must hide. Shelley uses these techniques to her advantage and developes deep characters. She does not turn this monster into a stereotype, yes he kills, but they are usually on accident or because the monster himself gets scared. He is new to this world and life in general so he doesn’t know what is going on. Shelley keeps the reader going by shying away from stereotypes of monsters and so forth.