Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus contains elements of two major genre of literature: the gothic and science fiction.

Gothicism is part of the Romantic Movement that started in the late eighteenth century and lasted to roughly three decades into the nineteenth century. The Romantic Movement is characterised by innovation (instead of traditionalism), spontaneity (according to Wordsworth good poetry is a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" 1), freedom of thought and expression (especially the thoughts and feelings of the poet himself), an idealisation of nature (Romantic poets were also referred to as "nature poets") and the belief of living in an age of "new beginnings and high possibilities." 2.

The first novel that was later identified as Gothic was Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story in 1764. The Castle of Otranto, like many other Gothic novels, is set in a medieval society, has a lot of mysterious disappearances as well as other supernatural occurrences. The main protagonist is usually a solitary character who has an egocentrical nature. Even though the genre is a phase in the Romantic movement, it is regarded as the forerunner of the modern mystery or science fiction novel.

Many of the above mentioned elements appear in Frankenstein. For example, nature is used frequently to create atmosphere. The bleak, glacial fields of the Alps and the mists of the Arctic serve to indicate the isolation of the two protagonists. The solitary character in Frankenstein can apply to both Victor as well as his creation as they both live their lives in social isolation.

Although Gothic novels were written mainly to evoke terror in their readers, they also served to show the dark side of human nature. They describe the "nightmarish terrors that lie beneath the controlled and ordered surface of the conscious mind." 3 Surprisingly, there were a vast number of female Gothic authors. It is not unlikely that this kind of fiction provided a release for the "submerges desires of that . . . disadvantaged class." 4

The Gothic genre also extends to poetry. Poems by Coleridge and Keats ("Christabel" and "Eve of St. Agnes" respectively) deal with "the fantastic . . . and the exploration of the unconscious mind". 5

Science fiction explores "the marvels of discovery and achievement that may result from future developments in science and technology".6 Mary Shelley used some of the most recent technological finding of her time to create Frankenstein. She has replaced the heavenly fire of the Prometheus myth with the spark of newly discovered electricity. The concepts of electricity and warmth led to the discovery of the galvanisation process, which was said to be the key to the animation of life. Indeed, it is this process which animates Frankenstein's monster.



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Footnotes:

1 "Neoclassic and Romantic", A Glossary of Literary Terms, ed. M.H. Abrams, 5th ed., (United States of America: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1988) 113-117.
2 "Neoclassic and Romantic", A Glossary of Literary Terms. ed. M.H. Abrams, 5th ed. (United States of America: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1988) 113-117.
3 "The Romantic Period", The Norton Anthology of English Literature, ed. M.H. Abrams, 6th ed., vol. 2 (New York: Norton, 1993) 1-17.
4 "The Romantic Period", The Norton Anthology of English Literature, ed. M.H. Abrams, 6th ed., vol. 2 (New York: Norton, 1993) 1-17.
5 "The Romantic Period", The Norton Anthology of English Literature, ed. M.H. Abrams, 6th ed., vol. 2 (New York: Norton, 1993) 1-17.
6 "Utopias and Dystopias", A Glossary of Literary Terms, ed. M.H. Abrams, 5th ed., (United States of America: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1988) 195-196.




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