Using the Gothic Genre in Frankenstein and A Modern Prometheus

Using the Gothic Genre in Frankenstein and A Modern Prometheus

In the novel of Frankenstein - The Modern Prometheus,

Mary Shelley chooses to use the gothic genre as it reflects many of

her past experiences, and in some cases, flaws in her upbringing. The

plot of Frankenstein reflects Mary Shelley's past experiences as many

essential elements can be extracted from the storyline such as ; Mary

Shelley herself was a motherless child, as her mother, feminist writer

Mary Wollstonecraft died 9 days after Mary's Birth from Puerperal

fever. Written and Internet souces show that Mary's beloved father

William Godwin became absent, as he was unable to cope with raising

children, little Mary as well as Mary Wollstonecraft's other daughter,

Fanny Emlay. Mary then fell in love with Percy Bysshe Shelley who was

a university student who, at the time was conducting wild experiments

and Mary Shelly once told of how she dreamed of the replenishment of a

dead child, this child was Mary's own child, a daughter, who was born

prematurely, who subsequently died shortly after birth in 1815.

The Story of Frankenstein was created on a summer holiday as a

sophisticated group of friends gathered in Geneva. This group of

intellects included Mary and her husband Percy Shelley, a close friend

of the Shelley's - Lord Byron, his friend, Joseph Pollidori, and

Mary's stepsister Claire Clairmont. On one cold and wet day, Lord

Byron proposed that each member of the group should attempt to write a

ghost story. So each member of the group started work on their novels,

most of which tired of this very easily and gave up. Mary is the only

person who managed to complete her novel, and Lord Byron was not very

pleased with Joseph Pollidori who en...

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... revolution and its destructive

effects are seen throughout the novel in the form of the Monster, as

it is, in my opinion a personification of the Industrial Revolution,

as something seen as so evil and so unstoppable can prevail. The

industrial revolution destroyed the countryside, wildlife, traditions,

jobs, families, communities, whole towns where lost to the massing

number of factories and workshops popping up all over Britain, many

saw this as a money making opportunity, but for those whom did not

benefit for the Industrial Revolution it is hard to imagine how one

can see any good coming out of it. Once started the Industrial

Revolution could not be stopped, and in Dr. Victor Frankenstein

assembling his body bits and giving it unstoppable and immortal life,

he mirrors what many people thought of the Industrial Revolution at

the time of publication.