Alienation And Desolation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Within Frankenstein, Mary Shelley adopts several settings in order to evoke ‘menace’ and ‘desolation’ in the novel. However, this is not always the case within the text which means that Shelley sometimes deviates from archetypically gothic settings in order to show emotional rather than physical ‘alienation’. Nevertheless, Shelley more often than not reverts to settings that are ‘desolate, alienating and full of menace’

Frankenstein immediately contains a ‘desolate’ and ‘alienating’ setting with its introduction, which immediately establishes physical isolation. Walton is exploring arctic ‘bitterly (feels) the want of a friend’, his loneliness due to his physical separation from the world is the pursuit of exploring new places, not unlike Victor

Frankenstein. Victor’s ‘quest’ for knowledge ultimately leads him in emotional isolation and detachment and in the pursuit of scientific knowledge he effectively alienates himself from the rest of society. Victor relaying his story to Walton in this cold and ‘alienating’ setting, effectively parallels both their physical and emotional isolation.
From a psychoanalytical perspective, Shelley could be utilising setting in order to show her own emotional isolation.

Geneva is where Victor’s familial connections lie, yet when he moves to Ingelstad, he “paid no visit to Geneva”, effectively fleeing from the place connected to home. It is then he becomes a recluse, alienating himself both physically and mentally. The reader would not assume Victor’s childhood was ‘desolate, alienating and full of menace’ in the slightest, nevertheless his actions as an adult do not follow from his idyllic description of childhood (such as his ‘mother’s tender caresses’). This could then imply that his childhood is not as ideal as he presents it. He describes his role as a ‘plaything’ before a son, which shows that his personhood was diminished in favour of objectification. It may then closer relate Shelley’s own childhood experiences, as she felt abandonment from her father and her mother had died when she was young, thus isolating her within her family unit. By granting Victor the seemingly perfect childhood, she could be subconsciously presenting her criticisms of the Victorian family ideals. Victor’s lack of association to Geneva in adulthood supports this. Therefore, the setting of Geneva is used as a symbol for Victor’s childhood and possibly

Shelley’s.
The settings used within Frankenstein are often used to establish terror, as they alternate from being familiar and unfamiliar to the reader, which leads them to regard Frankenstein with horror as the most terrifying aspects of the novel are grounded in fears of their changing society.

The Age of Enlightenment brought about many new scientific discoveries, which caused a great divide between traditional and devout Christians and a new rise in ideas, particularly the explanations of what was previously unknown. The creation of the Creature happens within a ‘laboratory’, which may inspire menace in Shelley’s contemporary audience, as laboratories were synonymous with scientific development, something regarded with suspicion and tension within the early 19th century. However, the audience is not as unfamiliar with laboratories as they may be with castles and moorlands, for example. This means that the concept of Frankenstein becomes much more tangible and therefore more ‘menacing’, the increased plausibility (in contrast to the fantastical nightmarish tone of the stereotypical gothic) which then creates ‘menace’ within the settings of

novel.
Shelley also uses desolate settings to explore the grotesque. Graveyards are a typically gothic convention as they are a reminder of mortality, which is often used to evoke terror within the reader. They also bear heavily religious connotations as churchyards symbolise theistic ideals of rest and eternal life with God. However, Victor describes a churchyard as “merely the receptacle of bodies”. The description is irreverent and sacrilegious, which may have emphasised the growing alienation of members of society. Victor rummages through this setting in the hopes of gathering parts to create life contrasting the two and placing Victor within the role of the usurper. Graveyards are typically desolate as they contain the corpses of the dead, showing life extinguished. To Victor, the graveyard is nothing more than a place to gather parts. Shelley then uses the desolate environment to explore the liminal, as a place that is normally associated with death is now equated to misguided attempt at scientific rebirth. It may also be possible to argue that the exploration of the liminal within a religious setting may be perceived as menacing as death may not be the end. A life of damnation is a much more horrific concept than an end, which is then more in line with typical gothic ideas.
Ultimately, Shelly uses the liminal and emotional isolation as well as archetypal aspects of the Gothic in order to show her settings as ‘desolate, alienating and full of menace’. While it could be argued that this statement does not ring true for all of the settings within her novel, any given environment within Frankenstein will include an aspect of either ‘desolation’, ‘alienation’ or ‘menace’ to some degree.