Gothic Horror In Frankenstein By Darren Aronofsky's Frankenstein

Gothic Horror utilizes iconography of shadows, ghosts and other supernatural creatures to not only thrill, but also to intrigue with ideas of the unknown. One of the very first successful science fiction novels of supernatural terror, Frankenstein by Marry Shelley is an exemplary case of Gothic representation in both nineteenth century British Literature and modern day film. Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 film Black Swan draws upon a deluge of Frankenstein’s themes and motifs to truly depict the emotional aspect of Gothic Horror. Through including Gothic themes of: nature-versus-nurture, isolation, and the supernatural, Aronofsky is able to present Gothic Horror in modern day without the need of a 19th century haunted castles, ghosts, or vampires.

In the words of the 17th century English Philosopher John Locke – "All events and learning after birth are experienced in the mind as though drawn on a blank slate.” In Frankenstein, Victor’s creation was abandoned and left to determine his way on his own from its inception – leaving the creation not as a child, but as a monster. Because of his hubris in assuming he could be like God and create life from nothing, Victor became a creator rather than a parent. (Halberstam 14). When the monster escaped and explored the world on his own, he was never accepted by humanity because he was never taught how to be human by his parent. "... I, then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned." (Shelley 85), Even though starting life innocent and pure – a “blank slate” - the monster becomes evil through experiencing hatred from the humans it longed to be like. Just as in Frankenstein, Nina Sayer in Black Swan goes through a transformation from a pure and innoce...

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...areful direction, Aronofsky truly reformed what modern day horror entails by bringing a breath of fresh air into a stagnating genre. Black Swan shies away from cheap scares; it instead embodies themes and motifs from several centuries and utilizes them to convey a sense of gothic horror cleanly to a modern day audience. A viewer is made to be more afraid of the transformation of a character’s inward psyche than the character’s outside appearance. Only from drawing upon elements of Gothic Horror and Mary Shelley’s brilliant Frankenstein was Aronofsky’s Black Swan enticing, frightening, and curious, all at the same time. The film offers hope to a future of innovative and thoughtful productions of horror – ones that concern themselves with truly bridging the gap between reality and the supernatural going for thoughtful and immersive plots than for commonplace thrills.