Similarities Between Frankenstein And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Authors of gothic novels use very similar conventions and techniques to convey suspense and horror. This is evident in the novels, Frankenstein and The Fall Of The House Of Usher written by Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe respectively. Both narratives use gothic conventions to make the audience feel a sense of trepidation and suspense. Stylistic features that are constant throughout the two texts are settings, symbolism and misogyny.

One way that both authors induce fear and suspense is through a range of settings. Gothic horrors typically use vast external terrain that is difficult to traverse. An example of this is in Poe’s novel where the mansion is described as ‘ the dreary house on the edge of a cliff over a black lake surrounded by

dead and rotting trees. This evocative description allows the reader to interpret the house as inescapable and isolated. Poe uses imagery to allow the reader to visualize the setting as dark and deceased. The house is described as ‘incredibly old ‘and ‘discoloured’ to build suspense and make the reader anticipate the house falling down. Shelley also incorporates this vast outside setting in her novel when Walton writes ‘I seek the everlasting ices of the north, where you will feel the misery of cold and frost, to which I am impassive’, which describes the monsters desire to lead Victor to a cold, desolate barren and lifeless location. Coldness and isolation supports the gothic themes in conjunction with the landscape being immense and inevitably miserable. Indoor settings are portrayed to be small to give the reader the psychological recognition of the environment being temporally confining and claustrophobic. This can be seen when Frankenstein refers to his ‘solitary chamber, or rather cell,’ making the chamber feel like a place of entrapment. Gothic novels often take place in shadowy, exotic settings; and yield anxiety and suspense in the readers

Symbolism is another convention used throughout both novels to depict fear and suspense.

The weather is used as a pathetic fallacy to represent the mood of the characters. This is evident when Shelley writes ‘The darkness and storms increased every minute and the thunder bursts with a terrific crash… KRAKKA-DOOM!’ This demonstrates Frankenstein’s mood according to the presence of the monster and the onomatopoeia is used to intensify the scene and familiarize the reader’s senses. Gothic novels exploit the terrifying power of sound to evoke emotion and suspense. The reader is able to associate unfortunate events with depraved weather therefore, if a storm or lightening occurs, the readers suspicion arouses. This is evident before Henry’ s murder, “My only resource was to drive before the wind. I had no compass and the sun was of little benefit to me”, identifies that something bad will happen. In Poe’s novel, we notice that the ‘crack widened rapidly and then the wind suddenly blew’ reinforcing the symbolism of weather coinciding with unfortunate events. The beginning of the latter quote describes ‘the very thin crack’ that represents the disruption in the unity of the family. This is the disruption that ultimately tears the family and the mansion in a supernatural occurrence. This demonstrates how authors use reoccurring themes to represent different ideas and

concepts.

In Shelley and Poe’s novel, women are inaccurately objectified and viewed as possessions. In Frankenstein, Vincent often employs the oddly uncanny possessive term ‘mine’, signifying that he considers himself dominant over Elizabeth. Female characters are often identified as the typical damsel in distress with little responsibility; this is confirmed when a male character wrote ‘I had hardly placed my foot within the door of a cottage before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted’, portraying a stereotypical female who is depicted as useless. Poe also incorporates misogyny throughout his novel, ‘The opening of the coffin, the sound of the doors of her prison after her fighting to escape the vault ‘describes the male ignoring Madeline’s attempt to escape. This evokes emotion and makes the reader sympathize for the women. Clothing is also used to symbolize misogyny, white clothing is associated with cleanliness and purity, when Madeline had ‘ blood on her white clothing’ it demonstrated her vulnerability. It is evident that misogyny is used to degrade the representation of women living in a male hieratical world.

In conclusion, Shelley and Poe build suspense by exploring conventions that compliment the gothic horror genre. It is evident that both authors induce fear through a range of internal and external settings. Eerie weather is used as a pathetic fallacy to indicate the change of mood in the characters and evoke the reader’s suspicion. Misogyny is used to demonstrate how women are crudely objectified and considered weak and powerless. Henceforth, the authors use conventions to focus on the mysterious of supernatural and yield suspense and fear in the readers.