FRANKENSTEIN / GOTHIC

                                                                       THE GOTHIC
      
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is considered a Gothic Novel because it contains evil, mystery, dark settings, and the supernatural presence of horror and terror. Gothic refers to novels with morbid or depressed atmospheres that emphasize the unknown and inspire fear.  A prominent example of Gothic is described in the next paragraph.

In the story of Frankenstein, I found the supernatural presence of horror and terror to be prominent.  Frankenstein created a man-like monster in his dark and isolated laboratory in an unorthodox scientific experiment.  I have always associated dark and isolated places with fear and danger.  Most Gothic stories have a monster who has supernatural abilities such as this one.  Frankenstein created his monster's body from raw materials found in the dissecting room and slaughterhouse.  This is really gory and represents evil and horror.  Another Gothic horror genre is a frightening storm approaches which creates such powerful lightning that it can raise something that is dead to life.  Another motif of Gothic is the super strength and amazing superhuman speed that the monster possesses.

The monster shrieks horror and terror as a gigantic creature with a gruesome and ugly appearance.  Another scary feature is that the monster has intelligence and sensitivity.  It tries to become part of the human society and social patterns, but is shunned and rejected by society.  Revenge is a Gothic element which I have found to be present in the monster's feeling of hate towards Frankenstein. The monster succeeds in fulfilling this deep emotion by committing murder which avenges his own sorrow.

Movie:  GOTHIC (1986)

This movie by Ken Russell takes place during the 1800's.  It concerns Mary Shelley, her husband, and her husband's sister, Claire, who go to Lord Byron's mansion to read ghost stories and write spooky stories.  When they got together, they would take drugs, get crazy, hallucinate, and write masterpiece stories.  The movie does not follow a plot, instead it follows the path of surreal and strange.  The ideas of the film are expressed through images and music instead of dialog.  The film has a dark soundtrack which contributes to the feeling of horror and the point in time when candles were mostly used at night.

The horror element of Gothic is to disturb a viewer with images.  Everything happens one night during a bad thunderstorm.  The flash of lightning, sounds of thunder, and scene of heavy fog make it seem spookier.  This movie shows the darker side of human behavior by drug and alcohol abuse, excessive sex and no belief in God.  This horror film was very good, but be warned that it has some disturbing and quite unique imagery.