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Frankenstein
Frankenstein is a work of fiction that
has easily stood the test of time. In this
segment we will look at both the
original book by Mary Shelley, Paradise
Lost by John Milton, as well as Gris Grimly’s
Frankenstein. We will review these works
for the element of gothic writing as a
genre, and how they fit into that
space. Each book was written during
very different time frames, so the goal will
see how they fit across multiple centuries. Frankenstein was written in 1818
(final version in 1831,) Paradise Lost in 1667, and Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein
in 2013.
As a genre, gothic fiction is defined as being “characterized by mystery
and supernatural horror, often set in a dark castle or other medieval setting.”
Another definition poses gothic fiction as “a genre or mode of literature that
combines fiction, horror and Romanticism.” All of these books have one
thing in common in that they follow a creation myth outline, which simply is
the idea of human creation, and can vary from the biblical sense (like
Paradise Lost) or in regards to more of the supernatural sense.
To begin, we will start with some background
on Mary Shelley and how the novel of
Frankenstein came to be. Mary Shelley was the
daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, who was a
writer for feminine rights during her time. Her
father was also a writer and political
philosopher, William Godwin. She married
Percy Bysshe Shelley who also happened to be
a writer, and you could say that literature was
truly in her blood. Frankenstein was not her first work of writing, however
the story came to be during a challenge amongst friends. The reception to
the book was mostly mixed, ranging from extreme hate to overwhelming
approval. Mary was never educated, and was self taught by using her
father’s books. She also was widowed at a young age, and died of cancer
herself.
The story of Frankenstein is simple. It follows the tale of a young
doctor named Victor Frankenstein whose mother has passed away. He feels
he has mastered the ability to prolong life or even end the death and
suffering of people, and proves this by creating human life through science
instead of conventional means. When his creation awakens, however, he is
frightens and runs from him as he does not look quite right. In the end, this
rejection of the monster eventually leads to much death and destruction,
because the doctor Frankenstein would not take responsibility for his actions
or for the creature that he gave life to. He ends up losing his family and
everything because of this. There is absolutely a consequence of the doctor
Frankenstein playing God, and this is seen through the hardships that follow.
Based on the above definitions of gothic fiction, we now can decide
whether or not Frankenstein truly fits into this genre. We can say that the
ingredients of gothic fiction are: horror, romanticism, mystery, the
supernatural and elements of science. In reviewing the novel of
Frankenstein, we can see that it does
fit this mold. We can look at each
element and clearly say it is present
within this book.
In regards to horror, the book
has murder, loss and a truly scary
creature. When we look at
romanticism, it has been said that
this genre or movement plays mostly
upon emotion. We can see that in the
rejection of the creation, in the loss
that doctor Frankenstein has in losing
half his family and more. The mystery can be found in how we never really
know how Frankenstein was able to accomplish bringing the monster to life.
That also ties in the science fiction and supernatural element.
For the next work, Paradise Lost,
we will give some background to
the author, John Milton. John Milton
was a poet from England, and the
work of Paradise Lost is often
considered one of the greatest epic
poems ever written in English.
Much of his focus was seen in his
pamphleteering work in trying to
abolish the Church of England, and
he was also influential through the American and French revolutions, as well
as the Civil War in the US. He is also known for having 3 wives total, many of
which were very young.
In Paradise Lost, we follow the
tale of Adam and Eve, which gives
background and further substance to
the biblical story of the fall of man. In
this story, much like Frankenstein, there
is a consequence for the actions of
Adam and Eve. They are tempted by
something that seems to be too good to be true, and unfortunately lose the
opportunity to communicate with God by eating the fruit in the garden.
Paradise Lost was written before Frankenstein, however follows the
same creation myth ideology. Some may even say that Frankenstein was
inspired by works like Paradise Lost with a modern spin for the time frame
(written almost 150 years later.)
If we look at the elements of gothic fiction in Paradise Lost, they are
present however it is recommended that the reader look at this work of
poetry without the biblical sense to fully align with the idea of a truly gothic
sense. Many of the themes of gothic fiction are present here, romanticism,
horror, mystery and even supernatural features from a story perspective. In
the story, we see how Adam and Eve are tempted by Satan and ultimately
lose many of their rights in being valued by God or even favored.
The biggest impact of gothic fiction can be seen through the horror of
Satan and the temptation given through the snake in the garden. Also, the
science fiction elements can be seen in the ability to speak with
extraterrestrial life (God) as well as the concept of angels that have fallen
(Satan.) Romanticism plays a huge part in this tale, especially given the fact
that that temptation and emotion are a significant impact on Adam and Eve,
and making decisions for themselves.
The next work to review is Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein. Gris Grimly
takes the entire Frankenstein story and turns it into a work of art, and in
doing so actually makes the original tale much easier and relatable for a
more modern generation of readers. Whether or not the reader will enjoy
the art style is another story however. Grimly has been illustrating for the
better part of the last decade, and often has his
hand in mostly dark illustrations for children.
He decided to do Frankenstein because he felt
deeply connected to the story, especially the
creation. When he was a child himself, he was
severely burned and couldn’t help but feel
similar to the monster.
In reviewing Grimly’s version of the tale, there
are a vast amount of similarities, presented in a
visual form. Given that we have already
covered the idea of gothic fiction in Frankenstein, and Grimly’s version is a
retelling, we can easily say that his version is also gothic. However, in the
artistic representation of this work, it is even stronger and more clearly
evident. We can put a style of dress to the characters, and we can see very
vivid and frightening images through this process. It is a very strong image,
however some may find that in reading Mary Shelley’s novel, and then
moving to Grimly’s version that some of their ideas may have been
shattered by the differences. You might imagine one thing versus another.
However, in addressing our thesis Grimly’s version does meet the
requirements of gothic fiction, and even goes a step further to utilize color
and style (sometimes even “steampunk” in nature) to set the mood of the
era. It is an effortless blend that really helps the modern reader understand
Frankenstein in whole.
In conclusion, we have been
able to look at different works of
fiction including Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein, John Milton’s Paradise
Lost, and Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein.
The thesis stated was how these
works would fit into the category of
gothic fiction, and we were able to
conclude that despite the stark
differences in when they were written, they all share this characteristic with
one another. We were also able to pinpoint how they fit into the creation
theory.