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.