Early Gothic Literature
An overview:
To understand Frankenstein, and its place in gothic literature, you have to understand what exactly gothic literature is. Gothic is defined as something "of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents (1). Based on this information, we can establish that gothic literature is literature (novels, short stories, poems, etc...) that fit into this category. So, let's look at gothic literature, leading up to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. For a more indepth look into what makes gothic literature, please click here (2). This video does a great job getting deeper into the specifics of gothic literature, that I may not have conveyed as well.
When was Gothic Literature created:
using novels such as Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankensteinby Mary Shelley, there were quite a few stories that predate them, paving the path towards gothic literature as we know it now. The beginning of gothic literature is accredited to The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (3). At the time of its publishing, it was the first story in the gothic genre, and Walpole was actually scared to publish the story under his own name for fear of backlash (5). Because the novel was a success, he eventually did reveal that he had written it. We know now that this worked out for Walpole, so you may ask- Why wouldn't he just publish under his name from the start? The answer to that is we don't know. We don't know how that would have affected the success of the novel. But, what we do know is that from this point on, gothic literature would grow and become more common in the literature world.
Gothic Literature and Frankenstein's place in it:
The Castle of Otranto (6)
We know now that Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has shaped gothic literature as we now know it to be, but there is some debate about where it falls in the genre. While most sources that I found do consider Frankenstein to be a staple novel in the genre, there was one source that did not consider it to be a part of the
gothic literature genre. Frankenstein is considered to be a "non-gothic experimentation with gothic conventions (4). According to this source the novel is toying with the ideas of survival, and terrors, without meeting the other requirements to fall under gothic literature (4). Although this source gives us an interesting approach to observe Frankenstein from, based on what we know about the impact this novel has had on the gothic literature genre, Frankenstein is going to remain in this genre, tucked in the timeline between Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen 1818 (3), and Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock 1818 (3).
Mary Shelley Circa 1840. (7)
Sources
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(1) “Gothic Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/Gothic#related-phrases
(2) Tutors, First Rate. Gothic Literature and Gothic Genre Explained. Performance by Barbara Njau, YouTube, YouTube, 26 Aug. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1fg4y3uHDM. Accessed 9 Mar. 2022.
(3) “The Rise of Gothic Fiction in England & the United States: A Gothic Timeline.” LibGuides, 24 Jan. 2022, https://researchguides.library.tufts.edu/c.php?g=824030&p=5883640 .
(4) Killeen, Jarlath. History of the Gothic : Gothic Literature 1825-1914. 1st ed., 2009.
(5) Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Gothic Novels and Novelists.” Literary Theory and Criticism, Literariness.org, 18 Mar. 2019, https://literariness.org/2019/03/11/gothic-novels-and-novelists/ .
(6) Walpole, Horace. “The Castle of Otranto.” Openlibrary.org, J.F.Dove, 30 May 2009, https://openlibrary.org/books/OL23284409M/The_Castle_of_Otranto. Accessed 24 Mar. 2022.
(7) Rothwell, Richard, and Dinitia Smith . “Mary Shelley Circa 1840.” The New York Times, The New Your Times, 3 Aug. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/books/review/in-search-of-mary-shelley-fiona-sampson.html. Accessed 24 Mar. 2022.
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