Exploring Aspects of Gothic Literature and Art

Introducing Gothic as a Genre

Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, among other things, is identified specifically as a novel from the “gothic” genre- a darker subset of the larger, emotionally-driven Romanticism movement that flourished particularly within the 19th century (14).

Although the term “gothic” as a genre tends to have a plethora of preconceived connotations from years of artistic accumulation– images may come to mind of spooky, foreboding castles full of melancholic (or perhaps insane) characters, pinned up against a variety of supernatural creatures or events– it is instead easier to understand it as an umbrella term. It is an encasement of a large variety of aesthetics, ideas and emotions, in a similar way to how other genres, such as science-fiction, are explained (which Frankenstein also happens to be).

"Setting the Mood" with Gothic Art

Of course, literature is not alone in receiving the Gothic treatment. The Romanticism period was dominated by a variety of artists, creating dark and moody pieces perfect for setting the tone for our current discussion. Considerably the most important piece to discuss in relation to Frankenstein is by Henry Fuseli- The Nightmare. 

(5) The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli (1781).
Oil on canvas, Detroit Institute of Arts

It is widely accepted that, at the very least, Mary Shelley had some sort of relation to this particular painting. This is especially so when considering the long and complex relationship which Mary Wollenstonecraft, her mother, had with the painter, as well as their overall lasting connection with the Fuseli family. In addition, it is also postulated that the painting’s deep effect on Shelley was so due to her experiencing and processing the death of her mother (17).

Regardless, in a variety of filmed and staged adaptations of Frankenstein, whether from the late 19th century or even to present day, the imagery from this painting is often used to depict

the murder of Victor's fiancée Elizabeth

 (17).

        Further images displayed here are also fantastic examples of Gothic art, as well as being direct illustrations of or inspired by the works being discussed. 

“Gothic Origins” and understanding Frankenstein as a Gothic work

(16) Illustration of the giant helmet
from 1765 publication of. By unknown.  

Unsurprisingly, the often considered “first'' establishment of Gothic conventions represents those previously mentioned connotations exactly- reference author Mary Ellen Snodgrass describes The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story, penned by British author Horace Walpole in 1765, as “A deliberately scary novel filled with the creaking trap doors, shadowed stairs, subterranean passages, and mysterious sounds and omens that generate the standard atmosphere of the Gothic novel” (14). The term “Gothic” within its subtitle is considered one of the first applications of the term, which had then meant  “deriving from the Middle Ages''- in the preface, a fictional translator-character claims to have discovered the actual book itself, dating 1529, in an England library (9).

Of course, this is just one of many well-known Gothic pieces of literature, which either precede or follow the release of Frankenstein, whose conventions and motifs can all be categorized as loosely overlapping or directly inspiring to one another. Exploring these can give plenty of well-appreciated context to the Gothic era as a whole, as well as suggesting what may have inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein, or alternatively, who Mary Shelley had inspired with the release of said work.

Some Notable Conventions from the Genre:

The “Mad Scientist” archetype

Most credit this modern writing convention to Mary Shelley’s complex, though assuredly unhinged protagonist of the novel, Victor Frankenstein. And in a way, that is certainly true: the morality-defying and concerningly obsessive nature of Victor’s relentless research seems echoed in the character of Alymer in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark (1843), whom experiments on his own wife in order to remove a seemingly supernatural hand-shaped “birthmark” on her left cheek.

(2) The Laboratory by John Maler Collier (1895)
Oil on canvas

Both characters invade the moralities of nature and anatomy in order to achieve unrealistic advancements within science, exhibiting a considerable “hubris” all the while– an idea of pride preceding  “the downfall of the great” (14). There are nearly countless comparisons to be made from these two, but it is particularly interesting to note how strikingly similar their goals are:

    “He [Alymer] more than intimated that it was at his option to concoct a liquid that should prolong life for years, perhaps interminably…” (8).

    “What glory would attend the discovery, if I [Victor] could banish disease from the human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death” Page 23 (13).

On the alternative, it is notable that the Faust legend, particularly both Marlowe and Goethe's adaptations (which both predate Frankenstein by decades; 1592 and 1790 respectively) gave Mary Shelley inspiration for Victor's character (14), unsurprisingly within the concept of the once respectable Dr.Faustus's moral downfall. Which brings us to...

Obsession, Moral Decline, and Losing Control

Each of these characters, Frankenstein, Alymer, and Faust, all have in common (among a few other things) the same 3-point development: an unsavory obsession leads them into sharp moral decline and an overall loss of control within their life. Such a narrative opens a door for various grim possibilities, and I believe the gothic nature of this process is illustrated best by Snodgrass:

     “...the creeping demands of escapism gradually consume the personality, reducing a normal being into a derelict, addict, psychotic, or monster” (14). 

  

(3) Mephistopheles dans les airs
By Euègne Delacroix (1828) lithograph  

Both Victor and Faust, who are held in great esteem by their peers, desire much more information about the natural world than safely necessary (at least, in the mindset of the time periods in which they live), and in the process of desperately attempting to fulfill their desires, they end up spiraling into various acts of depravity, as well as hurting or even killing those they were once said to have cared about. 

    “Two souls, alas! Reside within my breast, and each is eager for a separation: in throes of coarse desire, one grips the earth with all its senses; the other struggles from the dust to rise to high ancestral spheres” (6).

     "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world" Page 33 (13).

Even more, a similar question is raised within both works which act as the crux of the whole story- In Frankenstein, who in actuality is the monster? Could it be Victor himself, considering the corrupt path he has fallen down and the lives he has affected? In the Faust legend, who is truly to blame for his downfall- Mephistopheles, who simply offers his powers to obtain his goals, or Faust himself?

The Sublime and Alluring Power of Nature

Of course, it is also important to note that nature can also interact just as much as it can be tampered with- this is where the “sublime” concept comes into play, a personification of nature as an unnerving, powerful force within Gothic literature. There are a variety of interpretations of what “sublime” may mean in literature, but specific to this discussion is Kant’s description– the “sublime experience is a sense of the immeasurable or infinite in the presence of nature…” (1). This description sits within an article discussing the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) by Samuel Coleridge, a work appreciated and referenced by Shelley multiple times within Frankenstein, particularly in relation to character Robert Walton’s voyage in Antarctica.

Illustration in 1877 publication of.
By Gustave Doré

This connection makes perfect sense, as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner also discusses a voyage within Antarctica, using immense, haunting imagery-

    “ And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald… The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound…” (1).

This can be directly compared to the nature descriptions within Frankenstein of the Antarctic and Swiss Alps:

     “We beheld, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice, which seemed to have no end…” Page 13 (13).      “Immense glaciers approached the road; we heard the rumbling thunder of the falling avelânce… these sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation…” Page 65 (13).

Terror Versus Horror

Eventually, the discussion of Gothic literature leads into it’s more universal elements- the concepts of terror and horror, which can be defined in a variety of ways (similar to defining "sublime"). Anne Radcliffe, known particularly for her undeniably Gothic work The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), felt a sharp distinction between the two:

            “…so far the opposite', she maintained, 'that the first expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes, and nearly annihilates them' (10).

(12) Illustration for an 1803 publication of.
by unknown, copperplate  

To summarize for easier discussion, terror is an anticipation of a danger that’s in the near future, while horror is shock at witnessing or experiencing something horrific which has already occurred. (15). We can apply a particular moment in Frankenstein to further illustrate these ideas:

    “I then paused; and a cold shivering came over me. I threw the door forcibly open, as children are accustomed to do when they expect a spectre to stand in waiting for them on the other side…” Page 38 (13).

Victor is experiencing escalating feelings of terror up until the moments he flings the door open, afraid that his creature will be on the opposite side. If that were the case, his resulting reactions to seeing said creature would be that of horror.

Moments such as this perhaps stem from Mary Shelley’s inspiration and admiration of the aforementioned Radcliffe and The Mysteries of Udolpho, which is considered to be a Gothic novel of terror rather than horror, only suggesting the supernatural without any direct confirmation of such actually occuring (14).

Insanity and the Unreliable Narrator

It would be a shame to discuss Gothic literature without bringing up Edgar Allan Poe at least once, who is known (among other things) for his creative usages of the insane, “unreliable narrator” archetype– The Tell-Tale Heart first comes to mind for most. Alternatively, a more unique example can be made within The Fall of the House of Usher, in which our subject-in-question will surprisingly not be the anxiety-stricken and mentally disturbed Roderick Usher, nor his deathly ill sister, nor the house itself.

(11) Illustration of the described scene
 in a 1904 publication of Poe's works,
by Byam Shaw, color process

Some scholars like John C. Gruesser instead contend a more alluring, alternate perspective in which it is the narrator himself who is the unreliable one, despite his role as the straight man and voice of reason within the bizarre and unexplainable atmosphere of the Usher estate. Regardably the most famous quote from the novel (which is also the subject matter of the illustration on the right) reflects this idea, as Roderick Usher calls our narrator a “madman” for posing unassuring rationalities to explain the bizarre noises and happenings in opposition to Roderick’s unfortunate reality:

“‘MADMAN!’ here he sprang furiously to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the effort he were giving up his soul– ‘MADMAN! I TELL YOU THAT SHE NOW STANDS WITHOUT THE DOOR!’ (11)

We find that it is in fact Roderick who was correct– his twin sister whom they previously buried after dying from a mysterious illness was, in fact, alive this entire time and buried alive. Gruesser makes greater sense of this by explaining that Roderick is entirely within his rights to call the narrator such a thing, “because to ignore one's senses willfully, as the narrator has done, is a sign of delusion” (7).

As the story of the monster is told through the lens of Frankenstein and not by the monster himself, we as the audience cannot be entirely sure on the accuracy of this recount. For one, it is already not a stretch to say Frankenstein is not entirely sane, based upon his unhinged thought processes during the creation of his monster alone. But further, his entire retelling to Walton is warped by his own ego- as for example, during Justine’s trial, he is entirely focused on his own pain and misery despite the innocent woman on death-row directly in front of him.

  “The poor victim, who on the morrow was to pass the dreary boundary between life and death, felt not as I did, such deep and bitter agony.” Page 59 (13).

In other words, he is definitely not thinking as an average, sympathetic human being would. So how could he not help but think the same regarding a more controversial subject such as his creation?

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Sources

(1) Carson, Jamin. “The Sublime and Education.” Journal of Aesthetic Education, vol. 40, no. 1,

University of Illinois Press, 2006, pp. 79–93, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4140219.

(2) Collier, John Maler. The Laboratory. 1895. Artvee, https://artvee.com/dl/the-laboratory/.

(3) Delacroix, Eugène. Mephistopheles dans les airs (Mephistopheles in the Skies). 1828. The Yale

University Art Gallery, https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/48177.

(4) Doré, Gustave. Ice Ship. 1877. Nord University, https://www.nord.no/en/library/frankenreadsonline-exhibition/Pages/poets-and-the-arctic-landscape.aspx.

(5) Fuseli, Henry. The Nightmare. 1781. Detroit Institute of Arts. https://www.dia.org/art/collection/object/nightmare-45573

(6) Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von. Faust I & II. Edited by Stuart Atkins, Princeton University Press, 2014. 

(7) Gruesser, John C. “Madmen and Moonbeams: The Narrator in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’” The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 5, no. 1, Penn State University Press, 2004, pp. 80–90, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41498737.

(8) Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and University of Virginia. The Birthmark. Generic NL Freebook Publisher, 1996. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2010850.

(9) Mullan, John. “The origins of the Gothic.” The British Library, 15 May 2014, https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-origins-of-the-gothic

(10) Mulvey Roberts, Marie. The Handbook to Gothic Literature. New York University Press, 1998. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx direct=true&db=cat05986a&AN=buc.993666433403556&site=eds-live&scope=site.

(11) Poe, Edgar Allan. Selected Tales of Mystery. Sidgwick and Jackson, 1909. Internet Archive, openlibrary.org/books/OL7235574M/Selected_Tales_of_Mystery.

(12) Radcliffe, Ann Ward. The Mysteries of Udolpho ... Illustrated with Copperplates. The Fifth Edition. London: G. & J. Robinson, 1803. 

(13) Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Edited by J. Paul Hunter, 2nd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 

(14) Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature. Facts on File, 2005. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat05986a&AN=buc.995041833403556&site=eds-live&scope=site.

(15) ““Terror” vs. “Horror”: Which One Is Worse?” Dictionary.com, 2019, https://www.dictionary.com/e/terror-vs-horror/. Accessed 7 March 2022.

(16) Wadpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story. Oxford University, 1769. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/castleotrantoag00walpgoog

(17) Ward, Maryanne C. “A Painting of the Unspeakable: Henry Fuseli’s ‘The Nightmare’ and the Creation of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein.’” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, vol. 33, no. 1, Midwest Modern Language Association, 2000, pp. 20–31, https://doi.org/10.2307/1315115.