Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, while often regarded as a horror and science fiction novel, is also representative of the Romantic movement of the time.

What literary works influenced Shelley in the writing of Frankenstein?

A possible interpretation of the name "Victor" is derived from Paradise Lost by John Milton, a great influence on Shelley (a quotation from Paradise Lost is on the opening page of Frankenstein and Shelley writes that the monster reads it in the novel).

What literary movement is the novel Frankenstein an example of?

Frankenstein exemplifies many of the values associated with Romanticism, an artistic movement that began in Western Europe during the late 1700s through the mid-1800s.

What was the literary inspiration for Frankenstein?

Shelley wrote the story after Lord Byron set up a challenge between the members of a house party to write horror stories during a rainy summer to pass the time. The result was a novel that explores philosophical theories on self, humanity, and what it means to have a soul.

What literary style is Frankenstein?

Frankenstein is a Gothic novel. The genre emerged in the eighteenth century, and was characterised by elements of mystery, horror and the supernatural. Such elements are manifested in the novel by Shelley's use of isolated settings and dark undertones.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Plot Summary, Characters & Themes Mindmap! | English GCSE Revision!

What type of literary criticism is Frankenstein?

Feminist Critique

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus is most frequently read and interpreted as a Gothic horror on the dangers of the unbridled optimism of science. Gothic horror is a subset of romanticism as a genre that thrives on the excitement and terror of the mystery of nature and the supernatural.

How does Mary Shelley use Romanticism in Frankenstein?

Among the most important Romantic themes at play in Shelley's novel are the focus on the power of nature, the struggle of the individual against society, and the juxtaposition of the beautiful and the grotesque.

What is the movement of Frankenstein?

Mary Shelley's 1817 novel Frankenstein combines elements of two philosophical, artistic and cultural movements: The Enlightenment and Romanticism.

What sociological movements influenced Frankenstein?

During the 18^th and 19^th century, many ideas arose that gave influence to Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein. The Enlightment philosophy and Romanticism are two important ideas of Shelley's time that had an influence on the eventual publication of her novel in 1818.

Where did Shelley get the inspiration for Frankenstein?

Whether or not Mary was influenced by Dippel's story, the premise for Frankenstein seems to have been lurking in her subconscience. In her 1831 preface to the novel, she attributed her inspiration to a nightmare she had at Geneva, where the company spent their evenings terrifying each other with chilling stories.

What is the historical context of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?

The novel dramatizes the clash between the eighteenth-century enlightenment and nineteenth-century romanticism. Shelley targeted the enlightenment idolatry of reason and mechanistic forces by attacking the idea that man was a predictable and rationally controllable machine.

How does Frankenstein fit the ideals of Romanticism and the Gothic?

Overall, "Frankenstein" embodies the complimentary spirit of Romanticism through its focus on nature, imagination, intense emotions, and Gothic elements. These aspects contribute to the novel's enduring appeal and its exploration of the human condition within the context of the Romantic era.

Was Frankenstein written in the Victorian era?

While Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, arguably the first science fiction story, was written in 1815—and published in 1818 thereby falling slightly short of Victoria's reign—the steampunk potential of the story is by far the most profound.

Is Frankenstein Romantic or Gothic?

Frankenstein is a Gothic novel in that it employs mystery, secrecy, and unsettling psychology to tell the story of Victor Frankenstein's doomed monster.

How do we see the Romantic influence in Shelley's writing?

Shelley's romanticism is infused with a profound appreciation for the natural world and a belief in the transformative power of love and the imagination. In poems like Ode to a Skylark and Mont Blanc, he captures the awe-inspiring beauty of nature, portraying it as a source of inspiration and solace.

Why was Frankenstein so controversial when it was published?

Analyzing the novel as a product of early nineteenth century scientific debate shows how both the 1818 and 1831 editions of the novel were influenced by radical science, and knowing this context reveals how Frankenstein can be a cautionary tale against unchecked scientific progress.

How did Wollstonecraft influence Frankenstein?

The second influence is more direct and telling. There exists no closer model in literature for the existential isolation of Victor Frankenstein's Creature than Wollstonecraft's haunting portrait of the orderly in the insane asylum to which her heroine of Maria, of the Wrongs of Woman is confined.

Why was Frankenstein as a book so shocking for its time?

Frankenstein is simultaneously the first science-fiction novel, a Gothic horror, a tragic romance and a parable all sewn into one towering body. Its two central tragedies – one of overreaching and the dangers of 'playing God', the other of parental abandonment and societal rejection – are as relevant today as ever.

Is Frankenstein a celebration or criticism of Romanticism?

However, Shelley strayed away from the concepts of Romanticism and wrote Frankenstein as an anti-Romantic work. Four key concepts that Shelley negated in her work included the celebration of nature, the simple life, the idealization of women, and the presence of a one-sided perspective.

Is Frankenstein Literary Realism?

Shelley uses Realist techniques to describe scene, to develop the characters, and the narrative is generally structured by these character's actions. However, she also draws on techniques more familiar to the Gothic novel, melodrama, and (unsurprisingly) Romanticism.

How does Gothic literature influence Frankenstein?

Mary Shelley uses many gothic elements in Frankenstein. She incorporates the destruction of family via revenge and the blurring of the line between life and death. She also ties in secrets threatening to be revealed and horror elements such as corpses, reanimation, and dark scientific experiments.

How did Frankenstein influence Gothic literature?

In 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's debut novel, Frankenstein, marked a shift in gothic horror by changing the typical gothic villain from an evil man or supernatural creature into an physical embodiment of human folly, brought to life through the power of science.

Which element of Gothic literature is most evident in this excerpt from Frankenstein?

Final answer:

The most evident element of Gothic literature in this excerpt from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is Psychological terror. This is shown in the protagonist's extreme horror and disgust towards his own creation leading to emotional and mental unrest.

How is Mary Shelley reflected in Frankenstein?

All, the women portrayed in her novel experience hardships, which ultimately lead to death. These difficulties reflect certain experiences from Mary Shelley's own life. Mary Shelley's personal problems with motherhood are mirrored through relationships of parents and children in her novel, Frankenstein.