A Level English Gothic Unseen Essay - Frankenstein
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Course
Unit 1
Institution
OCR
Book
Frankenstein
This is an essay for the gothic unseen section of the A Level English Literature 'Comparative and Contextual Study' exam (the 2.5 hour long one). This essay is in response to a passage from Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'. This essay will help you understand what to include in the essays along with t...
Write a critical appreciation of this passage, relating your discussion to your reading of
the Gothic (Frankenstein – Mary Shelley) > DARCY MCDERMOTT
Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ was written in the early nineteenth century when the gothic was
gradually giving way to the Romantic literary movement. This extract displays many devices
typical of the gothic genre, including the setting of darkness, the unreliable narrator and the
supernatural. These combine to accentuate the tension and fear surrounding Frankenstein’s
new creation of a monster.
Shelley’s use of darkness is commonly seen throughout the gothic to foreshadow evil. The
pathetic fallacy of “a dreary night of November” foreshadows danger surrounding the monster
and the immoral, wicked acts of it that will follow. This is similar to Macbeth on the heath with
the three witches receiving the prophecy in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. “Dreary” has
negative connotations which reflects part of the narrator’s conflicting emotions towards the
monster he has created. As well as the weather being dark, the room of the narrator is dark to
suggest a future destructive nature of the monster. Shelley’s effective use of low lighting with
“my candle was nearly burnt out” suggests a near end of hope. Light represents life and hope,
and the light juxtaposes the soon birth of the monster, which creates negativity over the
monster before he is even born. This effect of low lighting is further used in “dim and yellow
light of the moon” where a connection is made between the monster and the moon. The moon
is stereotypically white, however Shelley’s description of it having “yellow light” links it to the
monster with “yellow skin”. “Moon” is associated with darkness, due to it only appearing at
nightfall, therefore the reader is led to associate the monster with something of darkness.
Furthermore, the moon is synonymous with the supernatural which in turn creates a sense of
uncertainty and tension in the reader. If the “dim..light” of the moon represents life and heaven
then darkness represents death and hell. The moon is trying to be a bright light, however it is
tainted with death through association of “yellow” with the monster. The monster is alive but is
tainted with death shown through “his shriveled complexion” and “demoniacal” description. The
tainting of the moon and the monster foreshadows evilness that will occur later on in the novel,
following the narrator’s creation.
The stereotypical gothic trope of the unreliable narrator is used in this extract to create doubt
surrounding the narrator’s description of the monster. The extract is solely a first person
narrative which means the reader only has the perspective of one character, however as he is
“deprived…of rest and health”, it makes one dubious as to how trustworthy this narrator is.
Their mental state is evidently not sound through lack of sleep and well being. Being “unable to
compose (his) mind to sleep” and “traversing (his) bedchamber” suggests that there is
something on the narrator’s mind about the monster that is not being fully revealed to the
reader. As sleep renders someone vulnerable and subject to violation, this implies that the
narrator is highly fearful of the monster he has created, not allowing himself to rest, and
possibly foreshadows later malevolent acts of the monster. This is similar to Mina Murray,
alongside the other characters, of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” who fear sleep incase they fall
victim to the evil doings of Count Dracula. Pacing is a quick action that demonstrates the inner
conflict and fast flowing thoughts of the narrator showing the great effect the monster is having
on him. This suggests that the narrator is not able to think clearly and rationally and is therefore
not someone who can be fully trusted. The narrator’s description of the monster with a
“shriveled complexion” in a “demoniacal corpse” instantly creates an extremely negative image
of the monster. The narrator’s description of “shriveled” is interesting as it connotes old and
imperfection which juxtaposes the associations of young, innocence and purity with birth.
Furthermore, “demoniacal” has connotations of hell and wickedness which immediately makes
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