| FRANKENSTEIN p199-200, 156-157The date of publication is 1818, this book contains part of Gothic novel and part of science fiction, it is an anticipation of science fiction because science fiction developed in 20th century while gothic novel developed in 1764.In Gothic novels the terms refers to medieval ruins, ancient castle and abbeys, the adjective gothic has a second meaning refers to supernatural, mysterious and frightening.The aim of gothic novels is not to amuse the reader but to thrill him, to make him feel the sublime. They think that fear causes the pleasure. The plot is very intricate, complex, the story is about horrible murder, extraordinary situations and supernatural events. The ideal setting is imaginary past time, Middle Ages, strange, unfamiliar country, inhaunted castle, prisons, convents, old churches, isolated places, in the forest, at night, everything that is ruin, there is usually the presence of nature. The characters are stereotyped of vices and virtues (persecuted virgin, villain). The typical ingredients of the sublime (gothic gloom) are: secret passages, large dark corridors, dreadful dungeons, ghostly moonlight or thunderstorm, night scenes, owls, strange sounds, natural phenomena. The first gothic novel was written in 1764 “The castle of Otranto” by Horace Walpole and it started the school of terror: Radcliffe, Lewis, Bradford.The criticism considers it the second rate escapist literature however it paved the way for later literary genres (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula). Gothic elements in Frankenstein Setting: remote, isolated, unknown places such as the North Pole and the Swiss Alps, Hebrides. The presence of nature: forest, mountains, it’s hostile, it’s winter, autumn, it’s raining, storming, extreme weather condition, strong wind, in the North Pole is very cold.Time: more or less the 18th centuryThe general atmosphere is generally secret, of suspance and terror. The typical gothic scene is when Frankenstein created the monster, it’s a stormy night in November, Frankenstein is alone in a dark laboratory, he works with pieces of dead bodies. Characters: the monster could be considered as the villain of gothic tales but he isn’t all bad, as we read the story we understand that he has a good sight, he has turned bad because of the discrimination of the society. They are not totally stereotype and round, but they are in between.Different from gothic novels: Frankenstein contains a sort of message for the readers and for this reason it can be considered a novel of purpose. It has two message: the first is that denounced against society, because the society tens to discriminate, to isolate those who are different from the majority of people. The second part there is a sort or warning against the unlimited power of science and of human ambition. It’s forbidden to go against the lows of nature, the only creator of life is God, if you tried to be like him you will be punished.The faustian theme refer to the fact that Frankenstein wants to know the laws of nature, it’s similar to Dr Faustus. There are no supernatural elements, these are substituted by science (anticipation science fiction)Structure and style: the plot is quite complex, there are many time shifts (flashback) and there are 3 narrators in first person because they are character of the story. They are no omniscient because they only know a part of the story. The effect of this is that we can learn the story from different prospective:• Ideal picture of Frankenstein by Walton: Walton thinks that he is a victim of the monster and he admires him because he is ambitious and he wants to explore the potentiality of science• Frankenstein’s portrait of himself: he wants to justify his actions, he wants to show his ambition and he give a very bad picture of the monster• Monster’s accusation of Frankenstein: he pictures him like a selfish and cruel man, because he refuses to create a women for the monster, he abandoned himThe point of view is shifting, we can divided the book in 3 parts according to the different narrators:1. R. Walton’s narration is written in an epistolary form, in form of letter to his sister telling his story. This is a flashback;2. Frankenstein’s narration is a sort of diary, it’s written in first person like an autobiography;3. Written confession by the monster, we learn the truth about the monster;4. Walton resumes the narration again and concludes the narration.The book is a Chinese box structure, tale within the tale (chapter 12-the story of the cottagers). The old man is blind so he doesn’t judges the monster, he is the only man who accepted the monster.Indirect speech is a traditional element while the complex structure is quite innovatly.
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