Help me with some nature and gothic elements in "Frankenstein" (the book)?

Question

First don't go all haywire and tell me to read the book, because I did, and I have SOME elements but I really want this paper to go well so if you think there are any elements of gothic or nature that stand out in any specific paragraph or chapter, let me kno!! THNX!

Answer 1

Well, you might look at the beginning and end of the book and wonder why the story is framed in perhaps the starkest possible natural environment: the arctic.

Certainly there's a lot going on with notions of nature (and for that matter nurture) during the "birth" scene of Frankenstein. You might also ask yourself if the book would have taken the turns that it does had Victor ever acknowledged his parenthood...

I'm afraid I've never been satisfied with any definition of "gothic" I've ever seen -- modern usage seems to suggest that to most it means something akin to "grimly Victorian" or "indicative of morbid fascination with the supernatural". In architecture, of course, it means something slightly more specific.

In any case, without a deeper sense of what you mean by the term, I couldn't really hazard a reply to that part of your question.

Answer 2

The gothic movement in literature was concerned in part with the natural order of things - the tragedies that happen in stories such as "Frankenstein" are often due to the characters' failure to follow the natural order of things (as determined by G,',d the Creator), i.e. by making the Monster from cadaver parts. The gothic movement was a branch of Romanticism, and "the sublime" is an important concept to be aware of - finding evidence of the divine in nature. There are a suprising many sunny, pleasant settings in a book with such a reputation for lightning storms raging around castles perched high on rocky mountaintops - these tend to be moments where things are going well enough... By the lake? Which is also a reference to the lakeside home Mary & Percy & Bram & that Polidori guy were having their holiday & decided to write some spooky stories... I don't have the book handy, but I hope maybe you have some ideas to look into.

Answer 3

definitely the harshness, the bitter cold, the jagged edges, the ice drifts, the "aloneness" of it all--the arctic region that frames the story--is a big part of the nature element. Also I would think any and every landscape that Shelley takes the time to mention would be important to consider. It's been five years since I last read the novel so I can't think of too many specific examples. But I'm sure there are contrasting images in the book. Landscapes that reflect and mirror the emotions and conflicts of the characters.

Answer 4

get the cliffnotes