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In the Introduction to the 1831 edition of her classic Gothic novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley describes the birth of her work 15 years earlier. This story, although factual, offers elements that might fit well within a Gothic novel: a group of well-to-do friends including a young girl and her unhappily married lover read Gothic German ghost stories to pass the time in a secluded Swiss setting while the rain pours outside. Inspired by the ghost stories and to alleviate their boredom and their gloomy surroundings, they decide to have a contest to see which of them can write the best one of their own, with Frankenstein being the eventual result.
As Shelley’s Introduction story suggests, Gothic novels were not new when she and her friends staged their contest. By then, they had been popular in England for about 50 years, and longer than that in the German-speaking countries where the tradition began. In fact, by most accounts, Gothic novels had already peaked by 1816. In this regard, In this regard, Frankenstein represents a refreshing of the genre, so the variations between Shelley’s work and earlier examples can be useful to consider.
The main ways in which Frankenstein represents an evolution of the Gothic tradition from the 18th century to the 19th century are that it contains little to no romance in the form of a love story and—most importantly—its horror is based on psychological and social elements. Some of the manifestations of this in Frankenstein are discussed below.
Science and Technology in the Forefront of Frankenstein
The main story in the novel is about an ambitious modern scientist taking science too far. This leads to almost unimaginable horror in the form of the terrifying monster he creates, and the string of distressing deaths resulting in the aftermath of Victor’s scientific discoveries. While Gothic novels had always depicted the past being eroded by the present, the storyline of Frankenstein being explicitly about science strongly reflects contemporary concerns over the pace and the impact of rapid and unchecked technological and scientific discoveries.
Otherness as a Psychological Burden in Frankenstein
The novel’s most direct embodiment of otherness (being outside the commonly accepted social norms) is the monster, who is rejected by his creator and then shunned and stigmatized by nearly everyone he encounters, causing extreme psychological trauma that results in violent behavior. But we also see evidence of otherness in Victor, who isolates himself in his apartment in Ingolstadt while building his creation. It exists within Walton too, although without the terrible consequences of the monster and Victor, when he writes to his sister about feeling alienated and alone because he feels he has nothing in common with his shipmates.
Sexual Confusion and Ambiguity in Frankenstein
While there is no direct mention of it in the novel, many modern observers believe that Victor’s troubled disposition is triggered by unexpressed and unresolved homosexual longing to be with Henry rather than Elizabeth, to whom he was betrothed by his mother as a child. This theory posits that Victor is living under the intense psychological burden of a significant aspect of his life being forced to conform to familial and societal pressures.
The evidence for this theory comes mainly from Victor’s behavior in the novel. He is obsessed with secrecy. More directly, Victor’s professions of devotion to Elizabeth are certainly not matched by his actions. He repeatedly puts off being with her and generally treats her more like a possession than a partner. Meanwhile, when it comes to his friend and true soulmate Henry, Victor’s actions do match his far more convincing professions of devotion. It is Henry, not Elizabeth who is there to nurse Victor back to health in Ingolstadt and it is Henry who accompanies him to England and Scotland on a trip he takes despite his family urging him to stay in Switzerland and marry Elizabeth. Victor even seems to be impacted by Henry’s death far more than he is by Elizabeth’s.
Some observers have pointed out that Victor shows no overt signs of sexual attraction to either men or women in the novel, suggesting that he might be asexual. Whether or not this is the case, it’s worth noting that Victor’s experiments are not just an attempt to create new life, but to create new life without the need to involve women.
What the topics that separate Frankenstein from its predecessors in the Gothic tradition have in common is that they are all “modern” ideas. This seems wholly intentional on Shelley’s part, especially when you consider the full title she gave her novel: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
