Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Gothic Horror
Before reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein , I was only vaguely familiar with the cartoonishly green hulking figure, the mad scientist with the giant Tesla coils, and the line "it lives!" Little did I know, the story of Frankenstein and his creation delves very deep into the subjects of life, love, isolation, and morality. Framed at first in the form of letters, the story hooks the reader by putting them in the shoes of Robert Walton's sister, to whom he is recounting the tale that Victor tells him on his deathbed. The dying scientist seems to either be trying to atone for his sins, or at the very least warning Walton about his creation that now roams the ice of the North Pole. Shelley writes at length throughout the novel about the morality of giving life to what was once inanimate. Victor refuses to take responsibility and face the consequences of achieving such a fantastical feat, and must pay the price. At several points in the novel, the once passionate and dr