Gothic genre

• The gothic genre emphasizes the grotesque elements, the mysterious, the desolate environment, the horrible, the ghostly & ultimately the fear that can be aroused in the reader.
• Gothicism is part of the Romantic Movement that started in the late 18th century and lasted to roughly three decades into the 19th century.
• The bleak, glacial fields of the Alps & the mists of the Arctic serve to indicate the isolation of the two protagonists. The solitary character in Frankenstein can apply to both Victor and his creation as they both live their lives in social isolation.
• Gothicism tells tales of the macabre and supernatural, are usually set amid haunted castles, graveyards, ruins & wild picturesque landscapes. They reached the height of their fashion in the 1790s & the early years of the 19th century.
• Perhaps the most famous Gothic example occurs in Shelley's Frankenstein after Frankenstein 'awakes' his creature: he falls into a dream state that begins with his kissing of Elizabeth, his love. However, this kiss changes her in the most drastic way as she transforms into the rotting corpse of Caroline, Victor's dead mother. Upon awakening from this horrifying dream, Victor finds himself staring into the face of the monster he has created. Interpretations of this dream lead to explorations of Frankenstein's psyche, relational ability and sexuality.
• Becomes fixated with death and the decay of the human body. " forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel-houses"
• "Darkness had no effect upon my fancy"
• "I saw how the work inherited the wonders of the eye and the brain"
• "Pour a torrent of light into our dark world"
• "tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay"
• "I collected bones from charnel-houses"
• "filthy creation"
• "dissecting room"
• "It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils"
• "My candle was nearly burnt out" The lighting creates tension
• "Dull yellow eye"
• "convulsive motion agitated its limbs"
• "His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath"
• "Breathless horror and disgust filled my heart"
• When Victor goes back to his home  town of Geneva, he see the monster in the gloom of the trees, "A flash of lightening illuminated the object...the deformity of its aspect" Gothic setting of a dark deformed figure lurking in the trees and its outline illuminated by the lightning.
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Chapter 21:
"It was a very dark night and the moon had not yet risen" Gothic setting
"as far as he could judge by the light of a few stars"
"black marks of fingers on his neck"
"I feel yet parched with horror, nor can i reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and agony"
"The cup of life was poisoned forever"

Chapter 24:
"As night approached, I found myself at the entrance of of the cemetery where William, Elizabeth, and my father reposed. I entered it and approached the tomb which marked their graves. Everything was silent"