Frankenstein (play) Gothic Features - Context

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  • Created by: helena.n
  • Created on: 29-05-19 11:55
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  • Gothic Features in Nick Dear's Frankenstein
    • Dreams
      • Prophetic
        • Sc. 28 - William appears in the Orkneys and makes Victor question what happens if the Creature reproduces
          • Gothic plot device to emphasise insecurities and fears
      • The Creature dreams of a Female Creature
        • Sparks his desire
        • Sc. 19
    • Role of the Villain
      • Traditionally:
        • Autocratic
          • Victor is upper class
        • Male
          • Both Victor and the Creature are male
        • Complex characters
          • Neither the Creature or Victor are entirely villain or hero
        • Initially sympathetic: fools reader
          • The audience initially sympathises with the abandoned Creature
      • Villain is usually the central character but fate intervenes at the end to ensure good triumphs over evil
        • The ending of this play isn't so clear-cut
          • For starters, not one clear villain - both Victor and Creature have villainous elements
          • At the end the Creature has the power/status
            • Audience sympathy for Victor?
              • Cold
              • Dragging dog sled
              • No?
                • Getting what he deserves
            • They are slowly destroying each other
            • Perhaps it is best for society that they both disappear in the Arctic
    • Role of the Protagonist
      • Traditionally:
        • Protagonists usually ANTI-HERO
          • Flawed protagonist with monstrous elements
            • Victor is not perfect
              • Murders the Female Creature Sc. 28
              • Egoistical, selfish
                • "Can a man be a God?" - Sc. 28
                • "Little men with little lives" - Sc. 24
        • High social rank
        • Driven by passion
        • Moody
        • Solidary
        • Conflicted
        • Traditional religious ideology chastises them for doing morally wrong acts
          • Creating life
      • Victor both pursues and is pursued by the Creature
    • Romance
      • Gothic literature came from Romantic literature
        • Overlapping characteritics
      • Many Gothic novels plagued by passionate romance
        • Often leads to sorrow and tragedy
          • Death of Elizabeth Sc. 29
          • Death of Female Creature Sc. 28
    • Damsel in Distress
      • Woman who suffers at the expense of a villain
        • Elizabeth killed by Creature
          • Death of Elizabeth Sc. 29
        • Female Creature killed by Victor
          • Death of Female Creature Sc. 28
      • Often have these feelings:
        • Sadness
        • Loneliness
        • Oppression
      • Often held captive, terrorised by noblemen, rendered powerless
        • Elizabeth feels trapped in the family home and longs to travel with Victor Sc. 25
        • Although not a nobleman, the Creature terrorises Elizabeth Sc. 29
    • Melodrama
      • Often used to convey heightened emotion
        • Men rage in reflection of unseen inner torments
        • Murders
          • Female Creature
            • Sc. 28
          • Elizabeth
            • Sc. 29
          • William
            • Sc. 23
        • Kidnappings
          • William
            • Sc. 22
        • People going mad
          • People believe Victor has gone mad
    • The Beast within
      • Like Jekyll and Hyde
        • Influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution
          • Denied superiority of humans
      • Victor is neither entirely good or bad
    • The Supernatural
      • Desire to explore the unknown
        • Industrial Revolution 1818 setting
      • The Creature
        • Man-made
        • Merges life and death
        • Creation of the Creature gives Victor:
          • Immense power
          • Fear of that power
            • Realises he's created a being he can't entirely control
            • Fears his own creation
              • And what would happen if they procreate
                • "How will I know what will happen - if I bring her fully to life?" Sc. 28
              • "I will kill this thing that I have foolishly made" Sc. 29
    • Setting
      • Unnerving mountain regions
        • Polar Ice Cap, Arctic Circle Sc. 30
          • Exoticism and foreign, unexplored territory
        • Mont Blanc, Switzerland Sc. 24
        • "There is a sound like a great exhalation of breath, as the glacier shudders and shifts" Sc 24
        • "We once again hear the breath of the glacier" Sc. 24
        • "He [Victor] hears again the terrifying breath of the glacier" Sc. 25
      • Large Forests
        • Scenes 6-11
      • Extreme Weather
        • Threatening storms
        • Lightning
        • Rain
          • Sc. 6
            • Nice, summer shower though
          • Usually prefigures appearance of a character or beginning of a significant event in Gothic literature
          • Highlights that the protagonists are at the mercy of forces they can't control
          • "A tumbledown croft in the Orkneys. The weather is appalling" Sc. 26
          • "The Orkneys. Night. Wind and rain" Sc. 27
        • Dark, threatening
        • Moon
          • Sc. 30
            • "A huge moon dominates the scene"
          • Sc. 18 - Creature refuses to meet De Lacy's family
            • "A huge moon rises"
            • "The light is fading"
            • [Creature describing the moon] "Solitary [...] And sad, like me."
              • Because he doesn't know who he is or where he came from
        • Can mirror characters' moods
      • Graveyards, burials
        • Sc. 27 - Graveyard in the Orkneys
    • Atmosphere
      • Haunting atmosphere
      • Atmosphere and environment lead to feelings of fear and uneasiness
      • Anything beyond the boundaries of science lends way to mystery
      • Low lighting
        • Candle being only source of light
        • Shadows
          • Elizabeth is a light in the darkness
        • Moonlight against the dark sky
          • Sc. 30
          • Sc. 18
        • Nighttime
          • Sc. 28 - Victor working on and killing the Female Creature
            • Creature hiding in the SHADOWY rafters
          • Sc. 4 - Streets of Ingolstadt
          • Sc. 5 - Town Gates
          • Scenes 9, 10, 11 - Beggars in the woods
          • Sc. 23 - Searching for William
          • Sc. 27 - Ewan and Rab grave-robbing
          • Sc. 30  - Arctic
          • Sc. 1, until the Creature opens its eyes
          • Initially darkness/night is used when the Creature is vulnerable/in a new situation
          • Later, darkness/night is used as the Creature manipulates Victor/as Victor turns mad
  • Guilty secret
    • Having created the Creature
    • Traditionally:
      • Protagonists usually ANTI-HERO
        • Flawed protagonist with monstrous elements
          • Victor is not perfect
            • Murders the Female Creature Sc. 28
            • Egoistical, selfish
              • "Can a man be a God?" - Sc. 28
              • "Little men with little lives" - Sc. 24
      • High social rank
      • Driven by passion
      • Moody
      • Solidary
      • Conflicted
      • Traditional religious ideology chastises them for doing morally wrong acts
        • Creating life

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