What is the tone of this Gothic novel? How does Mary Shelley create her tone?
One thing that really sticks out at me about this book is that it doesn't have the stereotypical Gothic horror tone to it. You would think if there is any scare story that would have this type, it would be the first one, but instead of the Vincent Price (figure that one out Perrando), evil, third person monologue "dark and stormy night..." type thing, you have a very human and real voice. The book reads in the same way that I imagine Victor would relate the story to Walton wrapped in a blanket, next to a fire, in the bowels of the ship. I'm sure there's a better word for this but it sounds like a verbal story. Victor starts not from the creation of the monster which would most logical place to start if he were trying to explain how he got to the middle of nowhere, but instead starts by giving a brief background on who he actually is so Walton can not only understand how Victor got into the mind set of creating the creature, but also who the people around Victor are who are also pivotal parts of the plot (bonus points for unintentional alliteration!).
Victor does not start with "I collected the instruments of life around me , that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet." He begins with "I was once a student of history." No silly! that's Animal Farm! Victor starts with the story of his parents eventually leading up to the line "No human could have passed a happier childhood then mine." When people think of Dr. Frankenstein thoughts usually turn to the immortal Colin Clive. No one would assume the man would have a happy childhood you would expect him to spend all his days in a dark room watching things decay (sounds like someone I know). And maybe that does eventually happened, but the point is the book is not just a "things that go bump in the night" tale and has some humanity and depth to it which is what makes it that much better.
No comments:
Post a Comment