Theme Of Horror And Terror In Frankenstein

In Volume 1 of Mary Shelley‘s ‘Frankenstein’, horror and terror are themes that evidently run strongly throughout, for example the horror of the creation and the awakening of the Creature, and Victor Frankenstein’s fearful response. According to James. B. Twitchell – “Horror – horrére means to stand on end or bristle”, which most definitely applies to Frankenstein. Written in the early 19th century, Shelley took inspiration from society at the time – particularly science – with the use of Galvanism, electricity, and scientific theories – which fascinated her. This was seen as something completely horrifying at the time of the novel – which emphasizes the horrific nature of the novel itself, as it challenged and fascinated readers with the idea of turning something completely terrifying into a reality. Horror and terror are evident themes in many scenes of volume 1, for example, in the letters there is terror in a sense that Walton and Frankenstein are both obsessively devoted to achieving their goals; in chapters 1 and 2 there is an unnatural, chilling, tone as Frankenstein’s childhood is portrayed as unrealistically perfect, as though concealing something, contrasting with the disasters later on in his life. Chapter 3 explores Frankenstein’s dangerous obsession with knowledge and power; …show more content…
Horror and terror and presented evidently in many different ways, and are used to engage, fascinate, disgust, frighten and more importantly affect the reader in some way; to question god, science, and