Alienation And Desolation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Within Frankenstein, Mary Shelley adopts several settings in order to evoke ‘menace’ and ‘desolation’ in the novel. However, this is not always the case within the text which means that Shelley sometimes deviates from archetypically gothic settings in order to show emotional rather than physical ‘alienation’. Nevertheless, Shelley more often than not reverts to settings that are ‘desolate, alienating and full of menace’

Frankenstein immediately contains a ‘desolate’ and ‘alienating’ setting with its introduction, which immediately establishes physical isolation. Walton is exploring arctic ‘bitterly (feels) the want of a friend’, his loneliness due to his physical separation from the world is the pursuit of exploring new places, not unlike Victor

Geneva is where Victor’s familial connections lie, yet when he moves to Ingelstad, he “paid no visit to Geneva”, effectively fleeing from the place connected to home. It is then he becomes a recluse, alienating himself both physically and mentally. The reader would not assume Victor’s childhood was ‘desolate, alienating and full of menace’ in the slightest, nevertheless his actions as an adult do not follow from his idyllic description of childhood (such as his ‘mother’s tender caresses’). This could then imply that his childhood is not as ideal as he presents it. He describes his role as a ‘plaything’ before a son, which shows that his personhood was diminished in favour of objectification. It may then closer relate Shelley’s own childhood experiences, as she felt abandonment from her father and her mother had died when she was young, thus isolating her within her family unit. By granting Victor the seemingly perfect childhood, she could be subconsciously presenting her criticisms of the Victorian family ideals. Victor’s lack of association to Geneva in adulthood supports this. Therefore, the setting of Geneva is used as a symbol for Victor’s childhood and possibly

The Age of Enlightenment brought about many new scientific discoveries, which caused a great divide between traditional and devout Christians and a new rise in ideas, particularly the explanations of what was previously unknown. The creation of the Creature happens within a ‘laboratory’, which may inspire menace in Shelley’s contemporary audience, as laboratories were synonymous with scientific development, something regarded with suspicion and tension within the early 19th century. However, the audience is not as unfamiliar with laboratories as they may be with castles and moorlands, for example. This means that the concept of Frankenstein becomes much more tangible and therefore more ‘menacing’, the increased plausibility (in contrast to the fantastical nightmarish tone of the stereotypical gothic) which then creates ‘menace’ within the settings of