There have been so many movies made about this story. We'll see clips this week. One thing that's worth notign is that the gothic is at its heart. Do you think the gothic is effective for science fiction? Can you think of more moder books/stories where it is important? How does it function in those stories?
Of course, feel free to start your own topics of discussion!
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Clark College Science Fiction class with Nancy Thompson
This class...
CBS Mystery Theatre - "The Outsider" (H.P. Lovecraft)
Weekly Top Ten: This week, animation
- Electric Earthquake
- The Underground World
- Dodo in Japan
- The Hole
- Duck and Cover
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Mulan
- The Corpse Bride
- Yellow Submarine
24 comments:
I would say that a sense of Gothic style in science fiction writing doesn't has as big an effect as is does in fantasy writing.
Vampire books are a pretty good example of how a goth aspect helps the book along, but as a consequence to my lack of attention to the fantasy genre, vampire books are the only example of the importance of Gothic style that I'm prepared to argue about.
The function of a goth or semi-goth setting in vampire books, and (here I'm playing off of no prior knowledge of other books)other books as well, is that it adds a sense of eeriness and perhaps even one of fear.
Of course, most of this is stereotypical because I've found that goth people are some of the nicest around.
I think gothic can add a dimension to science fiction books, but alone gothic really doesn't seem all that science fiction to me, like the other comment says, it seems like it fits into fantasy better than sci-fi.
I agree with taylor. I feel that Frankenstein (and gothic novels in general) fit more into the fantasy genre than science fiction. Even in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley didn't go into too much details about the scientific details of how Victor mad the creature. She focused more on the emotions and events of the story. In that sense, I feel that the story fits better under the fantasy genre since it elaborates on events that couldn't possibly happen in real life.
Much like Alisha, when I think Gothic inspired or themed books, Vampire books tend to be the only ones that come to mind. I'm sure there may be others out there, but they may be ones that I'm not familiar with.
I also agree that Gothic books, like Frankenstein, seem to be more Fantasy than Science Fiction. Yes, I can see how the fact that Victor used technology to bring the monster alive can be contributed to Science Fiction, but like Jeannie pointed out - there's not enough of it to make it fully categorized under Science Fiction.
I would agree with alish that goth tends to be used as a theme for fantasy more than scifi, as in the case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde, or 20,000 leagues under the sea
I'm going to disagree with everyone and say that the gothic aspect of this book lends it more to horror than fantasy.
This is only because the phrase "gothic fantasy" doesn't seem to taste as good coming out of my mouth as much as "gothic horror" does (which is delicious).
I can't think of any books that I've read where I would call it gothic sci-fi. In fact, I may make the argument for my paper that Frankenstein is not sci-fi at all, but rather that it is gothic horror.
I agree with james farley- horror is a better word for frankenstein... though the sci- fi aspect is evident in that when it was written cloning was'nt even considered... much less the revival of a mis matched creature.
I think the gothic works great in the story of Frankenstein. It brings in a dark and brooding aspect that lends to the suspense. It also adds to the horror of the story.
Frankenstein reminds me of Bram Stoker's Dracula which is also set with gothic scenery.
James is correct with the fact that when thinking of Gothic literature most of it does tend to lie in more of a Horror genre location than Fantasy, but the fact that it tends to lean more towards the Horror/Fantasy genres than Science Fiction seems to be still the overall response on the matter.
For a great use of gothic themes I highly reccomend watching the crow starring brandon lee, it gave me chills but in a good way
I watched The Crow once, but the dvd it was on had scratches so it wasn't very enjoyable. Maybe I'll try it again.
As for whether Frankenstein is science fiction or not. I keep debating it. I'll be at work and my brain is arguing with itself, and I'll write down some stuff in my handy dandy notebook.
I have come to the conclusion that science fiction isn't so much about science or technology being realistic or explainable so much as how science and technology interact with humanity. And this usually (I think) leads to the question: what makes a human?
Like with Frankenstein, just because he doesn't go over the process in which he gives life to the monster, it could still be science fiction because Mary Shelley is using this scientific possibility to ask questions about humanity. Who is really the monster? What are the consequences of giving life to the unliving? Will Victor and Henry finally find love with eachother?
Am I wrong about this?
Did anyone watch Heroes last night? Notice the similiarities with Frankenstein? The whole issue of giving abilities to people and the ethical and moral issues surrounding that. Not to mention the way it backfires!
Racquel.
OK am I the only one on here who thinks that the gothic style and dark ambiance loans itself to sci-fi more often then fantasy?
I don't know, when I think of fantasy I think of like unicorns, rainbows and hopping bunnies (I am well aware this isn't how it actually is but this is just how my brain works).
I agree with James though, when you have gothic fantasy it usually just ends up turning into horror.
There just seems to be a lot of gothic aspects in sci-fi with the post-apocalypse, killer robots, mutants, freak aliens and all the rest of that dark stuff.
Racquel, Christine, yeah it was a great episode on monday, I think the best part was the scene where sylar is making breakfast for his son and says to peter if i knew you were coming i would've made more, that was priceless!!! ahain I cannot stress the great use of gotic themes in the crow, seriously creepy but in a good way
I haven't seen the Heroes episode yet, but I'll probably end up watching it tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. :) And after Racquel mentioned the similarities to Frankenstein, I'll certainly be paying more attention to see if I recognize the similarities as well.
I'd have to agree with James, I think that the Gothic style is more horror than fantasy or science fiction. But I also think that it can have a big effect in all three types of writing. It all depends on the story itself, but either way having the Gothic setting in any story (to me at least) could make it seem more like a horror tale than anything else.
I always see gothic style as something with a dark atmosphere or just the feeling of unease. Because of this, gothic usually links up to the horror genre for me, with the suspense and misty unknown, etc. With fantasy I think more of magic and battles of good and evil.
I think Frankenstein was more of a horror story with a side of scifi to set the story in motion (the creation of the monster). Near the end with Elizabeth's death, it reminded me a lot of Wuthering Heights and the whole tortured Heathcliff thing. Did anyone else see that?
Science fiction is looking at impossibilities being made possible, like Victor reanimiting a corpse. Or the Terminator where the lines between machine and human are blurred (Sarah Connor Chronicles...good show). I guess the gothic is useful in helping the audience accepting these new ideas because their defenses have already started to drop from the terror element. Gothic also has the romance edge to it, so people may be more willing to accept extreme circumstances when rooting for the couple's happy ending, which isn't good considering the genre they're in (like Elizabeth and Victor).
If you mean gothic in a dark sense, then yes I do believe that the gothic is very effective for this story. There is so much dark imagery that gives the book a chilling and creepy feeling like you get when you watch a scary movie. I found in the first two pages of chapter one thirty three words that could be described as dark and foreboding. Words such as poverty, mischances, wretchedness, unfortunate, bitterly, and oblivion. The imagery Shelley used was very effective in setting the mood of the book and it allowed me to understand the creature and Victor as well. The imagery allowed me to see the evil in Victor’s obsession over his experiment and it helped me understand his morbid motivation (he wanted to bring his mother back, or at least prevent another family member from dying).
I think that gothic imagery is very important in any book no matter what genre because it can help a reader to determine who is good and who is evil and it helps set the mood of a small situation in a book or the whole book altogether.
Violet - I agree with you that Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles is a good show. And I can see how there can be similarities between Frankenstein and Terminator.
Scully, that's an interesting point about the gothic in science fiction. I don't normally think of sci fi as particularly gothic, but your point got me thinking. Sure 'nuff, there are plenty of gothic themes, and some might even argue that gothic science fiction is a sub category of science fiction. The Matrix would be a great example. So would Gibson's cyberpunk novels. Richard Matheson. Anything involving planets populated by vampires (Vampirella, e.g.). While I still think it's more prevalent in fantasy --c'mon, there were no cute unicorns in Lord of the Rings ;) -- I can definitely see where you get the gothic in sci fi.
good book
it makes more sense now, of reading it more slowly.
i would say that the term "gothic" used in this book adds (intentionaly by Mary) more of a horror side to the story. it might have been placed in for a sense of making the book seem scarier.
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