ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Playlist Frankenstein: Shmoopversations 14 videos
We’ll preface this video about Frankenstein’s preface by saying that Mary Shelley is an awesome woman, and she wants everybody to be aware. Che...
What is Gothic Romanticism? It's when two goths fall in love. Duh. Wait, that’s not what it is? Oh. We should probably watch the video and figure...
Dearest Shmooper, Watch the video to find out more about the epistolary, layered, narrative of Frankenstein. Or watch a cute kitten video on Yout...
Frankenstein: Gothic Tones 8808 Views
Share It!
Description:
What is Gothic Romanticism? It's when two goths fall in love. Duh. Wait, that’s not what it is? Oh. We should probably watch the video and figure it out...care to join us?
Transcript
- 00:01
We speak student!
- 00:04
Don't you see, Paul?
- 00:06
We've discovered the source of life itself!
- 00:09
And we've used it to restore a creature that was dead.
- 00:11
[ dramatic musical flourish ]
Full Transcript
- 00:14
Frankenstein a la Shmoop
- 00:16
Gothic Tones
- 00:19
What is Gothic?
- 00:22
Gothic is a genre that is known, basically, for its spookiness.
- 00:26
We wanna distinguish scary from spooky;
- 00:30
that's the first thing to do.
- 00:31
You know, when you read Frankenstein, you're not [ gasps ].
- 00:34
It's not scary.
- 00:36
It just kind of gives you the eebie jeebies.
- 00:39
And that's really what the Gothic is all about.
- 00:40
Things -- You know, when we picture Gothic,
- 00:42
we picture castles and cobwebs and kind of that spookiness.
- 00:45
The genre started with books like
- 00:47
The Castle of Otranto and Mysteries of Udolpho,
- 00:49
grew into what Frankenstein is which is this,
- 00:53
you know, spooky, Gothic, as I said, eeby jeeby-giving book.
- 00:58
What's particular about Frankenstein
- 01:01
is that it's not just straight Gothic as, of course, it never is.
- 01:05
We talked about Enlightenment and Romanticism before.
- 01:08
And this book is really
- 01:10
one of the first works of Gothic Romanticism.
- 01:14
Which means that it is the Gothic.
- 01:15
it's that kind of, like,
- 01:17
spooky terror-inducing feelings,
- 01:21
but the reason that we get that spookiness and that terror
- 01:25
is to help us understand the human condition.
- 01:27
And that is where Romanticism comes in.
- 01:30
When Frankenstein's monster is sitting out in the woods
- 01:33
spying on the little house and all that's going on in it,
- 01:36
and we're kind of like [ noise of disgust ].
- 01:37
Like we kind of get the creeps about it.
- 01:39
What it's supposed to get us to think about
- 01:41
is like, "This guy's so lonely.
- 01:43
This is sad. He's sitting out there watching this family.
- 01:47
All he wants is to be a part of it."
- 01:48
And we really feel that kind of emotion
- 01:51
and that loneliness of the human condition.
- 01:54
And that's where the Gothic Romanticism comes in.
- 01:57
It's that, like, terror and creepiness
- 01:59
that helps us understand his feelings.
- 02:02
At this point, we've kind of talked about
- 02:04
how Frankenstein grew out of the Enlightenment.
- 02:07
It's a work of, you know, Romantic literature
- 02:09
and it has the Gothic.
- 02:10
Another thing to chat about --
- 02:12
And I am not a science fiction guru,
- 02:14
but Frankenstein 's often thought of as the first work
- 02:18
ever of science fiction.
- 02:20
So as we're talking about genres,
- 02:21
I thought it'd be cool to bring this up
- 02:23
because it's not just a work of fiction.
- 02:26
It's a work of fiction that's talking about
- 02:27
big, heavy questions surrounding science.
- 02:29
You know, "Should we create life?"
- 02:31
is kind of a big one.
- 02:33
And so, you know, as we get into more modern contemporary science fiction,
- 02:37
it's these -- They're works of fiction
- 02:39
making us ask questions about
- 02:42
what's okay and what's not
- 02:43
in terms of science and technological advancements.
- 02:46
And that's exactly what Frankenstein was doing.
- 02:49
So when we think about the genres of Frankenstein,
- 02:51
yes, we wanna think of it coming out of the Enlightenment
- 02:53
as a Romantic genre,
- 02:54
also Gothic, but then we kind of wanna look
- 02:57
forward to the science fiction genre, as well.
- 03:01
What is Gothic?
- 03:03
What is Gothic Romanticism?
- 03:05
Which genre describes Frankenstein and why?
- 03:10
[ glass breaks ]
- 03:11
[ scream ]
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...