We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Life, Consciousness, and Existence Videos 22 videos

A Hunger Artist (Kafka)
4688 Views

Guy in a black leotard. In a cage. Not eating. Weird? Yes. Popular? Absolutely. Kafka's short story includes iconic artist-figures: a mouse singer...

A Tale of Two Cities
53963 Views

It may be the best of times for Chuck Darnay, but it's pretty much constantly the worst of times for Sydney. Poor guy.

A Tale of Two Cities Summary
75858 Views

Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...

See All

Frankenstein: Gothic Tones 8809 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 ]

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

The Importance of Being Earnest Summary
123040 Views

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...

The Giver Summary
105893 Views

Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...

Invisible Man (Ellison)
1818 Views

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
1257 Views

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...

Quotes: A fool's paradise
296 Views

Find out the meaning behind "a fool's paradise."