Frankenstein

The Abject, the Gothic, and the Making of a Monster










Frankenstein (1931, dir. James Whale)

Frankenstein’s 

Revulsion

Point to the exact word when Frankenstein’s attitude
toward his creation changes from delight to revulsion.

Literally touch the spot on the page with your finger
where this transformation occurs.

Abjection

The Messy Border between the self and the world

It’s not me. 

But it’s not not-me.

The Gothic

Caspar David Friedrich’s “The Abbey in the Oakwood” (1809-1810)
John Constable’s “Hadleigh Castle” (1829)

The Gothic Tradition

  • Remote, decaying locations (castles, abbeys, mansions), apart from society 
  • External physical traits represent internal emotional and psychic states
  • Forbidden knowledge at the heart of plot—often some moral transgression
  • And the secret returns, a coming back or revisiting
  • Proliferation of doubles (lost twins, lookalikes, doppelgangers)
  • Oscillation between earthly reality and the possibility of the supernatural

Textual History
of Frankenstein