The Gothic, Frankenstein, and the Romantics

In this paper I discuss the meanings, types, and sources of the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth centuries English Romantic novel. I discuss how Romanticism and Gothicism run parallel to each other and agree on many points. Then I take Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) as a representative of the Gothic fiction. Afterwards, I attempt to sort out certain Romantic influences, ideas and images present in Frankenstein. I view Frankenstein as a Gothic-Romantic literary piece of work that enjoys a special importance in the history and development of the English novel.