How The Concept Of Crossing Boundaries Helps To Create Horror In Gothic Stories. Literature Review

Gothic literature is a unique literature which is marked by a great usage of horror and mystery. The most common elements of gothic literature are the following: mysterious atmosphere and setting, passionate characters, forebodings, drama and the presence of supernatural. Another common gothic convention is the concept of crossing boundaries which means that boundaries between the common laws of conventional reality and the existence of supernatural may be crossed. In her book Art of Darkness: A Poetics of Gothic, Anne Wiliams claims that there are a lot of boundaries in gothic literature. Moreover she adds that “Gothic systematically represents “otherness” which is, of course, a relative term” (Williams, 1995, p.18). Therefore the usage of crossing boundaries which presupposes “otherness” in a story helps to create horror and suspense. One of the most popular stories that deals with crossing boundaries is Frankenstein by Marry Wollstonecraft Shelley. Moreover, Frankenstein is usually referred as first gothic novel.
Frankenstein is a story about young a talented scientist who searched for knowledge and wisdom as well as glory and fame. All his life he wanted to invent something special, something that the world has never seen before. And he did it; he created a creature that the world has never known. The name of this scientist was Victor Frankenstein.
Analyzing the novel Frankenstein, first of all it should be stated that it contains a lot of gothic elements that arouse suspense and horror in the reader’s minds. Thus, the setting of the story takes place in continental Europe as well as in Arctic regions which seem to be unknown for a common reader. One of the narrators of the story, Captain Walton, describes the surroundings around him as mysterious and severe. Mainly in these circumstances in an open see on a large fragment of ice he found the protagonist of the story Victor Frankenstein.
Another common element that is present in gothic stories is the concept of crossing boundaries. Thus, Fred Botting states the following: “Gothic writing remains fascinated by objects and practices that are constructed as negative, irrational, immoral and fantastic”. (Botting, 1996 ,p.2). Moreover, the author names some elements that are typical of gothic literature the usage of which leads to the crossing boundaries. Among them are the following: supernatural and natural forces, imaginative excesses and delusions, religious and social transgression, mental disintegration. In gothic literature death is horrific as it does not always implies the end. Those who manage to cross the border and transcend terrify common reader. For example, in Frankenstein, the monster’s ability to transcend crosses all the possible borders and leads to the feeling of horror.
So, in a story the main character Victor Frankenstein managed to find the answer of how to generate life. Such a discovery appears to be very unusual for the reader as the possibility to generate life unnaturally is thought to be impossible. Therefore, by this discovery psychological borders were crossed. It is true that everything that is impossible or unknown frightens ordinary people. Therefore, Frankenstein’s desire to create a man by artificial measures terrifies. However, Victor himself felt a great pride for his discovery as he thought: “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (Shelley,1818, p.54). At this rate the protagonist of the story seems to bridge the mortal and the supernatural world.
Equally frightening were the actions which the main character implied in order to fulfill his dream. He spent hours collecting human bones from elsewhere, didn’t want to speak with his family and even became nervous to a most painful degree.
Nevertheless, the work was done and the protagonist of the story managed to fulfill his plan and give life to his creature. However, soon he had to admit that everything he did before was in vain. He was not happy with the result of his work; on the contrary he was disappointed as his creature was ugly and looked unnatural. Victor acted himself as if he was God. He intended to make a beautiful man but consequently he found out that he created a monster. The monster had yellow skin, his hair was of a lustrous black, his teeth were white but luxuriance of these features formed a horrid contrast with his watery eyes, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips. Frankenstein was depressed and thought the following: “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley,1818, p.59). It is possible to say that the existence of monster and his detailed description crosses all the boundaries, physical as well as psychological. It is hard to imagine the appearance of this creature and his ugly facial features. In fact, even the possibility of his existence horrifies. Moreover, the fact that monster’s own inventor is afraid of his creature and escapes from him means that something went wrong. Victor couldn’t find any words how to call his creation that is why he used only negative words such as demon, devil and monster. He managed to push through the boundaries of knowledge when he invented his monster but in reality it brought him only a feeling of despair and destruction. Therefore, it should be said that the creation of monster is one of the crucial moments of the story which reveals the concept of crossing boundaries. The invention of monster by artificial methods with the help of science sounds supernatural and in its turn helps to create horror and mysterious atmosphere. It is clear that the monster in a story represents “the other”, a creature that differs from the rest of people by its physical and psychological criteria.
Another collision of natural and supernatural in a story appeared when the third narrator, Frankenstein’s monster reported his own story. Ironically, but the creature which was made with the help of technology, a product of science desperately searched for human’s love and understanding. In fact, this supernatural creature needed care and attention more than anyone else. Being despised and refused by people the monster wanted to find someone who won’t be looking at his appearance but who would try to understand his sole. However, humans couldn’t feel anything except shock and disgust when they saw the monster. When they looked at him they saw an animal, non-human which terrified them. It is obvious that people would have such a reaction when they face something unknown and supernatural. At this rate we deal with social boundaries which define what is right and correct and what is not. Society makes these boundaries and if an individual does not correspond to them he will be isolated and left alone. Thus, in Frankenstein the monster had to isolate himself from the rest of the people. He understood that they would never accept him as his existence crossed the social boundaries. That is precisely why wanted to take revenge upon his inventor Victor Frankenstein who made him different from the others and in such a way made him suffer. In fact, according to Meike Ziervogel, “the creature initially shows no signs of being a monster and only becomes one when abandoned by his creator”. Feeling abused, the monster wanted to take revenge upon Frankenstein as he blamed him for all his sufferings.
Furthermore, the monster was not capable of killing his inventor, so he killed all the people that were close to Frankenstein: his brother, his closest friend and his wife. A series of murders in a book astonishes as well as horrifies.

Works cited

Botting, F., 1996. Gothic. London: Routledge
Shelley, M., 1818. Frankenstein. [e-book] Available at: Planet eBook. http: // www.planetebook.com [Accessed 4 March 2015]
Williams, A., 1995. Art of Darkness: A Poetics to Gothic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Ziervogel, M., 2014. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, book of a lifetime: Gothic classic shows the writer has no control over her story. The Independent, [online] Available at < http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/frankenstein-by-mary-shelley-book-of-a-lifetime-gothic-classic-shows-the-writer-has-no-control-over-her-story-9697457.html> [Accessed 06 March 2015]