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Discuss how the conventions of the Gothic Genre are brought across in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"
The author uses generic conventions so that the reader is able to recognise what type of novel it is. The typical conventions in a gothic novel are extreme emotion, exaggerated and nightmarish settings, characters symbolic of good and evil, a fearful tone, a suspensful narrative structure as well as heightened images and pessimistic themes. Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is an example of a gothic novel because she employs these conventions in different ways. These conventions have a significant effect on the gothic novel as they bring forward the purpose of the gothic genre Mary Shelley included in the novel "Frankenstein".
The dialogue between characters is very dramatic and over sentimental in gothic novels. Emotions such as sadness and suffering are common and the characters are hardly ever calm. There is also a strong link between bodily and emotional reactions, for example if a woman is feeling frightened she will faint or become sick. Mary Shelley has brought this convention across in many ways, an example of this would be when young William went missing and no one could find him. "Elizabeth also suffered extreme anguish" was a quote from a letter Alphonse Frankenstein wrote to Victor explaining young Williams death. Later in the letter it shows Elizabeth being emotional and blaming herself for the death, which sets the perfect scene for the gothic novel as the villan has gotten to the characters...