Week 1- Frankenstein and the Gothic

I'll admit that when I first saw that we had to read Frankenstein before the first class I was less than excited. Having read it last in high school I had only vague memories of a boring class with a book that I wasn't very excited to read. However, I was happy to find that not only had my taste changed but it was like reading an entirely new book.

Having gotten much more interested in horror and fantasy novels since my early days in high school I have also developed an interest in the regency and victorian era due to it being a huge time of change throughout the western world ( as well as being aesthetically awesome, I strongly vote that we bring back ascots and pocket watches, and canes with swords in them). This was also the beginnings of gothic horror/ gothic literature- which gave rise to many different sub-genres of horror and fantasy writing. 

Looking for examples of the gothic in the modern day my thoughts immediately went to the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. Set in Victorian London in 1891 she show combines some of gothic horrors most famous characters like Victor Frankenstein, his monster, Sir Malcom Murray (Father of Dracula's Mina Harker), Dorain Grey, as well as the ultimate Victorian Gothic Heroine Vanessa Ives ( a psychic medium with a habit for getting possessed). 

Penny Dreadful  weaves together the famous stories of Gothic literature in a way that unites all of them without feeling forced. While the show itself is visually appealing- it definitely deals more with the "sublime" we discussed in class- not necessarily pretty but powerful and emotionally engaging. 

The show also deals with many of the themes present in gothic literature like that of life and death- in dealing with characters like Victor Frankenstein (very accurately depicted as a young medical student with a lot of overconfidence) he literally brings a character back from the dead only to watch his former creation Caliban tear his new monster in half. 

The show also deals with altered and different states of perception experienced by the characters- specifically Vanessa Ives. Vanessa Ives is majorly featured on the show but is one of the few characters who is not present in gothic literature and was created for the show. She is a modern Victorian woman with a dark past and strange psychic abilities that sometimes cause her to become overtaken by dark forces (she may or may not be the reincarnation of a dark Egyptian Goddess). It is through Vanessa that the viewer experiences much of the show and the world in which it is set.