How to adress the gothic in a comparative essay (Paper 2 OCR)
Heya! I just handed in an essay, thought it was pretty good, but my teacher capped it at 26 because I did not adress the concept of the gothic enough. I know that the gothic as a genre plays on the fears and concerns in society and stuff but how do I talk about it while still making it relevant and not feel like it is "shoved in"
Hi! Yes! This is the most important type of AO3 for you to do for the comparative essay, to be honest! Everything you say should be linked back to one of the conventions of the genre – either because it adheres to or subverts those genre conventions.
When you're writing, your biggest question for doing this question well is:
Why did the writer use this genre to say that message?
Shani C. Thank you, Im so sorry, but this is a little bit of the essay that I wrote, how would I put it in here?
Both Shelley and Carter depict the glorification of the primitive desire for power through perpetuating civilising narratives over supposed primitive people. Much of Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ can be read as a colonial allegory. With the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act being passed in 1807, it can be said that contemporary issues regarding the rights of these subordinate individuals were particularly current. Indeed, Walton’s Arctic explorations are framed by his “[deservedness]” to “accomplish some great purpose”, as though it were ordained to him by birthright. The fascination with Arctic exploration can be seen as greatly influenced by Enlightenment scientific progress and accrual of knowledge, particularly the explorations of Captain Cook in 1778. Yet Walton’s view of this acciquisition of of knowledge frames it heavily as a colonial allegory, comparing the lieutenant who is “madly desirous of glory [...] an Englishman [...] unsoftened by cultivation” to the ship master, who instead is “wholly uneducated” and “silent as a Turk”. This primitive view of West Asian individuals can be seen as reflective of Edward Said’s notion of the “Oriental other”; their treatment as inherently intellectually lesser than that of supposed civilised individuals reflects the contemporary view stated succinctly by Thomas Macaulay, “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia”. Henry Clerval can similarly be seen as a figure symbolising the persistent belief regarding the supposed superiority of civilised society, as his “knowledge of the various languages” of West Asian nations could then be used to assist the “progress of European colonisation and trade”. Where a contemporary reader may view this as an honorable enterprise, taking a postcolonial reading, it can be said that both Walton and Henry Clerval are partaking in this inherently violent accrual of power and ultimately primitive enterprise for the approval of their civilised society. If knowledge is synonymous with power within civilised life, it establishes who in the society of Frankenstein, a Gothic reflection of early 19th century society, is condemned to a powerless existence by virtue of a primitive and crude system that values glory above all. Indeed, Victor’s own aim to “penetrate the secrets of nature” carries an almost Freudian rapine undertone, revealing the underlying violent primitive aims in what civilised society would deem as simple Enlightenment discovery, with Shelley equating this intellectual pursuit to
Zara hey! I do gothic for OCR as well and thought I'd make a suggestion! Given that you're talking about the glorification of the 'civilised' over the 'primitive', you could maybe bring in the gothic obsession with otherness? this would link quite nicely to the colonial views reflected in Frankenstein that you've written about! Or you could discuss primitive desires in light of the gothic's focus on heightened emotions, which, within Frankenstein's 'civilised' society would potentially be deemed as animalistic? Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but just some ideas that came to mind for you :)