Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, There are many gothic elements. One of the most challenge parts from me reading this was how the story was laid out. It was three stories in one, and this unusual way of telling a story is often used in gothic novels. For example, part of the story is told by the letters of Robert Walton, then much of the story is told by Victor's point of view, but parts are told by the monster. 

Most people would think of a creepy setting when reading something gothic, and this story is a great example of that. For example. Victor sets up his lab in a empty gothic church. Hollywood usually puts the setting in a creepy castle on the top of a hill. 

Another gothic element is the main character is Victor. Gothic heroes typically are loners, very serious, very smart, gloomy and eventually unstable. Sometime they even have a god complex like Victor who wants to create life. He get so obsessed with his work that he isolates himself from everything (school, family, friends, love, etc). He is so focus that he doesn't realize that his creation is "unholy", but when the creature comes to life, Victor realizes what he has done but it's too late. 

Gothic stories always have an element of the supernatural and Frankenstein's monster is the first example of this in literature. However, the monster is very different in the book than the movies. In the movies, the monster is just the scary killer and has no feelings, but in the book, his learns from watching others and sees the love he doesn't get from Victor.