Right so I have read from pages 160 to around 180, paying particular attention to Frankenstein's pursuit of the monster following it murdering Elizabeth on hers and Frankenstein's wedding night. An element of chase is apparently a common theme in Gothic texts, and typical of the Gothic protagonist's journey. Thus Frankenstein can be seen as a Gothic protagonist in this way, although prior to this in the novel, the reader finds themselves pitying the creature more. Indeed, Shelley appears to have presented the creature with the traits of a Gothic protagonist to a greater extent than Frankenstein, however these rapidly decline when the monster's rage takes over and he vows revenge on Frankenstein for destroying the female companion he promised to create for him.
Right so impressions of Frankenstein's pursuit of the monster/creature;
- Frankenstein becomes as obsessed with pursuing and destroying the monster as he was with creating it to begin with. In fact it's the only thing that he clings to life for, which seems ironic as this is exactly what the monster wants, to keep Frankenstein suffering for as long as possible, as this means he is in control. Whereas if Frankenstein were to give up and die then the monster would be powerless.
- The main thing I noticed about Frankenstein's pursuit of the monster is that he uses a lot of religious language to explain and describe it, referring to "Spirits" guiding him on his journey and keeping him alive so he can complete his purpose. He says the spirits give him "strength to fulfil my pilgrimage". The use of pilgrimage suggests that Frankenstein's pursuit of the monster could be seen as the pursuit of redemption for his blasphemous act of giving life to the creature in the first place. However this seems to contradict Frankenstein's own views and stray from the Gothic theme of corruption of religion. He also says "I pursued my path towards the destruction of the daemon, more as a task enjoyed by heaven, as the mechanical impulse of some power of which I was unconscious, than as the ardent desire of my soul"-again the use of heavily religious language, yet no mention of God directly is strange and could show Frankenstein's arrogance in that he sees himself as having a higher purpose. Whether that be creator or pilgrim whose mission it is to destroy the monster, who can be seen to represent the devil and sin, although he was made as a result of Frankenstein's own sinful actions. So there are definite religious connotations to the way in which Shelley has Frankenstein describe his pursuit of the monster, including his suffering but ongoing determination, helped by so-called "guiding spirits".
- To some extent the monster appears to have nature on his side in the pursuit, allowing him to constantly evade Frankenstein. This would be important, especially in light of the Romantic ideals so influential on Shelley at the time. For example nature seems to pose a threat to Frankenstein and is in a way the main component he has to face when pursuing the monster across the world, e.g. he has to battle the extreme cold of the north pole etc. "Rugged mountains of ice often barred my passage, and I often heard the thunder of the ground sea, which threatened my destruction" whereas the monster hides on a ship bound for the Black Sea for example, and Frankenstein sees this and climbs aboard, yet the creature escapes with Frankenstein admitting "I know not how".
