Early Gothic Art and Literature in the Late 18th - Early 19th Centuries and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Figure 1: popular painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli in 1781
Frankenstein in the Gothic and Romanticism
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was published in 1818, which was during the Gothic and Romanticism era. Gothic and Romanticism affected the literature, art, and architecture in the late 18th - early 19th centuries throughout Europe. Romanticism was a reaction to the Enlightenment in the 18th century. It was mainly in England and France and was from the aftermath of the French Revolution (2). The Enlightenment focused on logic and reason, while Romanticism focused on nature, and the Gothic focused on death and the supernatural. Gothic and Romanticism are two different movements that supported each other. Both went against rationalism of the Enlightenment and while the Gothic movement was about the supernatural and death, Romanticism explored themes of death as well. It focused more on nature though and the danger of that with the human mind (3). These two movements affected and grew through literature, architecture, and art at the time. Frankenstein is seen as a prime example of Gothic literature, but why was Mary Shelley so inspired by these movements to enhance them in her novel?
Literature in Gothic and Romanticism
Romanticism was all across Europe by the early 19th century (6). Horace Walpole wrote The Castle of Otranto in 1764, which wanted readers to be scared which was the style of Gothic literature (6). The Enlightenment wanted to inform and enlighten others, while Gothic novels wanted to readers to be scared instead of being informed. This created more of a fear of the undiscovered and unknown. There was also literature inspired by Romanticism as well, but there is a poem that combines both Romanticism and Gothic styles. This poem is The Eve of St. Agnes by John Keats (3). Frankenstein by Mary Shelley would be another example of Romanticism and Gothic literature as well. The setting is isolated in nature for most of the book and Victor's character is fascinated with learning natures secrets which makes up the Romanticism side of the novel. The Gothic side would be how Victor is trying to bypass death and also how Shelley is trying to scare us as readers with the creature. This is a prime example of a novel that is both Gothic and is inspired by Romanticism. Many other Gothic books from this time like with Mary Wollstonecraft's novel like Maria which focuses on the political issues of women at the time which talks against society like Gothic and Romanticism while talking about human nature and the human mind (7).
The Architecture of the Gothic
The Gothic style of architecture was very elaborate in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. It is kind of off-putting at first since we have been talking about the Romanticism movement being about nature and the Gothic movement being about the supernatural and death. Both however, were appreciative of times lost like the medieval ages, "...by the eighteenth century, ‘history’ had come to signify the locale of truth, ‘romance’, like poetry and other imaginative literature, marked its polar opposite," (7). Walpole was also inspired by Gothic architecture aesthetics for his literature with The Castle of Oranto (7). The Gothic influences the architecture to be mysterious and magical as well (7).
The Gothic Art and Romanticism
Art in the late 18th - early 19th century was inspired by the Romanticism movement. Romantic paintings were heavily inspired by nature and the beauty and horrors of nature (2).
Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix were very influential artists in this era and they stunned the public at The Salon in 1827 with Ingre's Apotheosis of Homer and Delacroix’s Death of Sardanapalus (2). Paintings depicting horrifying nature also went into the idea of the Sublime (2). French philosopher Denis Diderot explained the sublime by saying, "all that stuns the soul, all that imprints a feeling of terror, leads to the sublime.” (2). French and British paintings in this period focused on the horrifying power of nature like for example, shipwrecks. Théodore Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa was a great example of this fascination with nature triumphing against man (2). Figure 2 is Géricault’s painting that I am referring to. Romantic art also focused on the emotions of people as well and there were portraits depicting mental illness and the complexity of the human mind (2). This art style affected ideas and other mediums as well at the time with the idea of the Sublime and human darkness transferring over to Gothic literature as well. Figure 1 is a perfect example of art from this era. "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli, shows the complexity of a person's mental illness or mind with also a supernatural element of the demon sitting on the woman, which could also signify her mental state or death in the painting as well (1).
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
With all the inspiration from the Gothic and the Romanticism movements going on at the time through literature, art, and architecture going on at the time that she was writing her novel, Mary Shelley clearly was inspired by both movements. Frankenstien touches on many concepts from both movements at the time while also criticizing rationalism and science from the Enlightenment. Shelley used nature, isolation, and the fear of human nature while crafting her story which were big concepts in the Romanticism movement. The fear of the unknown and death were big Gothic concepts that Shelley used as well in her novel. Shelley also wrote about poltical issues in class that was more prominent in the darkness of the Gothic movement as well. All of these concepts that were being brought into the spotlight at the time with these two movements, Shelley could of had many inspirations to include them in her own novel. This makes Frankenstein one of the best examples for literature that combines the many ideas from this time period together in one narrative.
Works Cited
(1) Fuseli, Henry. The Nightmare. Oil Painting, 1781. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan.
(2) Galitz, Kathryn Calley. “Romanticism.” Metmuseum.org, 1 Oct. 2004, www.metmuseum.org/essays/romanticism. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
(3) Garcia, Ashley. “The Connection between Gothic & Romantic Literature.” Medium.com, 21 Apr. 2024, ashleybgarcia.medium.com/the-connection-between-gothic-romantic-c22137c077d0. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
(4) Géricault, Théodore. The Raft of the Medusa. Oil Painting, 1819. Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
(5) Sampson, Joshua. “Gothic Elements in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .” The Writing Post, 2 Jan. 2025, thewritingpost.com/2025/01/02/on-having-read-mary-shelleys-frankenstein/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
(6) Toll, Gritta von. “From Neo-Gothic to Knightly Romanticism: Medieval Revival in the 19th Century,” Barnebys.co.uk, Barnebys, 6 Mar. 2026, www.barnebys.co.uk/blog/from-neo-gothic-to-knightly-romanticism-medieval-revival-in-the-19th-century.
(7) Townshend, Dale. Gothic Antiquity: History, Romance, and the Architectural Imagination, 1760-1840. Oxford University Press, 2019
(8) Wright, Angela, and Dale Townshend. Romantic Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion. Edinburgh University Press, 2016. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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