Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of the greatest Gothic novels to come out during the Romantic period. Frankenstein is a great example of what a Gothic novel should present to its reader through the genre's twisted themes. Even though it was written in the Romantic period, Mary Shelley still wrote that Frankenstein was a gothic literary work. Many characteristics of the Gothic novel can be seen in this novel. Mary Shelley's outstanding novel Frankenstein is a great example of a Gothic novel because of the many characteristics of a Gothic novel that mark it as a Gothic work. The Gothic genre, or otherwise known as the Gothic novel, was a popular form of literature during the time Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Mary Shelley used the Gothic genre of romantic literature in writing the novel Frankenstein. She may also have been influenced by the gothic structure, Castle Frankenstein, to write the gothic novel Frankenstein (Williams 3). Gothic novels were a type of fiction that became popular in England during the 1700s and early 1800s (Dunn 279). Gothic novels were mysteries that often involved the supernatural and were heavily horror-filled (?). Mary Shelly's Frankenstein was one of the most important Gothic novels of the Romantic era (?). According to Frank J. Dunn, “By the 1800s, elements of the Gothic novel appeared in other forms of fiction that shared its interest in the terrible and exotic (279).” Gothic novels follow a set of many characteristics and aspects that help define what it truly is. Gothic novels have many different characteristics: they evoke both physical and psychological terror, they have characters who remain isolated in time and space from contemporaneity... middle of paper... Shelley's Frankenstein truly shows the truth the essence of what a Gothic novel should represent through the many different characteristics of a Gothic novel. Mary Shelley takes these few key characteristics and turns them into a true depiction of a Gothic novel. The transformations of these basic Gothic characteristics are what allowed Mary Shelley to create her exceptional and important Gothic novel, Frankenstein. Works Cited "Gothic Novels". The World Book Encyclopedia. And. . vol. 22. 2012. Print. "Frankenstein". The World Book Encyclopedia. And. . vol. 22. 2012. Print.Williams, Kate. "Monster Ink." New Statesman 141.5088 (2012): 50. MAS Ultra - School edition. Network. March 17, 2012Kestner, Joseph. "Narcissism as Symptom and Structure: The Case of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." Frankenstein, Botting, Fred, ed., pp.68-80. London: Macmillan, 1995.