How does Mary Shelly utilise the Gothic in her novel Frankenstein?

Shelley uses elements of the Gothic in order to emphasise the intensity of the situation the characters find themselves in. She describes extreme landscapes such as 'immense mountains and precipices that overhung me on both sides' (Pg. 97) to focus the reader on the loneliness of both Frankenstein and the Monster. Throughout the novel we see various locations described in this way that each signify moments of isolation for the creature and his creation. This is established immediately through the frame story in which Walton’s ship is frozen in the Arctic North. The freezing temperatures and the ‘vast and irregular plains of ice’ (Pg. 25) that make up this landscape represent the emotionally cold world in which the story takes place and the inevitable doom which the central characters must eventually face.The Gothic is also representative of the omnipotence and power of God. Shelley utilises the gothic trope of lightning and stormy weather as a metaphor for the presence of God throughout the novel and this metaphor develops alongside the narrative. It is first described in an encounter witness by a 15 year-old Frankenstein. He observes “I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak […] and so soon as the dazzling light vanished the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained by a blasted stump. […] I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed.” (Pg. 40) Frankenstein witnesses the power of God and this is his first taste of the power he himself wishes to harness. Shelley’s choice of adjectives such as ‘dazzling’ and ‘beautiful’ paint a picture of awe and amazement rather than fear. It is only later that this power is turned against Frankenstein as akin to Icarus in the Greek myth, he flies too close to the sun. Frankenstein usurps the power of God in creating the creature. After this moment, lightning is presented as a reminder of the creator’s horrific deed and attempt to play God. When the creature is first described Shelley presents the reader with ‘a flash of lightning’ in which Frankenstein sees the ‘filthy demon to whom I had given life.’ (Pg. 60) God quite literally illuminates Frankenstein’s failed attempt to usurp his power. This will follow Frankenstein throughout his long and fateful journey, one which leads to his ultimate demise.