Frankenstein is more a novel of terror than of horror as it is still heavily bound to the Gothic and romantic movements of the time. Although Shelley started out with the goal of writing a great horror story, the focus on Victor's torment and pursuit links far more heavily to terror than it does horror. Yeah, some "horrific" things happen, but the emotional ruin and perpetual sense of unease borrow more from earlier titles of terror. Many of the texts that followed Frankenstein, however, upped the horror factor considerably (so it is still linked to the the eventual trend of Gothic horror). Not everyone divides the two though, so academic feels vary on this subject.SnowRayjah wrote:Hmm, maybe not the first ever Sci-Fi novel, but there were definitely some very interesting points. I think what it really lacks is the explanation of what would truly be "scientific." From what I've noticed Sci-Fi relies a lot heavier on the explanation of how and why things work. Technically, it is the lightning that gives the Creature life. Why? That's not addressed in the story. As far as we know the outside element, something else (something supernatural?) intervened. Of course, in context at the time people were concerned with what science could do. So on that note, yes it is more sci-fi because sci-fi always touches up on current events with medical or scientific breakthroughs. as Mikari said there were sci-fi elements; it's easy to put traces of other genres into stories though.
I really classify it as Horror more than science fiction. It brings fear and atrocities and makes them real, which for me is key component of horror more than science fiction. I also believe that Shelley made more a point of the horror than the explanation of it (ie. The creature chases after Victor and torments him. Victor never knows where it's going to be. It drives him insanity). Perhaps even a dark fantasy, but I have a hard time agreeing with the term "science fiction" to classify. Maybe that's just me though. I recognize more elements from what it means to be "horror" than science fiction.
The book is indeed considered a cornerstone of the science fiction genre by many scholars (though it isn't really omgthefirstevah -- it's often cited this way because Victor consciously turns to science but blahblahblah that's a story for another day). Scientific explanation for the experiment's success, beyond Victor's channeling of the lightning isn't necessarily required for the whole set up to be considered science fiction. There are differing elements within science fiction and hard explanations of devices or methods aren't required to link a book to the genre. (Hard sci-fi, well, that's a different kettle of fish entirely.) Victor employs his medical and scientific knowledge to do what he does, the fact that we're not privy to the nitty-gritty behind the whole thing doesn't negate the employment of a fictitious scientific experiment to birth the creature. All the genre asks is that the imaginary concepts contained in a text be ostensibly plausible (in the right context). There's no magic in the way Victor creates the creature (unless you count the strike intervening and even then, that's a stretch), it is a labour of intellect and fortitude. Sure, it might seem a little silly in retrospect that all it took was a lightning strike to bring the creature to life, but only a few decades before Shelley wrote her novel, Luigi Galvani was conducting experiments in which he ran electrical currents through dead animals. It was certainly a primitive examination of bioelectricity, but given the going theory during Shelley's time was that there was electrical fluid in our nerves, Victor's experiment doesn't seem nearly as far-fetched in context.