Comparing Beowulf And Society In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred. "(Shelly 94).

This is prevalent due to the fact that the moment the monster is created, Victor calls it a catastrophe and is horrified by what he has created. He explained, “The beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 51). When Victor uses words such as “dream vanished”, “breathless horror” and “disgust” he is showing his emotions for the

The monster is also capable of wanton destruction when he burns down the DeLaceys’ house and dances “with fury around the devoted cottage”(123) like a savage. Finally, the monster seems to enjoy the pain he causes Frankenstein: “your sufferings will satisfy my everlasting hatred” (181) he writes to Victor. Were these pieces of evidence taken out of context, the reader would surely side with Frankenstein. But Shelley prevents such one-sidedness by letting the monster tell his version of the story. The monster’s first-person narrative draws the reader in and one learns that the creature is not abomination

While reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, I often found myself wondering who would be seen as more of a monster, Victor or Frankenstein. In my mind I saw Victor as the monstrous of all. Although the Creature’s physical traits were more beastly, Victor equalled the Creature’s looks mentally. They both knew what it meant to be alone, but Victor chose that life and the Creature’s fate was decided for him. In terms of life and death, both characters found a way to play “God.”

On the contrary Frankenstein killed because of anger and pleaded for a companion instead of randomly killing as well as wanting to escape mankind. Over all their actions, although are both isolated and lonesome, they come from different origins, and have distinctly different fates. Both monster have that tragedy that concludes why they commit their actions and behold their

Monsters are described as big, ugly, no-feelings creatures. They are also described as creatures of hell or creatures that are not acceptable in the society. This is disagreeable, not all monsters are ugly, and some monsters do have some feelings. The monster Grendel, in the book Grendel by the author John Gardner, shows that he is sensitive and has human's feeling traits even though he is a monster. Different events in the book, prove that the monster is impressionable and afraid.

He is portrayed in the poem as a horrendous beast with human characteristics, but looking closer to the text, he is a human out-casted and raised to be a monster. Although Grendel is written as a monstrous villain who kills with no remorse, he is actually a complex human with a repressed anger exploding in bursts. Grendel is often described in a negative way. He is reffered to as a demon in the text “from Beowulf”

Grendel is classified as a monster due to his outsider status of being an outcast, unreligious, and dishonorable, which establishes him as the antithesis of Anglo Saxon culture. As an outcast of society, Grendel represents the idea that in Anglo Saxon culture unity and cooperation is what holds society together. In a world classified by kinship and strong family lineage, Grendel is “conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God” (Heaney 22). In a society focused upon blood lineage and strong family ties, to be related to a “monster“ in any form is something sinful, and cause enough for complete hatred.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is used to show that people need companionship. She does this by showing how both the monster and Frankenstein are alienated by each other. Plot, imagery, and diction are used to get her point across. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses diction to show how the monster is alienated from society and how this affects him and ultimately Victor Frankenstein as well.

Frankenstein’s desire to possess forbidden knowledge lessened the pain he felt after his mother’s death. His uncontrollable grief contributed to the frantic rush in which Frankenstein created his monster, leaving it hideously mismatched and enormous. “Many of Frankenstein’s faults are evident in the appearance of his creation” (Creator’s). Frankenstein built Creature using dead and decaying body parts that added horror to the already terrifying size of the monster, easily allowing judgement of Creature’s character just based on his outward appearance.

Another great similarity between today 's and Frankenstein 's community is the judgement on how someone looks. Victor, passed his view on the monster based on how the monster, he created, looked. This hideous creature was stereotyped to be a mean , ignorant monster. "I beheld the wretch- the miserable monster whom I created. " This quote said by Frankenstein, gave proof that he believed that the monster he created, was pointless.

Perhaps the greatest similarity between Frankenstein and the Creature is their great hatred for one another. The Creature told Frankenstein himself that he " I declared everlasting war against the species, and more all, against him who had formed me and sent forth to this insupportable misery”(113). The Creature hates Frankenstein for not only creating him, but more so for abandoning him. Victor also hates the Creature, however for a different reason. Victor shouted in rage, "Scoffing devil!

What makes the creature in Frankenstein a monster is that he is both a scientific creation and his physical features and his actions of murder deviate from society’s expectations. Throughout the novel Frankenstein’s creation is never given a real name. Instead, society names the creature by his physical features. In the novel he is called; a “demoniacal corpse, wretch, daemon, devil, monster, ogre, the being and creature” (36, 68, 102, 164, 165). Besides not having a name, Frankenstein’s creature is also described using the terms deformity and monster.

After this rejection, the monster travels to Frankenstein, declaring that he “ought to be... Adam” but instead he is “the fallen angel” (93, Shelley).

Beowulf Impact on Society Beowulf is a brilliant piece of literature that greatly impacted the British society because of the qualities he obtained, his transformation to a mature adult, and his devotion to his society. Even though this story does not have a set author, readers are drawn to the thrilling challenges he conquered. Beowulf was a courageous individual who loved a good challenge. Even in the beginning Beowulf had the reputation of being strong, intelligent, brave, and bold.