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).

The most outstanding example of ostracism that occurred throughout the novel is based on the monster’s physical features and structure. 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

He calls on the “spirits of the dead” and “wandering ministers” so that the “cursed and hellish monster drink deep of agony” and feel “the despair that now torments me”(179). 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.

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.” Victor and the Creature seem to rival each other for the title of “the monster.” Everyone saw the Creature, including his creator, as a hideous monster.

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”

He is considered inherently evil, and is an outcast; he roams alone and commits devilish atrocities whenever he pleases. 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. The monster describes his first experience as being "endowed with perceptions and passions and then cast abroad for the scorn and horror of mankind" (Shelley 119).

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. Creature’s looks inhibited his capability of fitting into society despite his civilized manner.