Mary Shelley 's, Frankenstein, depicts the inevitable downfall of Victor Frankenstein, the doctor who created a monster that in the end destroys him. From the start of the novel, Victor tries his best to catch the monster who is running north. From there Victor begins to tell the story of his miscreation, and all the disasters the monster causes. Shelley 's novel is combined with a variation of allusions that showcase her work and enhances the novel 's overall meaning.
“Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be they Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel. Whom thou drive from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded…” (87)
In Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture (Seven Thesis), Cohen analyzes the psychology behind monsters and how, rather than being a monstrous beast for the protagonist of the story to play against, “the monster signifies something other than itself”. Cohen makes the claim that by analyzing monsters in mythology and stories, you can learn much about the culture that gave rise to them. In Thesis 1 of Monster Culture, Cohen proposes that “the monster’s body literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy”, specifically the fear, desire and anxiety of the cultures that gave rise to it;; fFor example, vVampires, undead, represent a fear of death. Monsters are born of an intense fear, desire, or internal conflict, “at this metaphorical
Throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the reader is torn between the forces of good and evil, as well as which characters represent which force. Perhaps the most masterful element of this novel is conveying how an individual can not be judged as wholly good or evil, and how having elements of both traits greatly forms the human experience. By using the motifs of light and dark to represent the positives and negatives of humanity, Mary Shelley is able to effectively convey character traits, depict transitions of good and evil within characters, and employ haunting symbolism and imagery into the novel and transform it into a literary masterpiece.
Consumed with the idea of creating life, Victor did not think of the effects his actions would create. The creation of Victor’s monster completely changed Victor both mentally and physically. It also changed society because the monster was the reason why specific people were killed. The chain reaction that was started created a whole new world of chaos. The only thing that saved the rest of the world was the fact that Victor kept the secret of life to himself. The monster took over his mind before it was created, affected his life while it was alive, and was the reason Victor died.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an attempt at connection—a narrative woven by its three principal narrators that attempts to share their legacies, dreams, and destructive secrets. The novel begins with the sea captain Walton writing to his sister about his longing for a companion, a wish paralleled by the other collaborators of this tale. The whole narrative, therefore, is an effort to connect with others and alleviate loneliness and seclusion. It is fitting then, that this very notion of isolation is the greatest destructive force in the novel, as it facilitates and prompts monstrous behaviors. Emotional isolation from both family and society drives Frankenstein and his creation to dangerous and vengeful behaviors, which ultimately cause their
Often in a literary work, authors use minor characters to emphasize specific traits and characteristics of a main character. In Mary Shelley’s best selling novel Frankenstein, the monster is a minor reflection of Victor Frankenstein. Victor’s personality traits from when he was a child, and as an adult, are carried over and placed into his creation unintentionally by Victor himself. As the monster grows older, his comparison to victor becomes more and more evident, and their likeness creates a conflict between the two characters.
It is quite telling that the most severe punishment in our society other than the death penalty or torture is solitary confinement. Although, isolation is in itself a form of torture, it can drive someone to the brink of insanity. Although published nearly 200 years ago, Mary Shelley clearly understood the potential detrimental effects of isolation, as demonstrated in her famous novel, Frankenstein, where both main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, suffer from and cause isolation for the other. Mary Shelley directs the reader to believe that isolation is the true evil, not the monster, Victor or any emotion inside of them. At the beginning of the novel, Victor is isolated from other people, causing to forget his scientific
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein examines how the presence of a mother, negatively or positively, affects the development of a child. Victor’s mother, Caroline Frankenstein, dies while Victor is still a young man (he is about 17 years old), breaking their relationship between mother and son. Because Victor loses his bond with his mother, he is unable to act as a mother would when he creates his creature. Caroline Frankenstein’s absence in Victor’s life creates a disunion between the mother and child bond, which is evident in Victor’s creation and his fragmented relationship with the creature.
An abandoned life from society and that doesn’t follow normal activities could make you a romantic hero. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, she portrays the main character, Victor, as a man that is intent of learning more about nature. Victor begins to make mistakes which causes him to be full of sorrow and exiled from society. Victor begins to possess some traits from Byronic list of traits that romantic heroes possess. Rejection from community and social norms, persistent loneliness. He is also similar to the Greek God, Prometheus, who saved mankind but, only after stealing fire and ignoring Zeus’ orders. She creates this perception by using strong word choice and diction.
Victor Frankenstein chooses to create this monster to help mankind transcend death, but also because he is so fascinated in the science department. On page 77 of the novel, Victor states “and make myself useful to my beings” (77), which backs up the fact that he does it for the good of humanity. At the very beginning of the novel he talks about his enthusiasm and fascination with science. Hence, it was the combination of Victor 's obsession with creating life and the many new discoveries taking place around him such as chemistry that made Victor suppose that he could use all the resources he did to construct his monster.
Mary Shelley uses Frankenstein's rationalizations to show how his ego seeks to protect itself. Shelley focuses on how Frankenstein's ego gives Frankenstein a warped sense of reality. This warped sense of reality is first seen when Frankenstein decides to go from having little scientific experience to creating life from nothing. His ego forces him to labor with rot and the dead to achieve a mythical status as first and lone creator of life, further blinding him to the horror of his creation. As the novel progresses, Shelley uses ego to once again rationalize Frankenstein's actions. Shelley uses Frankenstein's injustices towards women to show how Victor's ego works only to further itself. The fact that Frankenstein will allow innocent women to
Although the question of “who is to blame” Is up in the air, it’s quite obvious that the monster was directly to blame for the murders. But, when you think about the fact that he was merely created and not born, so he wasn’t able to differentiate right from wrong, or how to control his feelings. His anger was stemmed from his hate of his creator Victor. The wrongs that Victor did unto the creature is what caused the creature’s anger to overtake whatever bit of logical thinking and ability to reason and in a way, throw it out it out the window. So, physically speaking, the creature was to blame. Although, the person to blame behind the deaths in Frankenstein would be the person who decided to make the monster in the first place. If you create
The term victim describes anyone who suffers as a result of one or multiple unfortunate incidents. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley portrays a number of different characters as potential victims, in particular: the creature, and Dr. Frankenstein. The similarities among the two in initial experiences create difficulty in labelling one as the true victim. However, as the story progresses, it is evident that the creature is able to overcome his fate of victimization by actively responding to his unsuccessful experiences. Whereas, Dr. Frankenstein suffers as a victim due to his cowardly reaction to his misfortunes. In the novel, Dr. Frankenstein is believed to be the true victim of the
As teenagers grow, they rebel and leave the nest, and can have little thought as to how this affects other people. Juliet Capulet is a stunning example of this exact concept. At 13, Juliet is finally growing into herself and who she wants to be, and becoming a fully fledged woman by leaving her childhood comforter, the Nurse, for her husband, and earning the title of “Maturing Woman”. Her growth and maturation as a person can be seen clearly through the play, coming clearly into the light in Act 3 Scene 5, first through her conversation with her mother and the masterful way she worked through those rocky waters, and secondly through her comment about the nurse and how they will never be as close. Capulet also calls her