Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic novel that tells the story of scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and his obsession with creating human life. This leads him to creating a gruesome monster made of body-parts stolen from grave yards, whom upon discovering his hideousness, the monster seeks revenge against his creator, causing Victor to regret the creation of his monster for the rest of his life. Shelley uses the literary elements of personification, imagery, and similes to give a vivid sense and visualization of Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and feelings as well as to allow us to delve deeper into the monster’s actions and emotions.
Mary Shelley has employed multiple means of motif throughout this text. I will speak of the weather motif. The weather motif is a device Mary Shelley uses as a way to relaying mood to the audience (readers of the book). When Victor creates the Monster, the weather is dark, dreary, and stormy. This is both a means of establishing the creepy and decrepit mood, and hinting at a negative event. When he goes to Ingolstadt, the weather is lovely, almost a bit too lovely. Indeed, the section almost is akin to a vivid scene painted in the beautiful hues of Arsenic green, when I read it, I personally found it plastic, and not permanent. In the section it it joyous, however, immediately after, he is informed of the wee William's death. The killer
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
When writing any piece of fiction, an author 's choice of narrative voice has a huge impact on how readers experience the story. From the slightly less personal yet versatile third-person to the narrow, limited view of first-person, the narrative voice literally provides the voice of literature. It affects which characters the reader really connects with, the opinions that influence them, the knowledge they have, and numerous other aspects. While most authors stick with only one tense, Mary Shelley challenged that standard in Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley changes her narrative voice numerous times in order to fully develop all aspects of the story through Walton 's letters, Frankenstein 's story, the Monster 's story, and also the
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.
The fictional horror novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is driven by the accentuation of humanity’s flaws. Even at the very mention of her work an archetypal monster fills one’s imagination, coupled with visions of a crazed scientist to boot. Opening her novel with Robert Walton, the conduit of the story, he also serves as a character to parallel the protagonist’s in many ways. As the ‘protagonist’ of the story, Victor Frankenstein, takes on the mantle of the deluded scientist, his nameless creation becomes the embodiment of a truly abandoned child – one left to fend for itself against the harsh reality posed by society. On the other hand, Walton also serves as a foil to Victor – he is not compulsive enough to risk what would be almost
Frankenstein. A name that is known around the world. Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, wrote this classic in 1818 when she was 19 years old. Mary Shelley did not anticipate that her book would grow to be this well known. Though she did plan how the book’s motifs and themes would be significant, including internal conflict. The internal conflict in Frankenstein creates interest because it evokes emotion from the reader, causes character motivation, and displays dynamic characters.
Throughout the book Frankenstein, Mary Shelly uses nature imagery to show the character’s emotions and mood. Mary Shelley often uses nature and the character’s surroundings to reflect the character’s mood. In chapter 11, the monster is alone during the winter, having to survive in this unfamiliar world he is cold and frightened especially during the cold winter nights. “It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate.” (Shelly, 105) In this chapter the author uses the harsh winter conditions to reflect the monster’s loneliness and sadness. Another important role of nature is that nature offers spiritual renewal to the characters. In chapter 12, the arrival of spring is able
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Robert Walton is on a voyage to discover unexplored knowledge. While on this journey he finds Victor Frankenstein, who tells the reader of his own journey to discover the unknown. In this novel, Mary Shelley employs literary devices such as repetition, imagery, and rhetorical questions to provide meaning to the audience. For example, the author uses repetition to emphasize Elizabeth’s confidence. Expressing her frustration with the situation Elizabeth repeats, “But she was innocent. I know, I feel, she was innocent” (Shelley 63). The repetition used in this phrase shows how Elizabeth feels very irritated with the circumstance she is currently in. Another way Shelley uses literary devices to convey
As W. Somerset Maugham once said, “Passion doesn’t count the cost...Passion is destructive.” In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein leaves Geneva, his home town in the pursuit of knowledge, ding so he created a creature. Frankenstein gets frightened after the created the creature, so he leaves the creature in fear, only when he returns the creature is no longer there. The creature goes off on his own and get revenge on Victor by murder the people he is close to. Victor wants the creature dead and the creature wants Victor dead, in the end they both get what they wanted. The theme that passion can be destructive is shown through the creature, Victor's self destruction, and Victor and the creature’s passion to get revenge on each other.
The overflow of emotions in Marry Shelly's Frankenstein defines it as a Romantic work. Emotions unify the characters at various points in the story, portray their individual personalities, and contrast them against each other. The influence of nature on the thread of emotions and how the inner feelings of main characters are interpreted by others emphasizes the importance of emotions to the Romantics.
principal cause of each of their suffering. As such, In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the pursuit of
Duality is shown in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, a gothic tale of a scientist whom looks to advance the life-giving qualities of mother nature. Through this novel, Shelley proves that good and evil in human nature is not always simple to define, and that everyone has both of these qualities within them. The duality of human nature is shown through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster, who are both heroes in the novel while simultaneously displaying anti-hero qualities. Shelley forces the reader to sympathize with them both but also creates gruesome ideas of the two.
The classic novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1818, displays the use of literary devices, foreshadowing, allusions and figurative language, which aid the reader in understanding the authors opinion on scientific exploration. These techniques are used to arouse anticipation within the reader, therefore engaging them throughout the text. Along with providing a greater understanding of the novel, by referring to other books, and using the novel to portray the authors own perspective on scientific exploration. All these devices are effectively used within the novel to provide a deeper understandings of Mary Shelley’s work.
In the narrative, Mary Shelley carefully introduces various aspects of the tradition of Romantic literature and thus, the novel can also be understood as a mirror to the society of that era. Few of the Romantic thoughts evident in Frankenstein are, the idea of individualism, yearning for a utopic state, nostalgic remembrance, the symbolic use of nature and most evidently, the presence of gothic elements that showcase intense emotions and horror. Furthermore, Shelley uses the voice of three different narrators-Walton, Victor and The Monster, to engage the audience and make them understand all the three viewpoints. Through the epistolary and framed narrative, she also continues to establish new themes as the novel proceeds. The skilful use of literary devices such as allusions, monologues, imagery and metaphors helps to dramatize the text and create an impact on the readers’ mind. Additionally, two of the most impressive aspects in Frankenstein are the foreshadowing of events and the adverse use of intertextuality. Shelley by using words such as ‘fate’ and ‘omen’ sets up the course of the book in an intriguing manner. Notably though, events such as Victor referring to his genius as “the fatal impulse that lead to my ruin” (24) establishes a firm ground for foreshadowing and prepares the reader for what evil is yet to come. As previously