Good And Evil In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Both authors paint a grotesque picture of their creations and how they both desire to destroy beauty; Aesthetic Iconoclasm, that is shared between the two figures. However, both authors present their monsters separate to one another in philosophy; with Grendel being a mindless savage and the Monster being more contemplative and questioning the nature of its own creation. ‘Monster’ characters have always been a target of both folk tales and pagan myths since the dawn of humanity, the very concept of a monstrous creature harkens back to the primal fear instinct of facing a dangerous predator that presents a danger to humanity. Grendel from Beowulf is the perfect example of this hysteria and

The renowned literature Frankenstein, written in 1818 by Mary Shelley is one of the most influential gothic novels, as well as has inspired many genres of horror films, plays, and stories. In the novel Frankenstein, her characters are unable to recognize the creature as a human rather than a monster due to his frightening image. Mary Shelley’s story displays how society places an immense amount of judgment based off one 's physical features. She suggests that one 's appearance can indicate their inner self-worth due to society’s influence and harsh opinions. When the creature had first came to life, his creator shrieked in horror from his appearance, which made Frankenstein traumatized and resulted in him seeking vengeance.

Doctor Frankenstein’s Biggest Regret The greatest minds have the potential to cause the greatest harm. This is evident in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, as the main character, the brilliant Doctor Frankenstein, through discarded body parts creates a monster, which results in harming the people that mean the most to him. In Doctor Frankenstein’s innocent efforts to figure out the key to life, he ultimately unlocks a tragic door for himself and others. Behind this door, he finds that the knowledge he searched for should have stayed hidden, exemplifying his tragic flaw.

Frankenstein additionally utilizes alliteration when he says, 'great God'. He is likewise cursing which was viewed as a terrible sin around then. The connection can then be made with Frankenstein playing God by making a human. " God" is a monosyllabic word so the audience’s attention is hooked.. The accentuation likewise does this since exclamation marks are set after short phrases.

Freudian readings of Frankenstein see the monster as the outward expression of Victor 's id or his demoniacal passions. In other words, Victor and the monster are the same person. Hence, Victor must keep the monster secret. His hope to create a being "like myself" is fulfilled in the monster whose murders we must see as expressions of Victor 's own desires. Victor calls himself "the true murderer" of

Evil is an ever present aspect within the existence of humanity. Satan, a real and powerful being, constantly influences the world through his evil and manipulative ways in order to bring destruction and chaos to earth. Perhaps one of the most evil characters ever written about, Iago, from Shakespeare’s Othello, also portrays many traits that are similar to those seen in Satan. Throughout the Bible and throughout Shakespeare’s Othello, both Satan and Iago share many characteristics and differences of poisonous evil within their manipulative words, origins of jealousy, and their malicious acts, but differ in where this power comes from.

Frankenstein Psychoanalysis In “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, we can understand Victor Frankenstein and the Monster’s behavior by using psychoanalysis. Victor and the Monster go through major conflicts throughout the novel because of their inquisitive and unyielding nature. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an excellent example of psychoanalysis because of the characters, Victor Frankenstein and the Monster. Using psychoanalysis helps us understand and get into to the minds of the characters.

In the novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, Victor and the Creature are the main references when it comes to the issues of morality. Several themes such as good versus evil, prejudice, and ambition & fallibility, the importance of friendship along with references to other famous texts like the Christian bible are manifested through the use of Victor and the Creature as they interact with each other allowing readers to construe examples of morality. Many debaters may argue the Creature is “evil” since a majority of his actions harm others while Victor is good because he was the victim and seeks to destroy his creation. However, one may counter this argument if they accentuate Victor is evil since he was the Creature’s creator,

Hawthorne’s use of words such as “mournful,” “sinful,” “dreadful,” “horror,” “shadow,” and “red stigma” create a dark and deathly tone (Hawthorne 381). This tone associates directly with Chillingworth which adds to his nightmarish portrayal in the passage. Hawthorne also uses imagery to portray Chillingworth as a symbol of the devil in the quote “the devil knew it well and fitted it continually with the touch of his burning finger!” he literally calls Chillingworth the devil, and “now at the death-hour, he stands before you” is also used to portray him as the devil because the “death-hour” is foreshadowing the apocalypse and soon coming end to the novel (Hawthorne 381). Chillingworth’s portrayal as evil and the devil is used in the book to reveal that seeking revenge towards Hester caused hate to manifest inside him and transformed him into a much darker and more evil being than he once was in the beginning of the book.

It portrays the danger of obsession because Frankenstein has defied all laws of science and nature and created life without knowing the risk and as a result, he becomes terrified of his creation as if the creature would bring upon danger. Chapter five is also a biblical allusion to God and his creation of Adam and Eve where Victor Frankenstein represents God and the creature represents Adam. God created Adam and Eve on the notion that they would do good in the world. Similarly, Victor created the monster thinking it would be a service to humanity. These themes tells readers that in the 19th century, it was the beginning of the breakthrough of scientific and medical advancements of technologies.

Victor also compares the monster to Satan. Logically, if the creation of Frankenstein/ the mortal enemy of Frankenstein is the equivalent to the creation of God/ Satan, then Frankenstein is considered to be “playing god.” Victor is also referred to many times in the text as the “creator”. What is contrasting about their biblical counterparts is that the monster (the equivalent to Satan) is capable of good and Victor (the equivalent to God) is capable of sin. This meaning behind the allusion is most clearly seen in chapter 15

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.

In many novels symbolism functions as a way to reveal much of what is intended for the reader to understand about characters and the work as a whole. Symbols can be ideas, objects, or actions that constitute multiple interpretations or meanings. This is also true for many older novels including Frankenstein. Throughout the gothic fiction novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the use of symbolism and the role it partakes in the entirety of the story signifies its importance. There are many symbols throughout the novel some including light and fire, the creation story, and exploration.

When one hears of atrocious deeds, there is a common gut reaction to uncover the background of the person who committed the crime. There is a psychological inclination to discover what exactly happened in a person's life to drive them to evil acts. People with more unfavorable upbringings tend to be regarded less severely for their wrongdoings. The novel, Frankenstein tackles this notion beautifully with the infamous character of Frankenstein's creature. The creature's life allows the reader to empathize with him as he suffers from the betrayal of his own creator, other human beings, lack of moral understanding, and utter hopelessness when he finally exacts his revenge.