Mary Shelly's Frankenstein: Towards A Feminist Figure Of Humanity?

When the name Frankenstein is uttered people immediately imagine this green monster with screws coming out of the side of his neck, and stitches on his head. This image pops into many people’s mind because they associate Victor Frankenstein with the monster he created, while some others are confused and think that the monster is named Frankenstein not the doctor who created him. However, those who call Frankenstein a monster may be correct. Throughout Frankenstein Mary Shelly used uncivilized thinking to show that the creation is less a monster, than is Doctor Frankenstein and society. The creation was turned into a monster by being a byproduct of society, and listening to what they called good and bad. Shelly uses uncivilized thinking by having

There will always be a controversy amongst the human race whether or not humans are innately good. If so, then the influence of society plays a major role on maintaining one’s good will. The theme humans are innately good is evident in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein through the actions and character development of the creature. Initially, the creature is innately good even though his creator abandons him, he continuously proves to be good through is acts of kindness and generosity, although, he is corrupted by rejection from society and his creator, turning him into a real monster.

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the author utilities traditional Gothic literary elements to create a semi-autobiographical, supernatural metaphor for her own experiences. Drawing from past tribulations as an outcast, Shelley tugs at the fabric of a classist society, unraveling the shroud of status to reveal a far darker plausibility- perhaps the development of an individual's character lies not solely on oneself, but rather, "individuality" evolves as a reaction to society. Through the manifestation of characterization, emotive diction, and select allusions, the author paints an insightful, poignant, multilayer -portrait of man's quest for righteousness, additionally illuminating the internal desire humanity possesses for acceptance.

In James Davis’ literary essay “Frankenstein and the Subversion of the Masculine Voice,” he discusses the oppression of women and the minor roles of females in Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein. With a feminist perspective, Davis claims, “He [Victor Frankenstein] oppresses female generation of life and of text; he rends apart both the physical and the rhetorical ‘form’ of female creativity. In fact, all three male narrators attempt to subvert the feminine voice, even in those brief moments when they tell the women’s stories” (307). Throughout his essay, Davis demonstrates the underlying message of Shelly’s subversion towards men and the social consequences of misogyny.

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

“I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.” (Shelley 69) Said by Frankenstein’s monster, this quote truly defines him: initially an affectionate, love-seeking creature, he transformed into an enraged killer, angry at humanity for the undeservedly poor way he was treated. Victor Frankenstein is an unique, complex individual who encounters a similar change of nature for similar reasons. The quote—though spoken by the monster—encapsulates the evolution of Victor Frankenstein’s personality; misery—a product of isolation and loneliness—aroused a deterioration of temperament from an initially benevolent Frankenstein.

The moment Victor Frankenstein successfully infuses life into his creation he is overcome with horror and disgust. Without further examination he is certain to have created a monster, not a human being (Shelley 35-36). However, despite his grotesque appearance, Frankenstein’s creature was not born malicious. During the first stages of his existence, unbeknownst to Frankenstein himself, his acts are motivated by innocence and virtue, which even earns him the title “good spirit” (79). Frankenstein did not create a monster. An unsatisfied need for a sense of belonging transforms Frankenstein’s creature into the monster it ultimately becomes. Therefore, I argue that the predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the need for social belonging

In the novel “Frankenstein”, written by Mary Shelley in 1818, illustrates the human nature in which consists of ambition versus responsibility as well as innocent versus evil. At the beginning of the story, Captain Robert Walton is introduced as the first character by narrating in the series of letters that he writes to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton functions as a foil character for Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist and main narrator. By contrasting and highlighting Victor’s characteristics in the book, they have similarities in the desire of acknowledgment in achievement, loneliness, and differences in the realization of life.

Throughout history, many pieces of literature have been composed that tell the tales of various heroes and villains. Oftentimes, it is quite clear which characters are heroes and which characters are classified as villains. However, there are also several texts that have characters that can be argued as appearing in either category of characters. Oftentimes, these borderline characters play minor roles in the story line. However, in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the main character, Victor Frankenstein, can appear to certain readers as both hero and villain. There are several scenarios throughout the novel that point to Victor Frankenstein as

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, the author of Frankenstein wrote the novel as an attempt to be involved into a group ghost story writing competition what she did not know was the effects it would have on literature for the rest of time. The story Frankenstein is about a young man named Victor Frankenstein who is obsessed with discovering something that has never been seen or done. In seeing a tree being stricken by lightning he gets the idea to create life out of dead skins and body parts of the dead to create this being. What he did not know was going to occur was that this monster would be the death of him. Mary Shelley uses the idea of progress which is the consequences or effects of a person or a thing in another one’s doing. Throughout the book Mary Shelley

As the daughter of one of the most renowned Feminist of the nineteenth century, Shelley illustrates the various women in the novel with idealized characteristics. The characterization of Elizabeth depicts the ideal woman that most feminists encouraged all women to become. One of the most important traits that Shelley integrates into Elizabeth’s character is the ability to demonstrate intelligence over a man. During Justine’s trial, Frankenstein contemplated many times, confessing of his crime, however, he was concerned about his image and convinced himself that it would not significantly help Justine’s case. “A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty...but I was absent when it was committed, and such a declaration...would

The Victorian Gothic’s engagement with the female monster dated back to Mary Shelly whose 1818 novel which submitted it as a new staple in Gothic literature to the “stock features” established in canonical texts. Frankenstein acutely changed the “[t]he architecture of fear” which was no longer dependent on “the conniving villain,” but rather on the physiognomy of the body, giving way thus to rise of the she-monster that helped her respond to the threatening perils of the rising of a new scientific enlightenment that loomed over in the outset of the nineteenth-century (Judith Halberstam 28-29). Accordingly, the female monster turned out to be “the heartbeat of much gothic intertextualisation” (34). It turned out to be a feminist cause as an

Author Mary Shelley was on August 30, 1797, in London, England. She was the descendant of theorist and political writer William Godwin and renowned feminist Mary Wollstonecraft the author of The Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Shelley unfortunately didn’t know who her mother was as she died after a short time of her birth. William Godwin who was Shelley father was the only one left to take care of her. The step sister Fanny Imlay was Wollstonecraft's offspring from an affair, with a soldier. Frankenstein is a book by Marry Shelley regarding a learner of science named Victor Frankenstein, who generates a hideous but receptive creature in an eccentric technological trial. The novel was written at the age of eighteen

Naomi Hetherington is a member of the University of Sheffield, the department of lifelong learning. She is an early researcher in sexuality, religious culture, the 19th-century literature, and gender. She holds a BA in Theology and religious studies, an MA and a Ph.D. in Victorian Literature. She currently teaches four-year pathway literature degree at Sheffield University for students who have already attained foundation degrees. Among the books, she has written the critique of Frankenstein. I strongly agree with her thesis. Naomi feels that many people perceive the story as that of a high targeter who aims at archiving things that only God can accomplish and instead tends to imply