The Responsibility Of Parents In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Mary Shelley was twenty-one years old when she wrote Frankenstein. Therefore, the effects of her parents were still fresh. That, combined with inspiration from her literary husband, created a large theme in her novel, the role of parents. Through the lack of caring progenitors in Frankenstein, Shelley is arguing that detached parents allow for a negative upbringing, therefore urging them to be present in one's life. The first hinting of the parent theme is Victor Frankenstein’s guardians. His parents understood the responsibility of a parent as they fed and clothed him, but not the emotional aspects of it. They had trouble expressing the correct affection to him so he believed that they had a special affection for each other, “Victor...who

Slightly similar to Victor’s upbringing, there is no emotional supplement to aid in the creature's development. Having no one to care for him, the creature goes on a murderous rampage in spite of his absent creator. Parallel to Victor’s parents, he understands his responsibilities, “and did I not as his maker, owe him, all the portion of happiness that it was in my power to bestow?" (Shelley 146). However, he does not follow through. The monster had to understand and teach himself the ways of the world, and without the love or support of Victor, he had to answer questions that his progenitor left in his wake. “I was dependent on none and related to none...My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them” (Shelley 117). He uses the word ‘hideous’ when describing himself because that's how he sees himself. However, no one was there to tell him that his personality counts as well, and he can still be happy. Unable to handle his fury, the creature murders Victor’s family and is seen as the monster everyone expected him to