ipl-logo

Alienation And The Creature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

1489 Words6 Pages

Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, is a novel that explores to answer the questions that many philosophers have pondered upon. This book is mostly famous for the richness of ideas it asks mankind to confront—how the uneducated and deprived people are treated, how knowledge could be used for good and evil, and how the influence of technology affects mankind. The novel is about Victor Frankenstein, who is a young, talented scientist obsessed with discovering the secret of creating life. While studying in a university, he works alone in his apartment and creates a living being by recycling old body part from deceased people. At first, the creature created seems gentle and harmless, but because of its grotesque appearance, he is forced to hide away from civilization. This “Monster” feels frustrated and angry towards mankind, which leads him to seek revenge on his creator. The author presents an exceptional character in Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the Creature. They are almost like two halves of a …show more content…

Alienation is the common attribute between the two main characters. Victor Frankenstein is perhaps the only character that more or less chooses alienation by himself because of his desire for knowledge. In the end, Victor becomes the “prisoner of his own creation.” On the other hand, “The Monster” is from birth abandoned in solitude, it is the experiences the monster encounters in life that reflect his actions. The monster is greeted with disgust and violence even though he introduces himself with friendly intentions. By giving the Creature a voice, the reader can sympathize with the suffering caused by the humans. The characters in Frankenstein are all victims of loneliness and alienation. Neither of the characters chose to be in this situation, they are victims because of the actions of others, subsequently leaving them in the grip of

Show More
Related

  • Biblical References And Allusions In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    767 Words  | 4 Pages

    Biblical references can be found in many pieces of literature. Mary Shelley makes many references and allusions to the bible so as to explore themes and inject her viewpoint into her book, Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley explores the danger of knowledge by creating a story with strong ties to the bible to display a negative attitude towards the pursuit of knowledge.     Shelley creates a parallel between the story of Adam and Eve and Frankenstein and through this comparison portrays knowledge as dangerous and harmful. Before Frankenstein created the creature his life was wonderful.

    Read More

  • Personal Responsibility In Mary Shelley's Paradise Lost

    569 Words  | 3 Pages

    This profound statement raises the important question of personal responsibility for both the creator and the created. Victor Frankenstein, the ambitious protagonist of the gothic novel, is ardent with revealing the deepest, darkest mysteries of existence, and is lead by modern science and the occult to discover the methods to create life. By this dramatic discovery, Frankenstein is able to create an engineered man, a proclaimed monstrosity, whose miserable destiny perpetually connects with his creator’s. The novel chillingly dramatizes the dangerous potential of life begotten, and subsequently rejected upon a laboratory table, and shows

    Read More

  • Examples Of Make Way For The New Oedipus

    1019 Words  | 5 Pages

    Make Way for the New Oedipus: Victor Frankenstein! How could Victor Frankenstein, protagonist of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, know that imbuing life to inanimate matter would bring so much sorrow? After creating a creature from corpses and animating it, Frankenstein’s life spirals downhill. The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a tragedy in of Ancient Greek style. This essay will prove this thesis by showing how the plot structure matches the Ancient Greek tragedies, describing Frankenstein’s peripeteia, and by defining Frankenstein as a tragic hero.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Frankenstein And The Prestige

    1077 Words  | 5 Pages

    When it comes to Frankenstein, the book affirms the wisdom and creativity of human beings while it also shows human’s destructive power where Victor is the symbol of the entire mankind. It is necessary for human beings to challenge their self-wisdom and exploration of nature, however, natural balances would be broken when the investigation goes beyond a boundary line and the only disaster will be brought then. Consequently, the writer advocates the readers and the society to adjust their understanding and prediction about exploring nature’s secret in order to prevent the happening of exact same thing and to alarm scientists and citizens the risk of it at all

    Read More

  • Examples Of Alienation In Frankenstein

    1191 Words  | 5 Pages

    The monster is a novel that tries to provide answers to questions that have been able to confuse the author and readers. Published in 1818, the novel is famous for the rich ideas that challenges the mankind’s knowledge and its probability to be used for the good and evil motives, how the uneducated people in the society have been able to be treated over time in the society and in understanding the influence of the advancement in technology have been able to affect mankind. The novel is about Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant scientist who tries to work out the meaning of life. He works in the laboratory and tries to create a creature out of organs of a dead man and manages to create a monster.

    Read More

  • Inhumane In Frankenstein

    959 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Mary Shelley 's “Frankenstein” is a text which has ever since it was first published, influenced social and cultural debates over the relationship between human beings [...]” (Allen 117). There are multiple texts that deal with the question of who the real monster is. The name 'Frankenstein ' is often related to the monster by people who have not read the book (Heesel 3). This essay, however, tries to explain why the reader might think of Frankenstein as a monstrous, inhumane being in the first place. People usually sympathize with the protagonist and his actions.

    Read More

  • Abandonment, Good And Evil In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    253 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her novel Mary Shelley explores the central ideas of rejection and abandonment, human nature, good and evil and revenge to support the conviction of Frankenstein’s responsibility in the novel and Frankenstein is a reflection of this. Shelley shows through positioning of characters within the stories that good and evil is not clear-cut and there are many moral grey areas. The readers are positioned to feel sympathy for the creature, especially since his yearnings for human contact could easily be their own. Which makes it all the more frightening when Victor and others treat him in such vile ways.

    Read More

  • Why Does Mary Shelley Use Of Personification In Frankenstein

    656 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. Throughout the novel, Shelley uses personification of various forces and objects to reflect the effect in Victor’s actions.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Suffering In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    901 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frankenstein is a book written by Mary Shelley about a man named Victor Frankenstein and his life and how it came to be. He had created a monster and brought it to life by studying and learning natural philosophy. Mary Shelley brought the emotions forward from the main characters by the amount of detail she put into the book. Most of the detail was brought in by the suffering that happens throughout the book caused by Frankenstein’s monster. The monster in this story is a tragic figure that is the main cause of suffering that occurs to everyone.

    Read More

  • Duality Of Human Nature In Frankenstein

    819 Words  | 4 Pages

    The monster continues by reassuring the creator of his independent intelligence and power over the creature by telling Frankenstein, “This you alone can do”. Here, the creature assumes a role of submissiveness and reliance on Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s monster gains the sympathy of the reader who, despite condemning the murder of innocent people, commiserate with the lonely creature who is in search of an acquaintance, which he will likely never find. The monster also displays power and aggressiveness over Frankenstein; “You are my creator; but I am your master; obey!” The monster wants to desolate Victor’s heart, not by killing him directly,

    Read More

  • The Monster And Exile In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    672 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Monster and Exile Every person in life is created with a strong sense of belonging. Whether the belonging is to a person, a place, or a moment in time, they still feel connected and influenced by it. Exile is an action that separates a person from this connected belonging, and can suffer great consequences, but can also enrich their lifestyle. In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the creature creaked by Victor Frankenstein is forced, from the very beginning of his existence, away from his creator and society as a whole. This type of exile turned the creature into what he is, shaping his ideas and mentalities.

    Read More

  • Sympathy For The Creature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    788 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some people find it crazy to feel sympathetic for someone they do not know, let alone someone who is not human. Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is about Victor Frankenstein, a young student studying science who creates a creature from a science experiment. The Creature is given life and eventually becomes responsible for the death of a few characters, but rather receive sympathy for his actions because he’s experienced a bad childhood, being all alone and only having the desire to be accepted. Firstly, the Creature has a bad childhood, and the main cause for that is Victor abandoning him. In the awakening of the Creature, Frankenstein says “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished.

    Read More

  • Who Is The Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?

    259 Words  | 2 Pages

    The creature, also commonly referred to as the monster, is abandoned by its creator, Victor Frankenstein because of its horrid appearance. After the monster spends twenty months enduring the European seasons and pursuing his creator, he is reunited with Victor, an encounter that ignites the gradual, violent demise of their creator-creation bond. As Shelley explores and develops the relationship between human and creature and the perceptions each being holds of one another, the definitions of humanity and monstrosity morph into blurred lines of ambiguity in regard to their characters and man as a

    Read More

  • The Monster's Alienation In Frankenstein

    782 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel Frankenstein,by Mary Shelley, the mysterious and unnatural origins of the character of Frankenstein’s monster are an important element. The Monster, having been created unethically and haphazardly, is at odds throughout the novel, resulting in his alienation from society and prolonged feelings of anger, desertion, and loneliness. Shaping his character, his relationships with other characters, and the meaning of the work as a whole, the Monster’s origins are what define him. The Monster faces rejection and violence every time he attempts to make contact with the new, foreign world he has been thrust into.

    Read More

  • Science And Technology In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1327 Words  | 6 Pages

    Frankenstein We all have the assignment books we get in school. The Odyssey, The Iliad, and last but not least Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein’s recognized by the vast majority of the world due to its use for education. The story of how a doctor, Victor Frankenstein, creates life but in return creates a monster as well.

    Read More

More about Alienation And The Creature In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Open Document