Composed during the Industrial Revolution at a time of increased scientific experimentation, Shelley warns and forebodes her enlightened society of the consequences which come about from playing god. She uses Victor Frankenstein as her platform, whose self-exalting line “many excellent natures would owe their being to me” represents a society engrossed with reanimation. Recurring mythical allusions to Prometheus, “how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge” portray Victor as a tragic hero; a noble character whose “fatal flaw” of blind ambition ultimately results in his own downfall and dehumanization, “swallowed up every habit of my nature”. In addition, Victor’s impulsive rejection of his grotesque creation, leads to the Monster’s rebellion (“vowed eternal hated and vengeance to all mankind”).…
Mary Shelley wrote ‘Frankenstein’ as an outlet of her experiences throughout her previous years and to express her feelings of grief, anxiety and shock from her childhood. When Mary Shelley was younger, her own ambition was to have a child to love and care for. This ambition and hope was shot down when her baby died soon after its birth. This could be the inspiration that she used for the creation and the unkind response given by the world to it. We learn much about the protagonist victor Frankenstein and his utterly selfish ambition throughout chapter five. This is the…
The blank slate theory is also seen in Mary Shelley’s classic novel, Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, the monster starts out his life in loneliness and in a condition of disorientation. The creature says, “I began also to observe, with greater accuracy, the forms that surrounded me…” The monster’s experience is very representative of John Locke’s theory of mind as a blank slate. At first, he can barely perceive a leaf from a bird, but his senses gradually become regulated to his environment. He starts to distinguish the different sights and sounds based on his surroundings and the atmosphere. As the monster walks through the woods, he experiences new objects. He comes across foods to eat and drink. The monster is gaining more knowledge as he…
Shelley uses aspects of Romanticism in the novel by having the Creature live in the heath. Romanticism is also displayed on Victor’s retreat to the mountains. Shelley displays an enormous amount of emotion in the novel which assists the reader to understand the feelings of alienation and neglect that the Creature is experiencing. With all of these aspects, the reader may begin to question whether Shelley had an extreme personal connection to one of the characters, whether it be the Creature or Victor.…
This passage is one in which Victor Frankenstein describes the birth of his creature. Frankenstein’s words and memories reflect his feelings towards his newborn child. This essay will examine Victor Frankenstein's words, feelings and attitude towards his new companion and also his creation.…
The book “Frankenstein” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley discusses Victor Frankenstein's life before the creation and after. The monster wasn’t made for mass destruction but godful life. Seeking revenge for rejection from mankind, the creature creates loneliness in Victor’s life. The question “Is man born evil or is evil created in man by society” is answered in the book because the creature wasn’t born evil. Over the years he grew a dark side because of no guidance, rejection, failure, and jealousy.…
Frankenstein, written in 1818 by Mary Shelley, is a novel written in a narrative structure and in the characters’ point of view which makes more easy and understandable for readers to know the characters’ feelings and thoughts. The story illustrates how the main character Victor Frankenstein, falls into a total destruction due to the usage of his superficial knowledge to play God by creating an abhorrent monster. As a result of his imprudent behavior, the monster undergoes a lot of hardships such as loneliness and ignorance which affect its life hugely. By the halfway of the novel, the monster tells Victor how lonely and sad it is compared to Adam who is the first creation of God. The monster’s speech manifests how appearance has a significant…
The diction used by Mary Shelley in her novel Frankenstein varies throughout the chapters varying in tone. Chapter five is the beginning of the end of Victor Frankenstein. There he creates the beast which will torment his life forever. The diction used in this chapter is haunting in the sense that it foreshadows the fall of Frankenstein. Shelley describes the newborn creature as “beautiful”, this creates a theme of amazement of what science can do but it quickly shifts. A few sentences later Shelley describes him with a more “horrid contrast” pointing out how hideous the creature is. This foreshadows the grief the beast will encounter due to his physical appearance, that no human being will ever love him. Through Shelley’s use of imagery…
The dark and creepy tones in Frankenstein reflect the concurring, mysterious murders that occur throughout the plot. The author, Mary Shelley, adds a certain “wow factor” when revealing the atmosphere of terror and horror to the reader. Shelley also gives the reader a supernatural aura. The author’s diction reveals that the monster, that Frankenstein had created, is a romantic hero.…
Frankenstein, a book by Mary Shelley about a scientist named Victor Frankenstein, exhibits many elements and has lots of hidden symbolism within the text. My creature really shows just how unique this book is by having each body part represent some element of the book. The head of the monster is supposed to represent how quick the monster learns and how reading affected his growth. The monster learns language very quickly “My days were spent in close attention, that I might more speedily master the language; and I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian, who understood very little and conversed in broken accents, whilst I comprehended and could imitate almost every word that was spoken” (13. 12). This shows how the monster learns very fast, faster than a normal…
Mary Shelly’s stylistic choices are very unique. She uses beautiful eloquent language and her creative narrative point of view is so concise that many readers forget that Robert Walton is the true singular narrator. Frankenstein is a story within a story and in this novel, it is shown through Walton’s telling of Victor’s telling of the monster’s story. Mary Shelly proves her place in the romantic science fiction. Every time she includes a simile or metaphor, it is poignant. Mary leaves enough to the imagination to allow the readers to scare themselves by their own mental images simulated through her appeal to our senses. Mary Shelly uses diction and imagery to revoke emotions out of the readers as they can feel the emotions that are being felt…
The sheer power of words is all too often taken for granted. Albeit an integral part of human life on any scale, we’ve grown so accustomed to having it at our disposal that we forget how much it can accomplish, basic communication aside. Words, when strung together in certain ways, have started wars. Words have spawned enmity, and ended it. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and more specifically the passage specified, words provide a testimony directly from the monster as to the reasoning behind his actions and emotions. Shelley, when writing in the monster’s voice, uses a combination of tone, diction, strategic syntax, and rhetorical devices with the purpose of elucidating to the reader the monster’s intelligence and capacity of rational thought.…
In the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Victor creates the creature in order to be noticed and remembered for creating life. However, even though making the creature was fascinating and exciting for Victor once the creature was animated Victor wanted nothing to do with his creation. Throughout the novel the creature can be seen trying to fit in and be accepted by Victor and the other people in the society. However, he is turned away and treated harshly because he does not look like a normal human, he looks like a monster leading him to be overcome by rage and be the monster he is seen as. Therefore, the creature is portrayed as morally ambiguous because of the good and evil that can be seen in him throughout the novel.…
For many, it is difficult to consider that death and life coexistence with each other in an enviable union. Day after day people mourn death and celebrate birth. There is a common innate fear due to the uncertainty that death will bring, and while most people avoid any dangers or acts of self-destruction, some run towards it. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the main characters fear not death but life due to their horrific past, ongoing trauma, and building guilt.…
The lens through which readers encounter monsters is often a skewed one. This lens could be that of the author, who seeks to embody a monster as a horrific, non-human entity that will cause havoc in an area. Similarly, this lens could be that of a character in a piece, one who witnesses the monster’s wrath and destruction firsthand and hopes to avoid the cruel savage being. Monster narratives rarely unfold from the perceptive of the monster, and, as such, audiences must rely on other sources as to the monster’s course of action. Such voices can carry a bias with them. As in the case of the author, the omniscient perspective provides descriptions of the monster without directly interacting the monster. This perspective could easily fail to report…