In this column, choose five quotations from the text, one focusing on each of the following literary elements: In this column, analyze the significance of your quotations. Allow the following questions to guide your responses: Why is this important? What does this reveal? Why does the author say it this way? What is the tone/mood of this passage?…
During the creation scene, the creature is portrayed as a malicious beast by Victor and the reader blindly accepts his perspective because in the reader’s mind, Victor is a human while the Creature is not. As humans, we have a tendency to sympathize with the human Victor as opposed to the non-human Creature. As the story progresses to volume two, Mary Shelley challenges the reader’s perspective by providing a panoramic view of the Creature so the reader can gain a perspective through the Creature’s eyes and thus it allows Shelley to challenge what the reader views as…
The monster describes waking up to Victor saying, “It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as if it were instinctively, finding myself so desolate” (Shelley 71). The first time the monster awoke he was confused, cold, alone, and helpless. The monster was brand new to the world, like a helpless baby, except for being much larger and uglier. Shelley uses the setting of cold and darkness to bring out the feelings of fear, loneliness and isolation. When Victor hears about the death of his youngest brother William, he quickly returns back to Geneva. He walks out to the spot of the murder and says, “It advanced; the heavens were clouded, and I soon felt the rain coming slowly in large drops, but its violence quickly increased. I quitted my seat, and walked on, although the darkness and storm increased every minute, and the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head” (49). The approaching rain and heavy storm pouring down of Victor makes the reader feel the anger and loneliness Victor feels. Through the setting, Shelley shows the desolation Victor feels, and passes that feeling onto the…
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.…
A being "created" by an imperfect person in a misguided attempt to fulfill their own personal lack of fulfillment, even with the best of intentions and highest hopes of success, the reality can be quite different from the ideology at the time of creation. Although things may not turn out as planned, the situation need not be construed as a failure. Upon personalizing this theme to the author's personal life as Baldrick does, it is possible maybe Shelley is relating to the role of the creator more than the monster. The creation of the monster can be deemed negligent, and although many may claim it was an act to challenge the power of God and His creation, but maybe instead it was meant as more of a parental situation of creating a person having no control over the outcome. Even with the best intentions, Shelley may have fulfilled her societal expectations by becoming a mother, but instead of relishing the beauty of the creation she instead feels guilt over having bastard children since she was unwed at the time. Although the creature in itself is in a way miraculous, because things do not turn out as planned and the focus is placed more on the imperfections, the end result is classified as a failure. Although the monster was created to…
“Who has the right to create life? God or Science?”(Bissonette, Melissa Bloom 1) One of the compelling monstrosity of Shelley’s novel continues to appeal readers, but why? (3) The monster is a victimized child, mistreated and misunderstood, or evil some may say. (3) Is he really a monster?…
Do you ever wonder what Frankenstein thinks about humans? Or maybe if he even likes humans? In this short story Frankenstein is abandoned and he goes and searches for a place to stay. He finds a hovel in where he stays in. Close to the hovel is a cottage, or a house, where he observes some human beings that he sees on a daily basis. He watches them every day to see what they do on their normal schedule.…
The monster states that he is like Adam because when he was first created, he was “no link to any other being in existence”. Both of them are the first creatures that were made by their creators but their lives are totally different from each other. The monster says that Adam is “happy and prosperous” under God’s “especial care” and his beautiful image whereas describing himself as “wretched, helpless, and alone” because of his disgusting shape even though he has not committed any malicious action. The monster then tells Victor to treat him like God treated Adam because he is the first of his kind, but instead, the monster is considered as a fallen angel. Also, their abilities in society are different as well. Adam is able to “converse with, and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature” (105), but the monster is unable to neither communicate nor get educated from others because of his horrific image to human. Moreover, the monster desires a female companion for affection and companionship reminiscent of Adam’s need of a mate, Eve. Shelley’s use of these references is to express the differences between Adam and the monster despite their same purpose of being created by the…
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 “monster”, his creation, set his sights out on figuring out why his creator decided to abandon him. This again ties in the theme of acquiring knowledge. He began studying the actions and language outside a cottage of a nearby family, which enabled him to understand why humans shrieked at his appearance and ultimately why his creator disowned him,”accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even YOU turned from me in disgust?” (Shelley 119). With his understanding, the “monster” became enraged “I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge” (Shelley 120) In that moment the “monster” decided that he was going to take his anger out on his creator. Traveling near and far, the monster set out on a killing spree, which included the family members of Victor, his…
As I leapt from the window of the dreaded vessel, I vowed I would never be privileged to see the sun as it rose anew. I thought of the past. I pictured my creator and I admired the picture of my fated self-destruction. Death did not scare me. How could it possibly when I already embodied the anatomy of a corpse so fully? Yes, this would be enough for me. To expire upon the diamond plains with the northern waves buried below me was the moonlit future I longed most for. My life had been altogether exhausted of breath and I, its humble advocate, was thoroughly depleted of any remaining will to gratify its pleas of invitation into the world that had so quickly recoiled from my hideous stature. This was to be how it ended. I had now outlasted the only identity that had ever attended to my entity at all. How could one conceivably carry on their everyday occupations without a single remaining acquaintance in the uncut span of the world? I longed for animation’s kiss of farewell as I departed forever from the hatred and confinement of this world. I advanced upwards along an icecap I had recently encountered as I continued my journey into death’s grip of acceptance. I knew full well I would not be missed. Not a soul among me had even granted me the gift or humanity of identity. I walked, nameless, among the masses of earth’s vast expanses. I was unknown, unneeded, and utterly and undeniably alone. As I neared my final resting place, a thought passed through me: What if instead of ended my existence in darkness and solitude, I exerted forth a flame to carry me on past this life? And thus was decided my fate would be that of eternal fire, for darkness was all I had ever been entreated to know of. Reaching the apex of the mountain, I removed my flint and steel from my right waistcoat pocket and struck the two together with such force that I did not know if the rocks would remain intact to themselves. When no spark ignited, I grew impatient and enraged. I must be the only being…
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.…
The monster, although it has acquired the name Frankenstein in popular culture, remains nameless throughout the novel, signifying its lack of acceptance in a human society. The monster’s rejection stems significantly from its appearance, ranging from its "yellow skin" (Shelley 42) and "dim-white sockets" (42) to its "straight black lips” (42) and a "shriveled complexion” (42). Shelley has clearly distinguished the monster, marking the first divide between monster and human. She has also established the initial trickling of the monster’s inability to associate with humans. In fact, the monster’s own creator, Victor Frankenstein, rejects it due to its appearance and refuses to interact with the hideous beast. The monster’s appearance prevents other characters from seriously interacting with the monster, as they form a prejudice against a non-human being. The fear of that which is non-human lingers throughout Shelley’s…
Before he creates the monster, he gives himself the duty to use his knowledge to benefit human beings. Frankenstein defines himself as elite in human society, a protector of human beings keep death away, and even a God of new species. However, afterwards he immediately regrets giving life to the monster. After he sees the fruit of his labor, his success does not bring him happiness, glory, and even a little satisfaction. On the contrary, he is sick about his creature, and says:…
Stanza 3 of Percy Shelley’s poem “Mutability” focuses on how people have no control over the change around them, which can apply to Mary Shelley’s characters in her novel Frankenstein. While the 3rd stanza doesn’t apply to the monster as much as Frankenstein, someone can still connect it to both characters. One example is in the first line of the stanza when the poem states, “We rest- a dream has power to poison sleep.” This refers to Frankenstein’s constant nightmares through the novel; for example in chapter 5 page 51 Frankenstein states, “I slept, indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; but as I imprinted…