Throughout the play of Othello, and the Novel of Frankenstein, the theme of Villainy is reflected from within. Shelley set Frankenstein during the eighteenth century, and began and ended the novel in the icy Atlantic, “Immense and rugged mountains of ice”. This shows us that a framed narrative has been used by Shelley, to interrelate all of the stories into one. The barren and sterile scene in which the story begins and ends could emphasise the loneliness of the monster. However, the coldness could reflect the cold heartedness and evil of a certain character, such as the monster for killing so many innocent people, or Frankenstein for creating the “Monstrous Wretch” all together. Othello on the other hand, is set in the late sixteenth century. The settings in the play “Othello” mainly consist of towns and streets. During this time, a great war happened to be taking place in Venice. This war was against Turkey and Venice. The war at the time can highlight and reflect towards the war and anger that is consistently shown and felt throughout the play, mainly of a feud between Iago, Othello, and Cassio. This definitely adds to the theme of villainy as it highlights of great sign of conflict between the characters.
Although the way that villainy is presented in both texts is very similar, who the villain is intended to be is much harder to discern in Frankenstein. Mary Shelley uses a range of techniques such as a multidimensional aspect and the structure of a frame narrative to change the reader’s sympathy depending on who is