The Monsters In Shelly's Frankenstein

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The Monsters in Shelly’s Frankenstein When reading Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, most people believe that the monster in the story is the creature created by Victor Frankenstein. The monster is considered hideous in appearance; it is over eight feet tall, many of its arteries are showing on the outside of its body, it has a raspy voice and is an overall outcast from society. Basically the creature sets the standard for the appearance of a monster for the rest of history. There is one problem with the idea of the creature appearing to be monstrous. Throughout the story Shelly attempts to show that it’s not appearance that makes the monster. She attempts to redefine the idea of the monstrous not in terms of appearance, but more having to do with moral behavior. Shelly is saying that actions make the monster, not the look. In Shelly’s eyes, being a monster has to do with losing one’s sense of domestic affection. Domestic affection is the sense of belonging and love one feels when people are accepted by family and friends. Shelly believes that when people loses this affection they begin to make immoral decisions and lose their sense of humanity, and this is when they become truly monstrous. When Frankenstein is read from this perspective, the creature isn’t the only monster in the story. Robert Walton, captain of the ship, also has the potential to be monstrous, and so too do victor, the general population, and the social institutions within the world of Frankenstien. Through the actions committed in the play, Victor Frankenstein becomes one of the most monstrous characters in the story. The first steps to becoming a monster take place in the very beginning of the story, and Victor complete isolates himself from society and alienates his family. Victor does this more than once in the novel, once when creating the first creature then again when attempting to create

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