Mary Shelley uses many language devices to portray conflict in the novel Frankenstein. In chapter 5, Mary Shelley uses alliteration to convey to the reader the emotional conflict the monster is forced to face. Victor finally finishes his creation and observes its appearance: “I beheld the wretch -- the miserable monster who I created”. This suggests to the reader that Victor is not pleased with his creation as he calls him a “monster”; the word “monster” makes the reader visualize a horrendous, spine-chilling, eerie creation creating a dark ambience. Furthermore, the author uses feelings to describe the monster.
Love, hate, revenge, and murder. All of these themes impact the way a book can be read and will be read. Frankenstein is a novel that is full of devices that constantly make reader question the entire motive for characters. It features dynamic characters, who exhibit their humanity in the most exciting ways. They exhibit humanity, by loving each other, hating the monster, the monster murdering his creator’s friend and loved ones, and Frankenstein path to avenge the loss of his family to the monster.
But what about Beowulf? Before delving into the argument of how Beowulf is the true monster of this epic poem, I will need to define what a monster is. A monster is often defined as a thing that is usually larger than average in size, aesthetically atypical, and or something that acts wickedly. I would have to agree with the last definition because one can look monstrous and not technically act or live similar to that of a monster. I personally define a monster as a being, whether human, animal or something of another shape, that acts immorally, fiendish, and or vile.
Monster is defined by the Oxford Australian Students Dictionary as ‘a large ugly or frightening creature’ but is this the extent of all monstrosity or can monsters be more than just what is seen to be scary or threatening. The concept of ‘The Monster Within’ explores the ways in which texts use the idea of a monster to reflect the cultures and values of their times, using different perspectives on a topic to convey a similar theme or idea. F.W. Murnaus’ film “Nosferatu” released in 1922 uses a stereotypical monster to convey ideas relating to the monster within a creature and its drive and determination to kill for survival. In contrast to this, Tim Burton uses the idea of a conventional monster in his film “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) to uncover the abstruse reality of the monster not being an individual, but being society itself.
One of the key features Mary Shelley explores in her novel 'Frankenstein' is the dark side if the human psyche. This can be demonstrated through the characters of Frankenstein, Elizabeth and the monster via the desire for forbidden knowledge of science. Shelley also explores the sexual repression of Victor Frankenstein which could ultimately lead him to a 'dark side' of his human psyche. Therefore it can be said that Mary Shelley does explore the latter to a large extent. One of the ways Shelley explores the dark side of the human psyche is the suppressed and forbidden knowledge which Victor Frankenstein is hungry for.
Victor’s distant and cold language reveals his overwhelming hubris and reflects the conflation of scientific and Romantic paradigms. Frankenstein clearly created the monster
What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred but I was unable to solve them.” Readers may also find it easy to sympathise with The Monster as Shelley is very critical of Frankenstein. For example, in Chapter 15 when the Monster is talking about Frankenstein’s journal that documented his creation, the Monster says ““Everything is related in them which bares reference to my accursed origin; the whole detail of that series of disgusting circumstances which produced it is set in view; the minutest description of my odious and loathsome person is given, in language which painted your own horrors and rendered mine indelible.
The main theme of marry Shelly’s Frankenstein is Gothicism. Within marry Shelly’s novel Frankenstein we see elements of gothic and the supernatural, sometimes represented through the grotesque. The gothic supernatural is described as being real and disturbing according to Linda Bayer. In fact it can be described as simply being something we are used to and implementing it in the world around us making it more immediate, more believable. Within this theme we see the reoccurring element of gothic villains where “the exaggeration of just one aspect of the beautiful can produce the hideous,” (Bayer 80) in this case it is literal and can be applied to the monster where this is achieved with “combinations of the normal or even beautiful through an unexpected fusion of different realms.
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.
Essay: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly based on “The Uncanny” It is a strange, but yet stimulating phenomenon to justify and compare the inanimate and animate object by suggesting the impression of unconscious work behind the ordinary appearance of mental activity. Throughout the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Victor Frankenstein’s character possesses “knowledge, feelings and experience” in common with the self-named monster he has created. The monster is presented as both a human being and automaton, while Frankenstein is deliberated according to his appearance of sanity versus insanity. Why is it so difficult for Frankenstein to dissemble himself from the creature’s wrath? Perhaps it is true and applies to this “double” situation when they say “you are who you marry.” This brings meaning and relates to Frankenstein in the sense that unconsciously, Frankenstein creates a creature that possesses and resembles Frankenstein’s most deep and inner thoughts and desires.