“Explore the Ways in Which Characters Change in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.”

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“Explore the ways in which characters change in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.” Throughout Frankenstein and Macbeth, Mary Shelley and William Shakespeare develop their characters dramatically. They both utilise various techniques in order to express each character at different points in the novel or play, at times contradicting each other and therefore representing massive changes within a character’s personality, intelligence, physicality and emotions. Immediately, within Frankenstein, the most striking change appears to be within the monster’s intellectual capabilities, a matter Shelley addresses from the first moment the monster is brought to life. In chapter 5, Shelley expresses the monster’s first interaction with Victor, “His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks.” From here it is evident that Shelley intends on at first depicting the monster as an unintelligent being that is unable to infiltrate into society easily, not only because of his appearance but because of his inability to articulate any thoughts as well. However, in chapter 10 following his experiences with the De Lacey family, Shelley presents the monster as a highly sophisticated individual who is able to eloquently express himself and thereby seemingly ridicules Victor’s short, not considered, outbursts. This is clear when the monster responds to Victor’s anger and fury: “I expected this reception...all men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things.” This is the first instance when Shelley expresses the monster through speech and almost immediately portrays the monster as an articulate being with calculated mind and whose speech reflects his intelligence, a stark contrast to the representation of the monster in Chapter 5. This is reinforced by Shelley allocating long
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