“Am I to be thought the only criminal when all human kind has sinned against me?” As a creator, Victor Frankenstein abandons his creature, and neglects him in ways a creator shouldn’t. This shapes his identity and shows that he is in fact monstrous in the way he acts towards the creature. He quotes in the book “He showed unparalleled malignity and selfishness in evil”; this is quiet an ironic quote Mary Shelley has used, as Victor is in fact the evil and egotistical being between the two. The use of emotive language as the Creature tells his story, allows the reader to feel sympathy for the creature. We begin to realize the true identity of the creature, and how it is more humane then humanity itself.
One of the most important aspects of any gothic novel is setting. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is an innovative and disturbing work that weaves a tale of passion, misery, dread, and remorse. Shelly reveals the story of a man's thirst for knowledge which leads to a monstrous creation that goes against the laws of nature and natural order. The man, Victor Frankenstein, in utter disgust, abandons his creation who is shunned by all of mankind yet still feels and yearns for love. The monster then seeks revenge for his life of loneliness and misery.
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 use of this literary technique first shows when Victor becomes enthralled in his attempt to create a living being. The “unhallowed damps of the grave … the dissecting rooms and the slaughter-house” which he uses as means to acquire materials for his creation express the depravity and frenzy in which Victor works (Shelley) He only sees these hideous places as aid in his work, blinded to what he is creating, revealing the “regressive decent into phantasmagoria that constitutes [his] reanimation process” (Sherwin 885). In a similar way which Victor sees his monster as beauty and perfection until it first opens its eyes. Further on in the novel, as Victor laments the death of
Victor’s isolation is due to his obsession to create life, then his regret for creating the creature. “A weight of remorse crept up in [Victor’s] heart” (Shelley 89). Whereas the creature’s isolation was caused by his rejection by society due to his grotesque looks. There is also a shared
An analytical interpretation of the texts, accounting for their differing contexts, divulges the composers’ endeavour to challenge the adequacy of contemporary societal values, primarily the idea of responsibility, and to forewarn us of the penalties of defying the natural order and distorting the limitations of man. It is not ‘surprising’ that man has continued to play god throughout the ages, but struggles to atone fateful actions. In the selected extract from Frankenstein, page 280, Mary Shelly empowers the monster by providing him with a bitterly reflective voice, lamenting the injustice that has developed throughout the novel leading to this heightened point. As the monster devours Walton’s ears with tales of his desolation and destitution he has agonized as an abnormal creation, the key issue of human responsibility to their scientific creations is conveyed. This reveals aspects of Shelly’s contextual background at the time of composition.
This book is an illustration of the destruction she experienced in her life, and her inability to control any of it, just as how Frankenstein and The Creature did not have any control over their tragedies. One way in which Mary Shelly has displayed her life through Frankenstein is that her inability to give life has been shown through Victor's curiosity with life and death. Frankenstein's obsession with giving life has been clearly displayed in this quote, "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world" (38). Victor's obsession with discovering the secrets of life have completely consumed him as a person. In conclusion, many people and events throughout the course of Mary Shelley’s life influenced her novel Frankenstein.
‘His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks”. Psychologically, for the reader this becomes distressing as people have an aversion to children in distress and this causes the reader to feel for the monster and sympathize with him whilst an immediate dislike for Frankenstein also begins This hatred toward Frankenstein continues, Victor Frankenstein, the creatures own ‘father’, as such, the man who gave him life, describes him repeatedly as a ‘wretch’, a’ daemon’ and a ‘monster’, As readers we get the sense that Victor is unhappy and feels crestfallen at the fact his knowledge towards life and the anticipation of creating life, did not work out as he expected, we get the feeling that if he could, Frankenstein would change the timing and the way in which he created life, this is an example of the Sublime which is a key theme from the gothic genre within this section of the novel as Victor feels an overpowering sense of power over nature, as he has
(dictionary.google.com) Characters within the novel make socially prejudiced judgments towards Victor Frankenstein’s creation, resulting in the mistreatment and dehumanization of the creature. This leads to the question: was Frankenstein’s creation “born” or made a monster? We learn of the creature’s story and struggles through his first meeting with his creator, Victor Frankenstein. One main issue the creature is faced with is his immediate isolation, rejection and abandonment by his creator. He is never given a name or treated equally; he is instantly seen as being a monster and “filthy creation.” (Shelley, 41) After spending countless time creating, Frankenstein made the conscious decision to make the monster large in stature and size.
Terrified of what he has created, Doctor Frankenstein hides away while the monster wanders about causing havoc in the town and eventually returns to seek revenge on his creator1. Shelley uses the characters in this document as metaphors, Doctor Frankenstein metaphorically represent an anti-Romanticist as well as an anti-feminist because he tries to outwit nature by creating life from death and also trying to create life without a female partner. This seems relevant to the time because Romanticism, which is the love of nature and its untamable and unpredictable power, was popular as stated above. The monster that Doctor Frankenstein creates can be seen as a metaphoric character that represents the fear of advancements in enlightenment science because the monster is a scientific creation that many fear that eventually scientists may create. The document analysis essay will further elaborate, discuss and support these points mentioned above.