‘Throughout Frankenstein, Victor and the Creature Seem to Change Places with One Another’ in the Light of This Comment, Discuss Mary Shelley’s Use of the Double and Doubling in Frankenstein (30 Marks)

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The theme of doubling occurs when a pair of characters can be described as two sides of the same coin, though one usually represents the evil or hedonistic side of the other. Doubling is a recurring theme used in many Gothic novels but is also used in novels like ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the play of ‘MacBeth’. Mary Shelley frequently uses the theme of doubling through her novel ‘Frankenstein’ through how she structures the personalities and appearances of the characters. The most common use of doubling is between the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his monster. It is said that the monster’s ‘hideous looks’ represents Victor’s abnormal personality. The theme of isolation also represents doubling between Victor and the monster. Although Victor appears to be surrounded by a loving family, he ‘shuns the face of man’ and decides to become isolated from his family and the world and is trapped in a bubble of science and galvanism. Similarly, isolation is shown through the monster. He is rejected by the De Laceys and Frankenstein and ponders the question: ‘Am I not alone, miserably alone?’. The monster is represented as the dark side of Frankenstein. Shelley depicts Frankenstein as the real monster of the novel. Frankenstein appears to look like a nice person but Shelley creates him as a blasphemous person whose arrogance and obsessions with science end up costing him dearly. In contrast, the monster appears to be a nasty, unapproachable beast but actually appears to be well-educated and is knowledgeable about the world around him. It can be said that the monster is the antithesis of Frankenstein. Both characters also show a disregard for women. The creature makes promises on behalf of the female companion without consulting her and Victor simply destroys her. From a feminists point of view like Shelley’s this would be seen as wrong how a man can simply just

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