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literary analysis for frankenstein
literary analysis of frankenstein
literary analysis about frankenstein
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Do not judge a book by its cover. Those are the words of a famous American proverb that says a person’s character cannot be judged based on their appearance. This proverb is very fitting in regards to the monster from Frankenstein. On the outside, he has a terrible appearance, and as a result is victimized and made to suffer by those who cannot see past his looks. Yet he has a kind soul and is simply looking for happiness and a little compassion from others. Both the book and the play present him as a sufferer in a cruel world but ultimately the book does a better job portraying his pain and eliciting empathy from the reader. The monster in the book details his suffering in greater detail, is more eloquent and persuasive and also experiences a more tragic ending, and as a result the reader feels more sympathy towards him than an audience member would feel towards the monster in the play.
The greater detail provided by the book about the monster’s experiences allows the reader to sympathize with the monster more so than an audience member. When the Frankenstein monster is retelling the story of the hardships he has endured, he mentions events that were overlooked in the play. One example of this is when the monster saved a girl’s life. Such an act would normally be considered very heroic and receive much praise under any circumstances, but instead the monster is rewarded by being shot, receiving only “the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone.” (Shelley 135) The book also examines the months of hard work the creature put into learning about human nature and language in order to be fully accepted when he chose to reveal himself. The monster hid by the cottage for around a year, listening and learning during t...
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...derstand, but he did everything within his power to fit in. He tried his best to help others, wanting nothing but acceptance in return. Yet he was cursed with a monstrous appearance. This was the one characteristic he had no control over, but it was the one that negated all his good intentions in the eyes of society, causing him a tremendous amount misery and eventually leading him to do some terrible things. If his monstrous appearance is just one example of any characteristic looked down upon by society, then his story is a powerful lesson for any reader. It brings to light the misery and pain inflicted – possibly unknowingly – by society onto those that do not fit in. Taking that into consideration, there remains a simple question: who really was the monster in the novel?
Work Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. Susan J. Wolfson. New York: Longman, 2003.
In Lisa Nocks article appropriately titled “Frankenstein, in a better light,” she takes us through a view of the characters in the eyes of the author Mary Shelly. The name Frankenstein conjures up feeling of monsters and horror however, the monster could be a metaphor for the time period of which the book was written according to Nocks. The article implies that the book was geared more towards science because scientific treatises were popular readings among the educated classes, of which Shelley was a member of. Shelley, whose father was wealthy and had an extensive library, was encouraged to self-educate, which gave her knowledge of contemporary science and philosophy, which also influenced Frankenstein as well as circumstances of her life.
One of the more minor characters but still an intricate part of the story is the old man, De Lacy. He is the father of the family whom the monster watches after he has left his place of creation in Ingolstadt. The monster learns from the family and feels a closeness to them that is new to him. The fact that the old man is blind is no coincidence at all. Shelly purposely made him blind so he could not be influenced by the monster?s hideous appearance. When the monster finally works up the courage and the old man is finally alone in the cottage, the monster makes his move. He enters claiming he is a wanderer looking for a place of shelter and rest. As he tells of his predicament he seems to befriend the old man, appears to be fluent in the English language, and for all intensive purposes appears a normal person. It is not until the old man?s children arrive home and he is alarmed by the screams of Felix and Agatha, that the monster is seen as any...
We first view Frankenstein’s ignorance while he is busy in his work. He had not visited his family for two straight years. These are the people that love and care about him, yet he does not go home. Not even to visit his own father, the man who pays for his schooling and necessities.
The gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley highlights the idea that the real monsters of the world are humans and society, and that most traits that most humans despise are actually within all of us. Frankenstein shows that any human can be so corrupt as to be a “monster”, and that beings society considers repulsive and evil can be human at heart. Shelley exposes human faults such as hubris and irresponsibility through the main character of the novel Victor Frankenstein, who creates a living being and refuses to care for it, sending it into the unwelcoming hands of society. Victors irresponsible actions lead to many deaths and events. As the novel progresses, Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the Monster he creates become more and more similar
Later on, the creature without having knowledge of what is life and what is dead, he goes on rampage but he feels the hate and eventually wants to kill his creator. In Frankenstein we see the scientist in a small sympathetic way since he wants to redeem his actions and destroy what he made. That is not the scientist we see in Hammer’s version. In Hammer’s version we see how Frankenstein is deeply obsessed on his experiments. Frankenstein’s monster shows to be in the sympathetic part, even if he had less participation that in 1931 Frankenstein, he shows darkly comedic way how he is brought to life and suddenly dies just to be resurrected again. The spectator has a sympathetic perception of this character whose goal in life is no more than
In the novel Frankenstein, the monster was singled out because of his monstrous looks. The reason he had such looks was because of the unnatural manner of his creation. The monster was created with a mix of stolen body parts and chemicals. One look at the monster would make anyone want to get out of his path. Once the monster came to life he was abandoned by his creator without any direction. He was left to fend for himself and deal with the prejudices that people had without getting to know his situation. The monster also didn't know how to react to the reactions from people which made him start to commit crimes. The monster said, "I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on" (Shelley 19). This eruption of angry self-pity as the monster questions the injustice of how he has been treated compellingly captures his inner life, giving Walton and the reader a glimpse into the suffering that has motivated his crimes. While the monster was wandering the town he encountered a family, and he learned how to speak ...
The 1818 edition to Frankenstein tells us that the Shelly’s ‘Chief concern’ in writing the novel had been limited to ‘avoiding the enervating effects of the novels of the present day and to the exhibition of the amiableness of the domestic affection, and the excellence of the universal virtue’. In the further edition of Frankenstein published in 1831, Shelly brings her own personal faults with the present day and is subtle to interpreting her personal views on life to society’s in her novel, which could be from her family’s influences. These opinions to the novel can be depicted in many ways, Shelly does use the monster to represent the grotesque society she grew up in. The monster represents Social Ostracisation through self destruction after tasting love and passion through the Delacey family, to have it then be taken away. Victor Frankenstein also represents this through the lack of his own love and passion due to the death of ...
Many authors have different ways of building characters and how they look. It is up to the reader to build their perspective from the descriptions given by the author in order to understand books. Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, sculpts the readers’ perspective of her monster through powerful diction and emotional syntax. After Dr. Frankenstein finally accomplishes his goal of re-animating a lifeless human, Shelley uses her strong word choice to fully express the extent of horror that Frankenstein had felt, describing his monster as a “demonical corpse to which I had so miserably given life.” (Shelley 45). Frankenstein’s horror is shared with the reader simply from a well descripted sentence. The detail Shelley put into Victor Frankenstein’s perspective is gradually shaping our own, as the reader’s, perspective. Furthermore, the diction being used adds a more definitive appearance to the monster. It helps us imagine what the monster looks like and additionally, how Frankenstein feels about his success.
In this essay I am going to answer ‘how and why does Mary Shelley make the reader sympathise with the character of the monster in her novel Frankenstein’.
... good, but can be turned to evil by society’s narrow-minded view of what is normal, and the corruption of the mind through knowledge and education. The repercussions of Victor’s and others alienation of the creature turned a caring individual to an evil one. Shelley succeeds in bringing Rousseau's theory to life, that one is born good, but he can be turned to evil through civilization and education. This story still has a great meaning for us today. Millions of people are outcast by society, not only because of physical appearance, but also because of sexual orientation, social status, and religion. Once people quit looking so narrow-mindedly at one another, the world will be a much better place, and Frankenstein's "monster" will rest in peace!
Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.
The creature’s moral ambiguity characteristic was a vile ingredient to the construction of this novel Frankenstein because it made the reader 's sympathies with him even after the audience knows he had committed murder because the readers had seen the truth this creature had to face. That he had tried everything within his power to peacefully live with them, to interact, communicate, and befriend them “these thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language”, that even though he was seen as a monster because of the looks he was created with, something he had no control over, he still had hope to be seen as equals, ”My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration;” this hope of his was utterly crushed, and can only set him up for utter disappointment(12.18). Because in the end he only received hates, scorns, violence, and prejudice from his good will. So in the end of the story, Mary Shelley’s forces the readers to see within the creature’s heart and for
At first, The Monster is very kind and sympathetic. He has a good heart, as shown when he collected firewood for the family on the brink of poverty. Like every other human creation, he was not born a murderer. All the Monster wanted was to be accepted and loved by Victor Frankenstein and the other humans but instead he was judged by his appearance and considered to be dangerous. The Monster says, “like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence…many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (page 105). This line is an important part of the novel because the Monster lets it be known how like Adam he was created into this world completely abandoned and like Satan he is angry with those people who have found contentment and satisfaction in their lives. The rejection and unwelcome feeling he is faced with, is the main reason the Monster becomes a killer. Watching another family show love towards each other made the Monster realize how alienated he truly was. He did not know how to deal with his pain and emotions so he murders as
The greater detail about the monster’s experiences provided by the book is the first thing that allows a reader to sympathize with the monster better than an audience member. When the Frankenstein monster is retelling the story of the hardships he has endured, he mentions events that were overlooked in the play. One example of this is when the monster saved a young girl’s life. An act such as this would be praised with the greatest heroism if it was done by a human, but as a reward he is shot, receiving only “the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone.” (Shelley 135) The book also examines the months of hard work the creature put into learning about human nature and language in order to be fully accepted when he chose to reveal himself. The monster hid by the cottage for around a year, never leaving during the day and working to help the cottager’s at night in order to learn from them. The monster went ...
In Shelley’s novel, the final picture of Frankenstein’s monster reveals important qualities of his inner nature; he is shown in the last moments of his life to be felling, fully conscious of his guilt, and firm in his decision to end his life. This is the conclusion of a long series of events providing insight into how the monster changed as a result of his creator’s actions and the actions of the people with whom he came in contact. Up until this final point, he has changed from being good and hopeful to being caught up in the desire for a companion, to being evil and only focused on revenge. All these changes are recounted by the monster himself in this scene. (Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine)