Turning hardships into ambition
Writing is a form of art which can be used by an author to discuss personal
feelings, problems, and other interesting facts, certain authors like Mary Shelley do a
good job at proving this to be true. Despite, living a difficult life, Shelly found the
ambition and drive to write one of the greatest gothic novels of all time. Frankenstein
tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young doctor who is devastated by the death of
his mother, and in result becomes obsessed with reanimation. Mary Shelley wrote this
novel in the nineteenth century, a time different to the modern world, women were
not acknowledged, people thought differently and the social norms were different to the
ones in the present
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However, everybody was too stubborn. They believed since she was a
woman she could be pressured into living a certain way, but since she did not
everybody spoke poorly of her and chose to make her feel as if she were alone. The
hardships she faced with society were evident in the novel Frankenstein. Her and the
monster both were outcasts from society, since they were not normal. ” Believe
me Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but I
am not alone, miserably alone”(Shelley). They both were different and were not even
acknowledged by other people. She wanted to convey that everybody should be given a
chance to prove themselves, and shouldn’t be judged by their looks, or by what people
say about them. Although Mary Shelley was not a giant terrifying monster, she was still
different from everyone else. Therefore, both were not given a chance to show what kind
a person they were, because the other people were too stubborn. In conclusion, Mary
Shelley was an outcast from society, but she felt alone and unloved, and that social
influence was evident in the novel she wrote Frankenstein. However, this was not the
only hardship she faced, Mary Shelley lost many of her loved ones in her time of
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And then we’ll go off to South America and live in the
wilderness and eat nuts and berries. And we’ll be happy forever”(Shelley). The monster
was lonely, because no one else would accept him as a person. Mary Shelley was trying
to convey that men need women; not just for reproduction, cooking, cleaning, etc…
women have stayed by their husbands side, even if they may not have been the
greatest person, but they always find a way to see the good in them. This is all the
monster wanted. He was ugly, because he was different. Therefore, he wanted a female
companion that was like him, so that she could love him for who he was as a person.
Mary Shelley sent the message that women are valuable, and that men should
appreciate them.
Mary Shelley faced many hardships in her life, and her life was in a sense almost
as gothic as her novels and stories. However, she never backed down and turned her
hardships into ambition, which resulted in her writing one of the greatest gothic
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
Shelley’s mother died eleven days after Mary was born ( Britton 4). Like Mary Shelley, the monster was born motherless, and this deeply affected him. The monster proclaimed, “no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses” (Shelley 86). Just as the monster longed for a family connection, so did Shelley. Barbara D’amato wrote, “The unconscious conflicts and psychic experiences of loss and of longing for connection are captured and revealed in the orphaned character of Mary Shelley’s fictional story, Frankenstein (118). Shelley and the monster also share the struggle of feeling abandoned and hated by their fathers. Shelley’s father abandoned her twice during her life. The first time was when Shelley was a young child. Shelley believed that her stepmother was interfering with Shelley’s and her father’s relationship, and this jealousy caused conflict between the family members. Shelley’s father later sent her to live somewhere else. When Shelley was older, her father disapproved of her decision to elope with Percy Shelley which resulted in him disowning Mary. This abandonment left Shelley with the feeling that there was something terribly wrong with her (D’Amato 126). The monster was also abandoned by Frankenstein, or the man that can be considered his father. The monster explained to Frankenstein why he had become the violent being that he was, when he told Victor, “Believe me Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone?” (Shelley
Mellor, Anne K. Mary Shelley - Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. New York, New York: Routledge, Chapman, & Hall, Inc., 1989. p 136.
Throughout the book of Frankenstein, the creator of the being Frankenstein, Victor, is experienced as a suffering being. He recalls from the very beginning a time during his childhood where he was happy and surrounded by love, a time when his mother lived. Victor’s downfall or the beginning of his disgrace, initiates with the death of his mother. Victor leaves his family to start a new stage in his life, he leaves on quest for answers a true quest for knowledge. Personal motivation will lead Victor to take on the challenge of overcoming death, or to be more specific, give life to a dead body.
The most prevalent theme in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is that of obsession. Throughout the novel there are constant reminders of the struggles that Victor Frankenstein and his monster have endured. Many of their problems are brought upon by themselves by an obsessive drive for knowledge, secrecy, fear, and ultimately revenge.
Shelley’s allusions display the creatures anguish of being alone in the world and how it causes him to feel: “ Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence… I was wretched, helpless, and alone.” (93-94), this allusion is crucial because it shows the reader just how awful the influences of solitude are on the creature and how his circumstances have caused him to become grieved and destitute. Another illusion similar to before take place when the monster compares himself to Satan: “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.” (94), the monster now resents the people of the cottage because they are able to converse and associate with others while the creature is forced to stay secluded from all contact. Allusions such as these enforce Shelley 's purpose of depicting the calamitous effects of solitude on the mind. By now the reader should understand that men need to be around others like themselves because all creatures desire to have a group into which they
Many novelists base their books on real life experiences and in Mary Shelley’s case, it is no different. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley was born on August 30, 1797. At a young age, she was exposed to her father’s library of English authors and listened in on her father’s educational discussions with his friends. She never went to school, but was home schooled so this was one of the ways she learned. Her father owned a publishing company so, at a young of 13, she published her first work, Mounseer Nongtongspaw, which is a verse poem. She never knew her biological mother and hated her stepmother because she was the exact opposite of her real mother. As a result of this hatred, she was sent to Dundee by her father and when she returned to London, she was introduced to her future husband, Percy Bisshe Shelley. After meeting for the first time in 1812 at a dinner hosted by her parents, they did not see each other again until 1814 when they became very close. Mary’s father did not support the couple at first and tried to separate them . They were atheists and found themselves in controversial situations because of this and their political beliefs . After several disputes between the couple and family, Mary and Percy departed on a trip to Switzerland and France to escape. They began to discuss ideas on this trip and Mary used her hectic experiences to write her stories (Means 2).
After learning about the life of Mary Shelley, I have grown to appreciate the novel, Frankenstein, even more since the first time I read it. She led a life nearly, as tragic as the monster she created through her writing. Mary seems to pull some of her own life experiences in Victor’s background, as in both mothers died during or after childbirth. Learning about Mary’s personal losses, I have gained a better appreciation of her as an author and a woman of the 17th century. She had association with some the most influential minds of that
...ears with respect to childbearing and the care and upbringing of children. Complicated pregnancies and childbirth, miscarriages and death plagued her own youth and early adulthood. Of the four children she bore, only one survived to adulthood. She also experienced a miscarriage that nearly killed her. The issues of pregnancy and child development were pivotal issues in Mary Shelley’s own life, and her novel is a conveyance of her own feelings and philosophy about bearing and raising children
Percy Shelley had a bittersweet lifestyle. Accordingly to Percy Shelly’s biography, he was nicely manner and slightly built, therefore he was bullied by stronger and older boys. Bullying can be the leading role that reflects on “Dejection 1818, near Naples” because bullying can play a huge role in your life. Percy Shelley seems as if he wanted to be acceptance by someone. Since Harriet flaunted herself towards Percy Shelley, Shelley accepted her as his lover. Shelley and Harriet moved to France and eloped. However Shelley and Harriet relationship did not last, He fell in love with Mary Wollstonecraft. Percy and Mary Shelley experienced detrimental events during their relationship. The first detrimental event Percy lost custody of his two children
Upon hearing Frankenstein’s story, Walton’s search for glory and knowledge becomes irrelevant because he suddenly realizes the effects of knowing too much.... ... middle of paper ... ... Frankenstein is a Gothic novel which means it involves the supernatural; however, because it contains religious qualities it is more appealing to the common people’s idea of knowledge. Mary Shelley achieves her goal of informing the audience that man should not seek or possess the level of knowledge that God acquires.
Mary Shelley, the renowned author of Frankenstein, explores the consequences of man and monster chasing ambition blindly. Victor Frankenstein discovered the secret that allowed him to create life. His understanding of how bodies operated and the science of human anatomy enabled him to make this discovery and apply it to the creation of his monster. Walton wished to sail to the arctic because no sailor has ever reached it. The monster was created against his will, his ambition was to avenge his creation as a hideous outcast. These three characters were all driven by the same blind ambition.
This idea is then reincarnated in the form of a monster which leads to the conclusion that Mary Shelley felt like an abandoned child who is reflected in the rage of the monster. After reading the article by Baldick, I immediately thought of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” I was forced to read the story again having an open mind and the idea that everything has an alternative meaning. After doing so, I realized that it contains the same concept of abandonment and anger.
Her love may not have been the greatest love of all time, but it was still love.
In this book Rousseau claims that men are made evil by society. They become monsters by the way they are treated. He writes ‘a man abandoned to himself in the midst of other men from birth would be the most disfigured of all’. Mary Shelley was abandoned by all the people who died in her life, including her mother, who died almost as soon as Mary was born. Her father disowned her when she married her husband, Percy.