Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein from 1818 and republished in 1994 by Dover Publications is an intense novel one can appreciate for its thorough and well-written analyses of the characters’ mental states. “You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings” (Shelley 1). Frankenstein’s first sentence grabs the reader’s attention and foreshadows the entirety of eerie events that occur in the book. The novel begins with Robert Walton writing a letter to his sister, describing his voyage across dangerous, frozen waters attempting to reach the North Pole with his ship and crew. One day, when the ship is surrounded by ice, Walton and his crew spot a large man-shaped …show more content…
Similar to any other book, there are instances where one begins to think “Is this page necessary?” and “What does this have to do with the plot?” while reading Frankenstein. Mary Shelley does an extraordinary job with writing about passionate guilt and hatred, but does poorly with developing certain aspects of the plot. The first fifty pages of the novel overfilled with character introductions and Victor Frankenstein’s backstory makes one exclaim “It took long enough!” by the time he or she reads about the first death of the novel. Shelley then spends three whole chapters describing the lives of the villagers the monster watches from a distance, rather than teaching about his experiences from doing so. This makes the reader desire to set the book down and fall asleep so that he or she may gain the energy to speed read through these chapters in order to continue reading about the psychological aspects of the monster. There are many pages of, “’As night came on, Agatha and the Arabian retired early. When they separated, Felix kissed the hand of the stranger and said, ‘Good night, sweet Safie’. He sat up much longer, conversing with his father…’” (83). Reading long passages of a family of villagers’ quiet lives becomes tiring, but is then redeemed by eventually reading a passage similar to this: “’Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that …show more content…
The same applies to Victor Frankenstein as the story progresses. The reader first sympathizes with Victor as he explains how difficult his life became after creating a human that is the cause of the guilt that eats away at him. Shortly thereafter, one begins to feel irritated by Frankenstein’s personality and his attitude towards his creation. The first instance where one may question his or her opinion of Victor is when he describes his immediate regret of producing life. He states, “…breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room…” (35). The reader’s initial response is “If he was going to regret creating a human, why did he not think this through completely?”. The second time is when his creation kills a child and frames another for the murder. Victor does nothing to help the child, such as explaining the truth of the matter, and lets her get executed for a murder she did not commit in order to keep himself from being shamed by the public for his previous doing. One then has to agree that Victor is not the sort of person a reader would want the main character to be. Finally, when the monster reaches out to Victor Frankenstein and asks to help him live a comfortable life, this is Victor’s response: “’Devil, cease; and do not poison the air with these sounds of malice. I have
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is an old classic that has been enjoyed by many generations. Despite the fact that the novel was written over a hundred years ago, it is not only beautifully written but also enthralling and well composed. At the young age of eighteen, Mary Shelly raises questions about education and knowledge to which are answered through the well written characters in the novel. The Monster, who is a creation of another character, is highlighted as an individual who goes through an intellectual change.
In Frankenstein, everyone treats Victor’s creation like a monster, including Frankenstein himself. This leads to the creation accepting that title and going on a murder spree. His creation says “When I reflect on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation” (69). Victor’s creation shows that he did not ask to be created, and his existence is miserable.
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’.
Letters Frankenstein This passage is out of letter three, paragraph three. I chose this paragraph because it sounded interesting and it plays a very important part in this novel. Mary Shelley wrote this novel during the Industrial Revolution. The characters in this passage approached the North Pole, challenging the Northern Sea in July.
He toils endlessly in alchemy, spending years alone, tinkering. However, once the Creature is brought to life, Frankenstein is no longer proud of his creation. In fact, he’s appalled by what he’s made and as a result, Frankenstein lives in a perpetual state of unease as the Creature kills those that he loves and terrorizes him. Victor has realized the consequences of playing god. There is irony in Frankenstein’s development, as realized in Victor’s desire to destroy his creation. Frankenstein had spent so much effort to be above human, but his efforts caused him immediate regret and a lifetime of suffering. Victor, if he had known the consequences of what he’s done, would have likely not been driven by his desire to become better than
self-centered. His life is the mirror of a Greed Tragedy. In his case, the flaw
Victor Frankenstein is originally a happy character that loves to learn and read a large variety of books. He was a fiery individual who sought to understand all knowledge; regardless of how practical the information was. Evidence of this is when his father tells him not to worry about fictional writers like Cornelius Agrippa. Yet, Frankenstein states, “But here were books, and here were men who had penetrated deeper and knew more. I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple” (21). Frankenstein embodies the movement in science to understand everything, and that is not necessarily a good thing (Storment 2). Frankenstein only understands that this train of thought is bad when he reaches the pinnacle of knowledge and produces the creature. The fruits of Frankenstein’s labor end up costing him the lives of his friends and family, as well as his own sanity. The feeling of guilt thrives in Frankenstein because he knows his work was the direct cause of the chaos in his life. In Frankenstein’s case, his goal of total enlightenment led to his pitiful demise. Frankenstein’s creature was not originally a monster. He is born with good intentions and is a gentle- although atrocious looking- being until he learns of the sins of the human race. The ultimate factor in the creature’s progression from harmless to
Frankenstein is the story of an eccentric scientist whose masterful creation, a monster composed of sown together appendages of dead bodies, escapes and is now loose in the country. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelly’s diction enhances fear-provoking imagery in order to induce apprehension and suspense on the reader. Throughout this horrifying account, the reader is almost ‘told’ how to feel – generally a feeling of uneasiness or fright. The author’s diction makes the images throughout the story more vivid and dramatic, so dramatic that it can almost make you shudder.
In Frankenstein, Victor’s monster suffers much loneliness and pain at the hands of every human he meets, as he tries to be human like them. First, he is abandoned by his creator, the one person that should have accepted, helped, and guided him through the confusing world he found himself in. Next, he is shunned wherever he goes, often attacked and injured. Still, throughout these trials, the creature remains hopeful that he can eventually be accepted, and entertains virtuous and moral thoughts. However, when the creature takes another crushing blow, as a family he had thought to be very noble and honorable abandons him as well, his hopes are dashed. The monster then takes revenge on Victor, killing many of his loved ones, and on the humans who have hurt him. While exacting his revenge, the monster often feels guilty for his actions and tries to be better, but is then angered and provoked into committing more wrongdoings, feeling self-pity all the while. Finally, after Victor’s death, the monster returns to mourn the death of his creator, a death he directly caused, and speaks about his misery and shame. During his soliloquy, the monster shows that he has become a human being because he suffers from an inner conflict, in his case, between guilt and a need for sympathy and pity, as all humans do.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is ‘one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction’, and is also a frightening story that speaks to the ‘mysterious fears of our nature’. Mary Shelley mocks the idea of “playing God”, the idea that came from the Greek myth of Prometheus, of the Greek titan who stole Zeus’ gift of life. Both the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus reveal the dark side of human nature and the dangerous effects of creating artificial life. Frankenstein reveals the shocking reality of the consequences to prejudging someone. The creature’s first-person narration reveals to us his humanity, and his want to be accepted by others even though he is different. We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think.
The creator of the monster, Victor Frankenstein is a man full of knowledge and has a strong passion for science. He pushes the boundary of science and creates a monster. Knowledge can be a threat when used for evil purposes. Though Victor did not intend for the being to be evil, society’s judgement on the monster greatly affects him. As a result he develops hatred for his creator as well as all man-kind. Victor’s anguish for the loss of his family facilitates his plan for revenge to the monster whom is the murderer. While traveling on Robert Walton’s ship he and Victor continue their pursuit of the monster. As Victor’s death nears he says, “…or must I die, and he yet live? If I do, swear to me Walton, that he shall not escape, that you will seek him and satisfy my vengeance in his death…Yet, when I am dead if he should appear, if the ministers of vengeance should conduct him to you, swear that he shall not live-swear that he shall not triumph over my accumulated woes and survive to add to the list of his dark crimes” (pg.199). Victor grieves the death of William, Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth and his father. Throughout the novel he experiences the five stages of grief, denial/ isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. Victor denies ...
middle of paper ... ... Generally in the novel, most readers tend to sympathize with Frankenstein because of the way in which he is mentally and physically harmed by his creation. However, one must also realize that while Frankenstein is a victim in the novel, he also exhibits features that make him a monster. These monstrous qualities, however, stem from his passion for science and his desire to create life. Not only does the reader criticize and pity Frankenstein, but the reader also empathizes with Frankenstein’s creation.
After Frankenstein discovered the source of human life, he became wholly absorbed in his experimental creation of a human being. Victor's unlimited ambition, his desire to succeed in his efforts to create life, led him to find devastation and misery. "...now that I have finished, the beauty of the dream had vanished..." (Shelley 51). Victor's ambition blinded him to see the real dangers of his project. This is because ambition is like a madness, which blinds one self to see the dangers of his actions. The monster after realizing what a horror he was demanded that victor create him a partner. "I now also began to collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and this was like torture..." (Shelley 169). Victor's raw ambition, his search for glory, has left him. His eyes have been opened to see his horrible actions, and what have and could become of his creations. As a result, Victor has realized that he is creating a monster, which could lead to the downfall of mankind. His choice is simple, save his own life or save man.
From the beginning of time in history, women have always been portrayed as and seen as the submissive sex. Women especially during the time period of the 1800s were characterized as passive, disposable, and serving an utilitarian function. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example displaying the depiction of women. The women in Frankenstein represent the treatment of women in the early 1800’s. Shelley’s incorporation of suffering and death of her female characters portrays that in the 1800’s it was acceptable. The women in the novel are treated as property and have minimal rights in comparison to the male characters. The feminist critic would find that in Frankenstein the women characters are treated like second class citizens. The three brutal murders of the innocent women are gothic elements which illustrates that women are inferior in the novel. Mary Shelley, through her novel Frankenstein, was able to give the reader a good sense of women’s role as the submissive sex, through the characters experiences of horrific events including but not limited to brutal murder and degradation, which is illuminated by her personal life experiences and time period of romanticism.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.