Character Evolution in Frankenstein: A Reader's Perspective

Frankenstein and Dracula Novel Study by Ruhani

Explain how your feelings towards a character changed from beginning to end. (5)

While I was reading ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley, my feelings towards the monster were various. When Victor brought him to life, I felt joyful that the main character had accomplished his goal. For Victor, the reality of the situation caused his thoughts to turn sour. I, on the other hand, felt sympathetic. Victor’s main reasoning for his immediate hatred of his monster was based solely on the looks and the oddness of his creation. But as a reader, I know that judgement by appearance occurs in our world, and felt that Victor was being hasty in his decision. I felt sympathetic towards the monster, as Victor

It describes the era when machines were being invented, such as the steam engine, and factories were introduced. The industrial revolution did not only introduce humanity to new, efficient ways of life, but these machines and factories had massive impacts on the way society functioned. The introduction of said machines and factories altered the job economy. Now, men and women were working in factories and offices instead of farms. They were living in cities and towns versus rural regions. Mary Shelley represents this pivotal moment through her scepticism of the technological advancement. In the novel, Shelley uses Victor as an example of the industrial revolution. He uses the newest technology and machinery to somehow create a life that is stronger than nature. The path down which he goes after his monster comes alive is horrendous and reeks of death. Perhaps, this was Shelley’s way of warning her readers against the advancement that was taking place. Maybe she used the events that occurred to Victor, as a guide, to explain where she thought the revolution might lead. The monster himself is stronger than nature, as she wrote him to be able to squeeze the life out of humans in the novel. This could have been her way of symbolising the machines that allowed work to be done in hours, which would have taken humans days; that machines were besting nature and rendering humans useless. In ‘Dracula’, Stoker represents the social impacts of the Industrial Revolution. A quote from the novel says, “unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own, which mere ‘modernity’ cannot kill.” This is seen through the storyline. The story starts off in a close-knit town in Transylvania. The way the town was described, with the citizens constantly crossing themselves and bearing a crucifix, suggests that the population there believed vividly in the tales and ancient gothic