Shelley 94). Victor’s various thoughts of rage and hatred that had at first deprive him of utterance, but he recovers only to overwhelm the creature with words expressive of furious detestation and contempt, as he recalled creature’s misdoings to his loved ones. However, Victor pauses to “conceive,” to “feel,” and to “reason” with monster (M. Shelley 94). As Victor follows his creation, he notices the “air [to be full] of exultation” and “the rain” beginning “to descend,” showcasing Victor’s consent to change his view. (M. Shelley 98). Chapter 10 is exemplary of the Romantic Period where story becomes an allegory for real emotions and struggles. Victor’s
Victor had created the creature with the vision from his dreams of a strong, tall perfect being with no flaws. His years of study with the unnatural and science had come to this final conclusion and masterful idea that he was determined to finish. To his surprise, he had created the opposite, “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 35) Victor is saddened by what he thinks of as a failure. He leaves his own apartment to go sleep in his court yard outside following his creation. He begins to isolate himself from the creature because of his fear of the creature’s outward appearance. He loses all hope for the creature without even learning anything about him. The fact that Shelley begins to refer to the being that Victor created as a “creature” shows Victor’s ignorance and lack of acceptance. It is Victor’s prejudice that blinds him of the creature’s true potential due to the unwanted preconception that follows the creature as he finds meaning in
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.
When Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is analyzed, critics comes to a conclusion about Victor Frankenstein's creation. The creature invokes the most sympathy from the readers than any other character in the novel. Because he is abandoned by society which manipulates the creature to do evil things despite his good heart. Therefore Shelley's message throughout the novel is that a person is not born evil, they are made evil.
Peter Brooks' essay "What Is a Monster" tackles many complex ideas within Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the main concept that is the title of the essay itself. What is the definition of a monster, or to be monstrous? Is a monster the classic representation we know, green skin, neck bolts, grunting and groaning? A cartoon wishing to deliver sugary cereal? or someone we dislike so greatly their qualities invade our language and affect our interpretation of their image and physical being? Brooks' essay approaches this question by using Shelley's narrative structure to examine how language, not nature, is mainly accountable for creating the idea of the monstrous body.
Sympathy in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein In her novel, 'Frankenstein', Mary Shelley employs many innovative literary techniques to invoke feelings of sympathy for the monster. Sympathy is created by the author both by making the readers pity the monster’s loathsome existence and by leading them to understand his violent and cruel actions. We pity the creature because of the way he is treated by mankind and we can identify with his feelings and reactions and understand why he behaves as he does. Shelley uses different narrators throughout the novel and the reader sympathises with the views of these people to differing degrees.
The second stage of the monster that Shelley talks of is his coming to life, and, specifically, the reaction that Victor has to it. When Victor’s creation comes alive for the first time, his initial reaction is one of disgust; “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?” (Shelley 58) Victor’s reaction shows how he cannot even put into words the unsightliness of the Monster and the disgust he feels when it finally comes to life, despite the countless hours he put in to do so. In using the monster as a symbol of Victor’s obsession, Shelley portrays how even Victor, though he may not want to admit it, is disgusted with his own obsession with the
monster got on well with the old man who was blind, but it was only
Victor’s childhood is similar to the upbringing of the creature; the Monster doesn’t receive enough nurturing attention from Victor and becomes a barbarous and brutal creature, out of control just as Victor had been while he created the creature. Although the two part immediately, and live separate lives, they think of one another constantly. In addition to the similarities between the two characters’ lives, their emotions mirror one another 's as well. Both the creature and Frankenstein long for sympathy as they continuously reiterate that no one understands them. The Monster tells Frankenstein about his experiences, “I am an unfortunate and deserted creature, I look around and have no relation or friend upon earth… I am full of fears, for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever (Shelley 95). The creature’s sense of being an outcast is profound. This feeling of not being understood is also found in Shelley’s rendering of Frankenstein’s character. As Frankenstein picks up dead body parts from the graveyard he remarks, “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? (Shelley 33). His obsessive desire to bring this creature to life forces him into his secret toil, as does the monster’s desire to
The more Shelley uses appearances and is overly detailed, the clearer the reader can picture the scene as what Mary Shelley had is her own mind. Appearances play a significant role in this book because the creature has a foreign body figure. This part of the book is incredibly unrealistic, so it’s necessary to have detailed characterization to develop the physical appearances in the book. Mary Shelley described the complexity of the creature by saying, “His yellow skin scarcely covered with the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes…" (Shelley 43) to define his appearance that Victor was fearful of. This creature was dreadful to look at and Victor was ashamed to have created such a ridiculously ugly person. Shelley establishes Victor’s feelings about the creature by continuously describing his ugly appearance and personality. Not only did she use appearances to describe the monster, but she also included several descriptions for all the other characters as well. When the opportunity presented itself, Shelley also
In the beginning of the novel, Victor creates the monster, while isolating himself for five years. While creating this monster, he not only isolates himself, but Victor abandons his “ideal” life. Family and friends whom Victor uses as his support system throughout the novel, especially his good friend Henry Clerval and his cousin Elizabeth, constantly surround Victor and create his “ideal” life. From the moment Victor abandons this life, as the novel portrays, Victor is considered an outcast of society. Victor abandons such a life by isolating himself from the world in order to achieve what he feels is “natural philosophy” and to reveal the true characteristics of life. Victor creates the monster with the intention of creating a superhuman
“Yet I seek not a fellow-feeling in my misery. No sympathy may I ever find” (Shelley 223). Feeling sympathy towards the misfortunes of others is a human characteristic, and felt not only towards other humans but those who are considered less than human as well. There are people with the capability to feel sympathy for even the most monstrous of beings that have been rejected by others due to their actions or appearance. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster’s flashback, descriptive language, and the theme questioning what defines a human are used to make the reader feel sympathy for the monster.
The monster really is not a monster but rather a victim. The true monster of the story is Victor because he creates monster just because he is just obsessed with them and can’t stay away from creating new creatures (Shelley, 411). Victor did not nurture the monster when it was little so it grew up in it’s own path doing things that parents should be teaching their little ones the monster was never loved. Maybe that is how Mary Shelley felt since her mother had died and no one had took care of her besides her dad. She related the book to her personal life and her dad try to create another monster or have another baby with her step mother but then if he did he would not take care of her. The monster would of had to learn to grow on its own and that is very difficult without getting a little help. Every kid needs to be nurture in their life it is not optional. Because what if the monster was really taken care of by Victor its whole life. The story would turn out different and the real monster of the story would be the creature because Victor would have led the monster on the right path of life but then the monster would just take a wrong turn and just murder innocent lives throughout the
In this story we see one of the main characters Victor get really obsessed with learning about the body and eventually blocks out all family and friends to create his ‘creature’. Once Victor creates the monster he realizes how hideous his creature is he decides that he wants nothing to do with it and leaves it. Mary Shelley, purposely calls the monster or ‘creature’ because that is his name throughout the story to remind the readers that even though the creature seems to have feelings and do other things humans do, he will never be human.
The Monster enters the world unaware of what he is or what his purpose is, curious about humans and his interaction with them. His initial encounters with humans are not positive, so he flees into the woods and eventually comes across a cabin inhabited by a small family. As he observes them, his wish to be accepted by humans and have a connection with someone becomes stronger, as he “[yearns] to be known and loved by these amiable creatures” (Shelley 92). To prepare himself before he attempts to meet them, he learns their language through reading and manic observation of the family. Shelley is examining a different pursuit of knowledge: one that is still innocent in intent but obsessive in nature. This is also examined in The Reading Monster, which draws a parallel between the Monster and Frankenstein. Just like Frankenstein let his ambitions “run amok through the overreaching ambition and obsession of the mad scientist,” the Monster did the same, but with humans (Brantlinger 471). The Monster seeks to be accepted by a society of beings that are nothing like him, and will never welcome him, but still strives to do so. Upon mastering his rhetoric, he confronts the family, but is chased away due to his hideous appearance. Unfortunately, it is human nature to judge those initially based on appearance, so the Monster never gets an opportunity to prove his good intentions. In discovering his monstrous appearance, he sees the monstrosity that exists amongst humans as well: that of rejection, cruelty and fear of the unknown. In response, he claims his vengeance and hatred toward mankind (Brantlinger 471). This sparks his violence toward Frankenstein and all of the people in his life that he cares about. Once he starts his purge of revenge, he turns into exactly what he has hated all along: a hateful and evil being. Shelley is showing that trying to step into a foreign area of knowledge,