Isolation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, has several themes imbedded in the text. One major theme is of isolation. Many of the characters experience some time of isolation. The decisions and actions of some of these characters are the root cause of their isolation. They make choices that isolate themselves from everyone else.
He turns to the only thing that he can think of to get attention from others, mainly from his “father” or creator, Victor, treating them like he has been treated all of his life and even turning to violence. He begins by killing Victor’s younger brother. After this, he meets up with Victor and pleads for him to create a wife for him so that he will have somebody just like him who can understands what he is going through and someone who will love him. He does not want to live the remainder of his life in isolation. Victor then promises to create the monster a fellow woman and begins creating her in his laboratory then deciding against the idea of this creation. After Victor does not come through with his promise and because the monster is to be forever isolated from society as a result of his creator’s selfish ways, he goes on a rampage killing some of Victors closest loved ones including Henry Clerval and his wife, Elizabeth. Society contributed to turning the “monster” into such a ruthless villain when all he truly wanted was love and compassion his entire life and not have to live isolated from
In Mary Shelley’s gothic romantic novel, Frankenstein, there are many instances where you can see the negative effects on people and their mental status. Even though having time alone can be beneficial, complete isolation is not good for humans because interacting with others, such as loved ones, is needed to keep everyone’s mental status in a pleasant state. Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and his creature suffer from the many effects of isolation.
Mary Shelley’s nineteenth century classic “Frankenstein” Explores the troubles that came to the monster because of his differences, how he overcomes them, what makes the monster relatable, Victor’s individual tragic flaw, and the tragedy of this book.
Victor, once at Ingolstadt, feels no desire to socialize with others, instead focusing solely on his project to create life. He goes into isolation “and the same feelings which made [him] neglect the scenes around caused [him] also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom [he] had not seen for so long a time”(pg 49). Victor is abnormal. He, unlike most, feels no desire to associate with any other than his former friends. He is consumed by his pursuit of knowledge, and on the path to attain it is willing, without hesitation, he separates himself from society. He completes, in his isolation, the monster, and then he scorns it. Through Victor’s completion of the monster in isolation, Shelley sends a warning about the effects of isolation. Out of the reach of society, awful things will happen. The monster, contrasting with Victor, has an insatiable desire for human contact. The monster, not by its choice, “[is] alone and miserable: man will not associate with [him]” (128). The monster goes to great lengths to achieve contact with man and to fit into society. He learns the language of man and man’s behavior through watching the DeLaceys, and while accepted by the blind man, is rejected by the rest of the family. He is rejected and forced into isolation by society. Finally, scorned enough, having gone mad through isolation, the monster goes on a rampage for revenge, committing the murders of Victor’s only connections to society. Through the rampage, Shelley once again illustrates the negative effects of isolation. Before his rampage, the monster is more human than Victor, in that he wants to be part of society and is alienated only because of his appearance while Victor, accepted by society already, because he resembles man, willingly leaves the company of man for a
Everybody will at one point in his or her lifetime experience isolation or anger. Isolation can be chosen or forced, but anger is something that needs to be controlled. To control anger you need to be taught how to and time to practice it. This skill is usually taught to children by their parents; however, this is not always the case, as some children are abandoned by their parents. Abandonment can cause depression, anger, and the absence of valuable life lessons which upon further inspection are all interconnected. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this loop is represented by the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creature. Shelley shows how being forced into isolation can affect a human. Today there are television shows of human attempts to survive
Isolation is a major theme in the novel, Frankenstein, like how throughout the novel Victor and the creature are both isolated. The distinction between their times of isolation is that one had a choice while the other did not. A similarity between them when they were isolated is that neither of them controlled their emotions. It was their irrational thoughts and feelings that created many of the conflicts throughout the novel. “With no one to mediate our feelings … and help us determine their appropriateness, before long they deliver us a distorted sense of self, a perceptual fracturing or a profound irrationality.”(Bond, Michael).
The many misfortunes of the monster are caused by his total isolation, but dissimilar to Victor, the monster did not have a choice for his lifestyle. While Victor chose to go into isolation, the monster is forced into it because of his horrid looks and features. The monster was first pushed into isolation when he went to a village, and realized how badly the village people treated him. By saying, “The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me,” he shows that although he was not trying to cause any harm, the people would not accept him because of his looks. Another major event that made the monster unwillingly go into isolation was when he tried to talk to the DeLacey family. This example was very important because although he felt close to the family, when they saw him, “Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward...in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick.” This shows how different Victor and the monster’s state of isolation was because while Victor chose it, the monster was willing to do anything to get out of it. By using many examples of the monster not fitting into society, Mary Shelley was able to show how two different perspectives can view isolation. While Victor wanted isolation for his studies, the monster shows the opposite look on isolation, and
The monster is created like no other person, and his appearance is especially horrific to all of mankind. He becomes increasingly lonely throughout the novel when he realizes that he will never be able to make anyone be his companion since every human is afraid of him. The monster recognizes he was inherently good by saying “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend”, but he loses that goodness after being repeatedly rejected by multiple humans (Shelley 87). The monster becomes so isolated that he begins to become corrupt, and the corruption leads to a sense of jealousy. He has the desire for something that he does not have which is a companion, and becomes obsessed with the fact that he will never have one. This obsession makes him evil, and makes him lose any sense of innocence he once had. On the other hand, Victor is blessed with an abundance of family and friends. Sadly, the monster kills almost all of Victor’s family which leaves him in a depressed state from the loss of his loved ones. Victor feels alone without his family and explains how he goes crazy by saying “For they had called me mad, and during many months, as I understood, a solitary cell had been my habitation” (Shelley 189). He loses all human connection when he loses his family, and this inability to be with someone he can relate to makes him
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a Gothic novel about a man, Victor Frankenstein, and his monster creation. Due to the monster’s hideous appearance, Frankenstein flees and abandons him, letting the monster roam freely into society. Each of the three head characters, Robert Walton, Frankenstein, and the monster encounter isolation at some point in the novel. In Frankenstein, Shelley illustrates the theme of ‘isolation is unpleasant if one cannot tolerate being secluded’, which helps the reader understand that friendship is important, loneliness can create depression, but isolation is also essential at times. To begin with, Shelley utilizes the theme ‘isolation is distressing’ to illustrate the importance of friendship. Isolation and the significance
The novel follows Victor, an aspiring scientist as he first searches graveyards in search of materials to create a new being. Once animated, he imminently proves irresponsible to the reader and labels it as a monster, where the creation later sets out to seek companionship and affection from his creator. Shelley utilises techniques such as contrast, the theme of alienation shown by Victor and narrative perspective to cause the reader to feel negatively towards Victor as his selfish and isolated nature is revealed throughout the novel.
When dealing with harsh judgement from society it can change one’s perspective on life and determine the actions one goes about. When dealing with gender, social status, and appearance, civilization can steer one away and create alienation and isolation within the society. The chaos and immorality of Victor’s actions display the truths of how society reacts to beauty and perfection and what is bound to happen when one becomes overly obsessed and focused on fame and knowledge. Throughout the Gothic Romanticism novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley successfully illustrates society’s corrupt assumptions and moral values through alienation and isolation through Victor’s creation of the creature.
In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley introduces the idea that willingly isolating oneself in order to achieve a desired goal leads to unintended situations or consequences that can be detrimental to not only oneself but society through Victor Frankenstein.
Frankenstein is a book about a person creating a monster. Within the book, Frankenstein, the creator of the creature, had isolated himself to the point where he becomes more anxious until he reaches a point of relief as he watches nature. Due to his appearance, the creature was forced into isolation. Being unloved and disowned triggered his need for acceptance and love. The surroundings caused both characters to be obsessive to one’s attention once it’s given. Because of the isolated setting, the surroundings caused both characters to be obsessive to one’s attention once it’s given. The surroundings cause both characters to be obsessive to one’s attention once it’s given, so it caused them to be destructive when that attention is lost.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an attempt at connection—a narrative woven by its three principal narrators that attempts to share their legacies, dreams, and destructive secrets. The novel begins with the sea captain Walton writing to his sister about his longing for a companion, a wish paralleled by the other characters in the story: namely Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates. The whole narrative, therefore, is an effort to connect with others and alleviate loneliness and seclusion. It is fitting then, that this very notion of isolation is the greatest destructive force in the novel, as it facilitates and prompts monstrous behaviors. Emotional isolation from both family and society drives Frankenstein and his creation to dangerous