Monstrous Development: A Comparative Analysis of Frankenstein and Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre and Frankenstein both present themselves as bildungsromans in the way that they both deal with the development of something that is monstrous starting from the characters’ childhoods. Frankenstein shows the development of someone creating something that is meant to be normal, but ends up being very morbid. In doing so, he becomes monstrous himself. Jane Eyre shows the development of a love that is “monstrous”. The authors start their character’s stories from a young age because it shows both that a child’s environment can and does have an effect on their future, and that even the most innocent-seeming people and feelings can become something very dangerous. Jane Eyre uses a bildungsroman to show Jane’s development from a young child who struggles with relationships, to a woman who still struggles with relationships, and falls into a

Because both characters never experienced having parental figures, they didn’t know how to care and love what they had control over. Both Jane and Victor ran away from someone when they didn’t know how to handle the situation. The stories are different because the two characters’ have different monstrosities, and they deal with them differently. Jane has a monstrous love, and although she runs from it at first, she learns to accept Mr. Rochester in a flawed state, and love him despite his wrongdoings. Victor chose to run away from something he was responsible for, and this backfired on him; he never did learn how to care for his creation. In conclusion, Jane Eyre and Frankenstein can present themselves as bildungsromans because they deal with the characters’ childhoods and how those affected their adult lives. The monstrous events that occurred in their lives are similar in how the characters handled the situation, but the categorization of what is monstrous in the stories are different, as well as the