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Literary analysis of mary shelley frankenstein
Mary shelley's frankenstein character analysis and development
Mary shelley's frankenstein character analysis and development
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What is prejudice? Acoording to Miriam Webster, Prejudice is defined as “an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex,or religion.” But what is it that truly fuels Prejudice? Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein answers that question. Frankenstein is a haunting tale of a mad scientist named Victor Frankenstein and his attempt to bring life back to the dead. Victor creates an ugly creature that becomes an outcast to society and Victor ends up paying the price in the long run. In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, it is demonstrated that Society’s fear of the creature’s appearance drives the prejudice shown towards the creature. This is proven by the creature’s encounters with the De Lacey's, His confrontation …show more content…
This was demonstrated by the creature’s appearence filling those he met with fear, causing them to treat him unfairly. As the novel continues, we see the monster embrace the judgement that was put on him and turn into a malicious monster; "Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil!” (Shelley Ch.10 ) If there hadn’t been such strong prejudice against the creature, he may have not turned into such an evil monster. What can be learned from this tale is to not judge a book by its cover. When someone is judged by their appearance, an assumption is created that may or may not be true. If an induvidual is repeatedly labled by thier appearence, they may embrace that assumption and become what society has labeled them as. This is an issue we continue to deal with in our nation today. If even just one person had listened to the monster and accepted him for who he was, he may have not ended up being a malicious monster and would continue being a sensitive creature. In the same way, if just one person accepts someone for who they are, regardless what they look like, it can really make a positive impact on someone. Learn from Frankenstein and don’t use prejudice as a reaction to
For centauries, women have been forced to live life in the outskirts of a male dominated society. During the 1800’s, the opportunities for women were extremely limited and Mary Shelly does an excellent job in portraying this in her gothic novel, Frankenstein. Furthermore, in this novel, Mary Shelly shows how society considers women to be possessions rather than independent human beings. In addition, the female characters rely heavily on men for support and survival, thus proving their inability to do it on their own. Lastly, the female characters in this novel are in many ways victimized by the male characters. In conclusion, in Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein, the female characters always fulfill the limited and archetypical roles that are set for them by society.
The quote shows the creature’s feelings towards humanity. He believes that it is not his fault for acting like a monster but humans' fault for they refused to accept him. By isolating the creature they turned him into a monster who wanted revenge against the person who brought him into existence only to suffer. The creature only wanted to belong but when he was continuously treated terribly he saw that it would never happen and became the monster everyone expected him to be.
I learned that while the Monster wanders around showing feelings of admiration and sensitivity towards others, his outward appearance alone is what causes much hatred to be inflicted onto him – and regrettably, so much hatred to be radiating out. It was clear that the creation serves as an example of a being that is not truly evil, but one that was simply trying to fit into the world. Consequently, he lashed out as a result of society responding exactly the opposite: rejecting him. As I now understood, what makes a monster is not always necessarily dependent on one’s actions, as those actions could strongly be influenced by
As human nature, we tend to judge too much. We judge others by the color of their skin, their weight, if they have acne or not, and how they dress The Creature, from Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, is judged throughout the entire novel. He looks different,
First, let’s examine the alienation from society suffered by Frankenstein’s monster. The cause of his ostracism was his horrific physical appearance. It was so bad that people would not even allow him the chance to speak or get to know the person behind the hideous face. Shelley is criticizing the importance appearance plays in defining our roles as members of society. The monster knows all too well how people will receive him and so tries to appeal to a blind man, the only type of person who could be dependent on him. Sadly for the wretch, the blind man had others on whom he could depend as well, and upon seeing him caused a stir. His one chance at gaining acceptance
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein expresses human nature specifically through the character of the “Creature” and his development. The Creature has an opportunity to explore his surroundings, and in doing so he learns that human nature is to run away from something so catastrophic in looks. The Creature discovers that he must limit himself in what he does due to the response of humans because of his deformities. I feel that Mary Shelley tries to depict human nature to running away from the abnormal, which results in alienation of the “abnormal.” Even today, people have a prejudice against someone or something that is abnormal, and these people will act differently towards this abnormality that is put in front of them. In the novel, Shelley seems to suggest a conception of humanity that is deeply influe...
In this 1700’s society the standards for society are quite different than what they are now, for one the general measure of someone’s worth and goodness is based primarily upon their appearance. Another of these societal standards that Shelley conveys is the social classes of the time with the cottagers and the monster’s description of them and how they are divided by wealth and family reputation. The last of the aforementioned societal standards is that of hiding one’s problems in the case of Victor Frankenstein and his hiding of his creation that became a monster, a monster that society
Throughout the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the monster is rejected by society because of his looks and actions. Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the monster, forced the monster to be mean and lonely because of how he was treated. Frankenstein could have made the monster look and act more kindly if he would have taught him how to. One should have taught the monster how to act, how to survive and show him right from wrong.
The creature’s moral ambiguity characteristic was a vile ingredient to the construction of this novel Frankenstein because it made the reader 's sympathies with him even after the audience knows he had committed murder because the readers had seen the truth this creature had to face. That he had tried everything within his power to peacefully live with them, to interact, communicate, and befriend them “these thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language”, that even though he was seen as a monster because of the looks he was created with, something he had no control over, he still had hope to be seen as equals, ”My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration;” this hope of his was utterly crushed, and can only set him up for utter disappointment(12.18). Because in the end he only received hates, scorns, violence, and prejudice from his good will. So in the end of the story, Mary Shelley’s forces the readers to see within the creature’s heart and for
Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein does indeed do a lot more than simply tell story, and in this case, horrify and frighten the reader. Through her careful and deliberate construction of characters as representations of certain dominant beliefs, Shelley supports a value system and way of life that challenges those that prevailed in the late eighteenth century during the ‘Age of Reason’. Thus the novel can be said to be challenging prevailant ideologies, of which the dominant society was constructed, and endorsing many of the alternative views and thoughts of the society. Shelley can be said to be influenced by her mothers early feminist views, her father’s radical challenges to society’s structure and her own, and indeed her husband’s views as Romantics. By considering these vital influences on the text, we can see that in Shelley’s construction of the meaning in Frankenstein she encourages a life led as a challenge to dominant views.
A monster can be characterized by an extreme deviation from the normal standards of society including an internal or external wickedness. In the case of Mary Shelley’s Creature, his appearance overwhelms those who lay eyes upon him. A mere glance can send a villager running for the hills. It was not until the Creature caught a glance of his own reflection that he understood why villagers were so afraid of him. The realization of his ghastly appearance began the monster’s journey into hopelessness. In Peter Brooks’ article he writes, “Self recognition as the ‘filthy type’ completes the mirror stage of the Monsters development.” (Brooks 377). Seeing oneself as ugly and slovenly can cast shadows on even the most compassionate of hearts.
In the book West Side Story by Arthur Laurents there were many prejudices. Prejudice is a favoring or dislike of something without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge. There were prejudices in West Side Story that had to do with the types of people, their races and sex. Sometimes prejudice can be in small doses and can be meaningless, other times prejudice can be very serious and cause death.
Throughout the novel, Shelley investigates the idea of monstrosity. She makes the point that a monster does not have to be genuinely evil in order to be considered monstrous. Shelley presents two characteristics of mankind in order to prove her case. The first example is Frankenstein’s creation. Upon first being introduced to his creation, the reader initially labels him as a monster because of his physical appearance. He is portrayed as a man with “…yellow skin scarcely cover[ing] the work of muscles and arteries beneath…watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set…shrivelled complexion and straight black lips” (Shelley 58). Not only does the reader view him as...
While reading contemporary authors, their books may convey or portray current issues that are visible in our current society. However, in the example of the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the creature to reflect gender equality. The creature wishes to be treated equal and to be equal to man in every aspect, however, man denies the idea and treats the creature as another species. This can reflect the idea of equality for women, also, the idea of discrimination can be interpreted. Since the creature is technically human because the body’s composition is made out of human body parts, the creature has the intelligence of a person and has the ability to show, feel or have emotions, yet he is treated differently due to his appearance. These ideas are also
However repugnant he was on the outside, when Frankenstein’s creature begins to tell his tale of sorrow and rejection the creature does not seem to be monstrous. Although rejected multiple times by the humans around him when he finds a family in poverty and “suffering the pangs ...