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themes of frankenstein by mary shelley
themes in frankenstein novel
critical analysis of revenge
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Frankenstein or the modern prometheus and is a novel with a theme of revenge where it has an effect on the family and victor’s loved ones. when victor frankenstein was young he created a monster and he saw how he looked he was disgusted with it. He did not take any of the responsibility of being the creator of a monster so he just basically thought he could forget it and continue on with his life like nothing happened. when victor does that he leaves the monster confused and angry that his own creator didn't even want to take care of him. With that being the case there is a lot of revenge throughout the novel. When the monster is in his hovel and he has some of victor’s papers and it described victor’s every step and gets upset when he says …show more content…
“i bent over and placed the portrait in her folds of the dress” (shelley 62) when the creature does convince victor for him too have a companion and he starts working victor regrets it and stops the progress he makes and destroys it and that gets the monster mad and says he will pay for that that the creature will be with him on his wedding night “”but remember i shall be with you on your wedding night” (shelley 74) victor then on his way back he later finds out that his best friend has been murdered right after he left the monster “the lifeless form of henry clerval stretched before me” (shelley 78) so after him breaking the promise his best friend is murdered. finally victor goes home after being proved innocent and gets married to elizabeth but on the wedding night the monster kept it’s promise of being there and killed elizabeth. “she was there lifeless and inanimate thrown across the bed” (shelley 87) so with all those killings he has experienced happened to his loved ones he has set his sight on hunting down the creature well they are in the arctic and he finds robert walton and he makes him promise him to kill the monster if he doesn’t get the chance to “swear to me walton that he shall not escape and you will satisfy my vengeance in his death” At the end they both end up dying because they wanted revenge on each other for one’s
Revenge is a fairly strong emotion; it’s wanting to retaliate towards those who wronged you. Revenge is such an uncontrollable way of retaliation that it can result in a destructive outcome or carried out successfully. Although the results may vary, revenge sums up to one thing which is pain of some sort, affecting both parties or just one. Throughout history we see many tales of revenge and redemption. Often revenge does leave the one carrying it out feeling victorious but this can suddenly change as the process of karma generally begins in some tales.
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
If Victor had stayed around and showed the monster the real world, he might have not have went on to perform violent actions. This portrays Victor as a selfish character and gives more of an insight on his personal life. As a child, Victor is only interested in furthering his own knowledge and not worried about anyone else. He spent much of his time “drawing the picture of [his] early days... when [he] would account to [himself] for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled [his] destiny” (Shelley 34), or otherwise a magnificent creation that would change his future. When constructing the Monster, he put all of his relatives in the back of his mind, and only focused on his own success and victory. This further explains the theme of being selfless and only doing certain things that will benefit
The first appearance of Victor Frankenstein in the novel is when he boards Robert Walton’s ship after Victor being stranded on the ice. The story then turns to Frankenstein as he tells his story of how he creates the monster, including in great detail how the monster murdered his brother William, subsequently caused the death of his maid/family friend Justine, murdered his friend Henry Clerval, and killed Victor’s wife Elizabeth, and ended up chasing the monster, which is how he got stranded on the ice. Victor vowed revenge after the death of his brother, promising to tirelessly pursue the monster until one of them dies. At the end of the novel, Victor dies on the ship after he tells the story, and Robert Walton meets the monster as he weeps at Victor’s funeral, begging for Victor to forgive him.
Elizabeth’s life disappears, along with Victor’s happiness. On their wedding night, Victor takes the hand of Elizabeth and says “if you knew what I have suffered and what I may endure” (Shelley 166). Victor wishes he could tell Elizabeth his sad tale, but he tells himself to tell her after the wedding. He knows the monster will come soon to take revenge on him because of the others the monster took away from him. When Victor leaves Elizabeth alone and paces through the house, he “heard a shrill and dreadful scream” (Shelley 167). The monster takes his revenge on Victor by taking his one and only love away from him on his wedding night. After her death, Victor spirals into agony and despair. Without happiness, Victor’s life
Although humans have the tendency to set idealistic goals to better future generations, often the results can prove disastrous, even deadly. The tale of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, focuses on the outcome of one man's idealistic motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of horrific creature. Victor Frankenstein was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor parenting of his progeny that lead to his creation's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. In his idealism, Victor is blinded, and so the creation accuses him for delivering him into a world where he could not ever be entirely received by the people who inhabit it. Not only failing to foresee his faulty idealism, nearing the end of the tale, he embarks upon a final journey, consciously choosing to pursue his creation in vengeance, while admitting he himself that it may result in his own doom. The creation of an unloved being and the quest for the elixir of life holds Victor Frankenstein more accountable for his own death than the creation himself.
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is a thought provoking story to read because the subject matter speaks to me. Dark, supernatural and gothic is exactly the style of reading I would choose in my own reading choices. It was only one step from my Victorian Vampire reading to Frankenstein therefore my choice to read the novel was almost a given to me. Several areas that I as a human can relate to are the human nature of each character, the unrelenting revenge the monster feels, and betrayal in the pursuit of self-preservation Victor bestows on his monster, his family, and mankind. The story speaks of betrayal, a strong an intense emotion that hurt the monster to the core so deeply he commits unspeakable acts. Frankenstein outlines Victor’s betrayal of his son, the monster. Victor literally created a child, a rebirth of flesh in his own design but he felt no love or sense of responsibility for the monsters well-being. This betrayal of the preverbal parent over their “child” is felt greatly by the monster and Frankenstein suffers at his own cost, unwilling and incapable to see he was his own destructor. A notable act of betrayal is when Victor can but does not save Justine from death. His own brother was dead and he was
The monster tells Frankenstein of the wretchedness of the world and how it was not meant for a being such as himself. At the end of his insightful tale the creature demands a companion of the same hideous features but of the opposite gender to become his. Victor only has the choice to make the monster or suffer a lifetime of horror his creation would bring upon him. Which the creator ultimately agrees to make the female monster to save the lives of his family but gains a conscious that fills with guilt of all the destruction he has created and creating. When the monster comes to collect the female he tears her apart and the monster vows to destroy all Victor holds dear. The monster’s emotional sense is consumed with rage against Victor, murdering Frankenstein’s best friend. Though when the monster’s framing ways do not work to lead to Victor being executed, he then murders Frankenstein’s wife on their wedding night. This tragedy is the last for Victor’s father who becomes ill with grief and quickly passes within a few days, leaving Victor with nothing but his own regret. Shelley doesn’t give the audience the monsters side of the story but hints that the remainder of his journey consisted of being a shadow to that of his creator. It is at the graves of the Frankenstein family when the creature makes an appearance in the solemn and
Written in 1817 by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein is a novel about the "modern Prometheus", the Roman Titian who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. The story takes place in several European countries during the late 1700's. It is the recollection of Victor Frankenstein to a ship captain about his life. Victor is a student of science and medicine who discovers a way to reanimate dead flesh. In a desire to create the perfect race he constructs a man more powerful than any normal human, but the creation is so deformed and hideous that Victor shuns it. The creation then spends a year wandering searching for companionship, but everywhere he goes he is shunned and feared. Hating life the creature turns its misery on its creator, killing off Victors family.
After Victor destroys his work on the female monster meant to ease the monster's solitude, the monster is overcome with suffering and sadness. These feelings affected his state of mind and caused him to do wrong things. He did not deserve to see his one and only mate be destroyed.
In the novel Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley the motif of cruelty functions as a motive and mode of retaliation. Both Victor and the Creature portray the roles of the perpetrator and victim of cruelty as seen through the rejection the Creature receives from the humans, Victor’s betrayal to the Creature, and the revenge sought out by the Creature.
Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley is a classic novel. Frankenstein is about a man named Victor Frankenstein who set out on a quest after his mother died. His quest was to reanimate a body to learn how to maybe bring back his mother. After years of work and isolation Victor succeeded, but was horrified by his creation. After rejecting his creation the monster swore vengeance. For the rest of the novel the monster haunts Victor, by killing his loved ones and in some cases trying to force Victor into creating another monster. Victor Frankenstein; A young Swiss boy, he grows up in Geneva reading the works of the ancient and outdated alchemists, a background that serves him ill when he attends university at Ingolstadt. There
Literature often works as depicted act of betrayal. Many people, friends, and family may portray a protagonist, but they will likewise be guilty of treachery or betrayal to their own values. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there is acts of betrayal between Victor Frankenstein and the monster. In the Novel Victor Frankenstein is a betrayal of life itself because it should be given naturally and not created by a scientist man. The monster is actually the one who is majorly betrayed, he may look like a hideous dangerous monster on the outside but, not one within himself. From the beginning of the novel, Victor betrays the monster, and this betrayal is seen on many levels throughout the novel. The tragic figure in Mary Shelley’s horror novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, is truly the instrument of betrayal to his creation of the monster because life should be given naturally not by creation of suffering and horrific which is made by man.
In the novel Frankenstein, there is a lot of blame being thrown around for the violence that takes place. Victor Frankenstein ultimately blames himself and as a reader it 's easy to understand why. “Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch.” The first obvious place to start is the fact that he is the creator of the evil menace that 's behind the stricken violence. Not only that, but he also never taught this huge and overwhelmingly powerful monster right from wrong, he just abandoned him from the start. Lastly, when he did finally speak to the creature it was Victor who ensued the first act of violence verbally with threats and harsh words. No wonder the monster couldn 't accept humans into his life, he resented the first human he came in contact with that brought him to
Victor and Elizabeth then get married after the death of his best friend Henry Clerval . The monster then does come through with his words of being with Victor on his wedding night . Elizabeth talks with Victor for a moment then goes to another room where boom Victor hears her scream and cry . He rushes to the room and “Great God! Why did I not the expire! Why am I here to relate my mind the destruction of the best hope and purest creature on earth? She was there , lifeless and inanimate , thrown across the bed, her head hanging down and her pale and distorted features half covered by hair .”(Shelley 87) . The monster goes on to take life away from Elizabeth and cause Victor more pain . The monster plan was a success killing Victor’s brother , best friend , and lover