Though a minor character in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Safie’s impact on the wretch is major. Through Safie, the wretch sees an outsider successfully integrate into the De Lacey family. While the wretch eventually makes the painful realization that he will never be able to replicate her achievement, his longing for companionship does not fade. Ultimately, though, the wretch’s appearance makes this dream impossible to realize, and society makes an enemy out of one who could have been a good friend.
Safie is the first person the wretch encounters who is an outsider like himself. When she arrives at the De Lacey home, the only word she is able to say is Felix’s name. The wretch soon deduces that “she was neither understood by, or herself understood,
…show more content…
He mentions that her hair was “a shining raven black, and curiously braided,” and that “her features were of a regular proportion.” His mention of her braided hair indicates that she is different from Agatha, the wretch’s only other point of comparison for femininity, but Safie is still aesthetically pleasing in spite of being unusual. In describing Safie’s looks in detail, the wretch demonstrates his understanding of how important first impressions are to humans. He likely already knows that Safie will be welcomed more fondly than he will ever be. While the wretch intends to win over the cottagers with his “gentle demeanour and conciliating words,” (page 131) Safie gains the affection of her future sister-in-law and father-in-law merely by appearing on their doorstep. She already has the love of her future husband, despite never having had a real conversation with him. Though he is clearly at a disadvantage, the wretch becomes more determined than ever to learn to …show more content…
He does not ever do this to Felix or Agatha. Given that the wretch has no name himself, he could be seeking to emphasise that Safie is an outsider just like him, or he could want to demonstrate his perceived superiority. He is working harder and improving faster than she is, and may thus feel he deserves to be a member of the De Lacey family more than she
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is an old classic that has been enjoyed by many generations. Despite the fact that the novel was written over a hundred years ago, it is not only beautifully written but also enthralling and well composed. At the young age of eighteen, Mary Shelly raises questions about education and knowledge to which are answered through the well written characters in the novel. The Monster, who is a creation of another character, is highlighted as an individual who goes through an intellectual change.
In the first scaffold scene Hester Prynne is depicted standing alone while clutching her baby. She has been sentenced to the scaffold for three hours to face public condemnation. In the Puritan society, where this novel is set, public shame is a source of entertainment. On this occasion the townspeople are present to watch the judgment of Hester. As the townspeople are ridiculing her, the narrator is praising Hester for her untamed but lady like beauty (60-61). The narrator goes so far as to compare her to “Divine Maternity” or Mother Mary, the ideal woman, the woman that is looked highly upon by the whole Puritan society (63). However, the conditions are set up to show the change in Hester due to isolation and discredit of the Puritan society. Throughout this scene the Puritans are condemning Hester for her sin as the narrator is condemning the Puritans for their severity.
The creature was created with the intention of goodness and purity but because of this, he wasn’t equipped to deal with the rejection of his creator. After Victor Frankenstein’s death, Robert Walton walks in to see the creature standing over his friend’s lifeless body.
In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley tells us a story about a man called Victor Frankenstein who creates a Creature which he later decides he does not like. The novel Frankenstein is written in an Epistolary form - a story which is written in a letter form - and the letters are written from an English explorer, Robert Walton, to his sister Margaret Saville. Robert is on an expedition to the North Pole, whilst on the expedition; Robert is completely surrounded by ice and finds a man who is in very poor shape and taken on board: Victor Frankenstein. As soon as Victor’s health improves, he tells Robert his story of his life. Victor describes how he discovers the secret of bringing to life lifeless matter and, by assembling different body parts, creates a monster who guaranteed revenge on his creator after being unwanted from humanity.
This novel supports Shelley’s thought about society’s attitude toward female authors and how they were considered inferior. She demonstrates how female authors are shunned by society, just like the creature is shunned. The creature embodies the feminist ideals Shelley weaves into the novel and highlights societies unfair treatment of women. In some ways Shelley identifies with Victor because both of their creations were not what they expected them to be and were worried about the criticism they would receive for it. They both hid their creations for a while, Shelley did not immediately claim the novel and Frankenstein did not claim his experiment
Analysis of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Analyzing a book can be a killer. Especially when it contains tons of subtle little messages and hints that are not picked up unless one really dissects the material. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a prime example.
The idea for the novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein came to her one night when she was staying in the company of what has been called ‘her male coterie’, including Lord Byron and her husband, Percy Shelley. Mary Shelley’s whole life seems to have been heavily influenced by men. She idolised her father, William Godwyn, and appears to have spent a good part of her life trying very hard to impress both him and her husband. There seems to have been a distinct lack of female influence, her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, having died weeks after her birth, being replaced by a neglectful step-mother. These aspects of her life are perhaps evident in her novel. The characters and plot of Frankenstein were perhaps influenced by Shelley’s conflicting feelings about the predominately masculine circle which surrounded her, and perhaps the many masculine traits that we see in novel were based upon those of the male figures in Shelley’s own life. In this essay I will attempt to show some of these traits.
After two years of strenuous labor, Frankenstein is able to instill life within his “miserable wretch” and upon seeing “its...
The Creature becomes fond of this “adopted” family. Before he makes himself conspicuous to the elder De Lacey, he waits for Felix, Agatha, and Safie to leave their home. The monster nervously enters the cottage and begins to speak to the old man. For once, a human is humbled at his presence because the old man is blind and cannot see Creature’s physical attributes: “I am blind and cannot judge your countenance, but there is something in your words which persuade me that you are sincere.” (135). Conversations between the monster and the father go smoothly until the other family members returns. They talk about meaning in friendship and the Creatures circumstances that he is prejudiced with everyone he meets expect the old man. When the party returns, Felix beats the monster as he “dashed [him] to the ground and struck [him] violently with a stick”; however, the creature offers no confrontation with them and leaves the cabin to return to his hovel (136). Through the distortion, the blind is able to see the true identity of the Creature as worthwhile being who begs to live a life without loneliness whereas the others only see his physical appearance first. Since the other family members can see, they react in the same way as a normal human would towards the Creature, with fear and
Within Rhys’s novel, he incorporates the normality of the West Indies during the nineteenth and mid- twentieth centuries. Antoinette, the main character, who happens to be a white Creole, is mistreated and discriminated because of her identity. Throughout the text, characters are victimized by prejudices. For example, Antoinette and Annette become victims of traumatic experience as they face numerous kinds of mistreatment. Antoinette had to deal with an arranged marriage, which results her becoming distressed. Throughout this marriage, she was treated irrationally by her husband, Rochester and servants. She was unable to relate to Rochester because their upbringings were incompatible. She had to stomach the trauma of being shunned because of her appearance and identity. She was called names, mainly “white cockroach”, and was treated as an
After leaving Geneva to pursue his own ambitions in creating “a new species [that] would bless me [Victor] as its creator,” Victor Frankenstein returns after successfully creating a bringing his creation alive (Shelly 46). Written during a retreat in Switzerland by Mary Shelley, the daughter of radicals Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, Frankenstein explores numerous observations about life and human nature. Observing that people are not inherently selfish and cruel but rather that these traits are products of circumstances, Shelly explores the how personal ambitions can disable strong morals and values of characters. Throughout Frankenstein, the consequences, often negative, of ambitions are explored thus making this 1818 novel a cautionary
After learning about the life of Mary Shelley, I have grown to appreciate the novel, Frankenstein, even more since the first time I read it. She led a life nearly, as tragic as the monster she created through her writing. Mary seems to pull some of her own life experiences in Victor’s background, as in both mothers died during or after childbirth. Learning about Mary’s personal losses, I have gained a better appreciation of her as an author and a woman of the 17th century. She had association with some the most influential minds of that
From the beginning of time in history, women have always been portrayed as and seen as the submissive sex. Women especially during the time period of the 1800s were characterized as passive, disposable, and serving an utilitarian function. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example displaying the depiction of women. The women in Frankenstein represent the treatment of women in the early 1800’s. Shelley’s incorporation of suffering and death of her female characters portrays that in the 1800’s it was acceptable. The women in the novel are treated as property and have minimal rights in comparison to the male characters. The feminist critic would find that in Frankenstein the women characters are treated like second class citizens. The three brutal murders of the innocent women are gothic elements which illustrates that women are inferior in the novel. Mary Shelley, through her novel Frankenstein, was able to give the reader a good sense of women’s role as the submissive sex, through the characters experiences of horrific events including but not limited to brutal murder and degradation, which is illuminated by her personal life experiences and time period of romanticism.
The Creature learns to read, speak, and write while living in the hovel attached to the De Lacey home. After many months, he decides it is time to meet M. De Lacey and try to form a relationship with him. The conversation is going well until Felix, Safie, and Agatha return home and quickly fled, but not before Felix attacked the Creature with a stick. The Creature realizes he could easily tear Felix apart, but refrains and is saddened by the thought that the De Lacey’s would not accept him. Through his grief, the Creature becomes enraged and begins his descent from benevolence.
...n make her the strongest character in the “Frankenstein”, despite her minor role. Safie displays woman to speak up for her own rights, despite her lower rank in society.