The Importance of Letters in Mary Shelly's Frankestein

In Mary Shelly’s time, letters were primary sources of communication. Travelling to visit friends and family was time consuming. For instance, if an aunt or uncle lived 45 miles away, it could take up to two days to reach their house by carriage. Compared to today’s automobiles, two days for a 45 mile trip seems outrageous. Writing a letter was quicker and easier, much like texting today. Incidentally, letters can be used to discover information about long dead artists like Shelly. Shelly utilizes letters as narration in her novel Frankenstein. The overall novel is narrated through letters between Robert Walton and his sister, Margaret Saville. What is Shelly conveying through her use of letters? Shelly uses letters to prove the truth of a story. The characters in Shelly’s novel use letters to prove the truth of their stories. The characters of Frankenstein use letters in the same way that Shelly does, as evidence. Letters frequently manifest in the novel. The letters between Felix and Safie are particularly important artifacts to the characters of Frankenstein. The ways these letters are used promote the idea that letters are evidence of truth.

Felix and Safie’s letters are exchanged between the creature, Victor, and Walton. These letters initially surface when the creature makes his proposition to Victor. The creature convinces Victor to follow him to his current place of residence because he has a proposal for Victor. In order to make a sufficient argument, the creature must recount his circumstances to Victor. More importantly, Victor must believe the creature’s story. The creature begins by telling Victor of his first days of existence and everything he experienced. Eventually, he relates that he found a hovel attached to a ...

... middle of paper ...

...erent characters to prove the truth of their tales. Each character has their own story to tell but they all use these letters to prove to their listener that what they are hearing is true. This recurring use of Felix’s and Safie’s letters implies that any letter can prove the truth. This idea can be applied to the entirety of the novel which is told through a series of letters. Shelly presents Walton’s letters to Margaret to prove that what she is saying is true, much like the characters in her story do with Felix’s and Safie’s letters. Overall, as demonstrated by the frequent exchanges of Felix’s and Safie’s letters, the letters between Walton and Margaret are used as evidence to imply that Victor Frankenstein’s horrific story is true.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Susan J. Wolfson. Frankenstein. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.