Analysis Of Mary Shelley 's ' Frankenstein '

Victor Frankenstein’s creation, the nameless creature in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, displays countless characteristics of physical monstrosity; he is described as “ugly”, “demonical” and a “hideous… wretch” (Shelley 36). However, the creature expresses that his only desires are acceptance and love, but he is seen as a monster regardless of his true intentions. When the creature is abandoned by Frankenstein, he is forced to find acceptance on his own and eventually comes across a cottage in the woods. As an attempt to gain approval, he waits to approach the home until the only character home is a blind man, to whom he explains his desire for friendship. The creature says that he is afraid to become “an

The creation unlike frankenstein is not depressed due to a violence of others but more the cruelty of human nature. The creation reads the book paradise lost and realized

In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is portrayed as a grotesque abomination. However, as Hopkins states in Contending Forces, the cultural and geographical situations, or lack thereof, in which one matures in play a crucial role in the proper development of one’s mind and brain. The monster is simply a product of circumstance. The lack of social interactions alongside geographical isolation propelled the daemon to be alienated from society, ultimately resulting in a lack of morals and an underdeveloped psyche. By being a culmination of his surroundings and experiences it is revealed that the true monstrous entities are the factors that leave the daemon predisposed to fail in a modern society. Arguably, Victor created a being, while the circumstances that said being was placed in “created” a monster. Shelley purposefully terrorizes the monster with such intensity to provoke and justify the overarching theme in this novel which states that people should not be judged on their physical appearance.

In the novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley during the romanticism period, we see different characters who struggle with self-understanding and self-deception, as well as those who shift to gain a better realization of themselves and others. Victor Frankenstein’s creation is one example of a character we see shift from being very self-deceptive to gaining self-knowledge and understanding himself in relation to others. In the beginning, the creation’s false expectations, based on limited human interactions and knowledge, lead him to deceive himself by believing humans can accept him and overlook his deformities. But after many negative experiences, he understands the true and cruel nature of humans, vows vengeance on the entire species, and gains self-awareness and accepts his identity as a “monster.”

A tormented existence can only result in one’s demise. Forming healthy relationships is a staple of human life. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Creature was fated to become a product of his environment. Perhaps one of the greatest influences in one’s life is how one is raised. The Creature is wrongly treated due to his frightening facade. In this novel, it can be made obvious that it is not what is on the inside that counts.

To begin with, the creation from the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley encounters an abundance of external forces which directly effect his final outcome. The powers of isolation, prejudice, and lack of a mentor all create complications in the creation’s life that he must surmount. First of all, the society segregates the creation as a result of his horrific appearance, demeanor and the society’s inability to understand him. The creation visibly displays his distress while feeling, “absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome” (Shelley 115). Realizing his destiny, the monster feels absolutely ignorant as he possesses no friends, money or even a place to call his

“Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos; the materials must, in the first place, be afforded: it can give form to dark, shapeless substances, but cannot bring into being the substance itself.”(Mary Shelley)

In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley her most evolved character is the creature because of his upbringing and having to learn on his own with no guidance. The creature evolved through his baby stage with no father figure from Victor Frankenstein. To his adolescence stage with the Delacey family who did not accept him. This ultimately led to his destructive stage where he was tired of being alone and being an outcast. The creature wanted to be accepted into society but because of the outer form of his being and the reactions from others caused him to become the monster Victor claimed him to be.

Mary Shelley explores the theme of the need for companionship, no matter what one’s physical appearance. She does this through the creature. Victor’s creature is abandoned by his own creator because of his ugly and dreadful physical appearance. Despite his hideous features, the creature still wants to receive love from humans. He even states,“My heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures”(120). The creature has a strong desire to be loved but because of his disturbing physical appearance, he is abandoned.Victor states, “ I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I created…but I escaped and rushed down the stairs”(44) .

I think this novel is pretty realistic in some ways. Before I read the book, I thought the story would just about the monster named “Frankenstein”. However as I read through it, I started to think the author Mary Shelley had pretty good sense of looking future. Maybe during nineteenth century, this book may sound ridiculous and unrealistic. However it is not a surprise if you see a clone of a certain animal or biologically modified products. Some fruits such as cherry tomatoes did not even exist one hundred years ago. It is the result of a DNA modification. It also causes of mass production of medicines and drugs that may save thousands of people.

Within many pieces of gothic literature, women are absent in order to show the control and dominance that men have in society. Frankenstein is particularly notable for its number of absent mothers. This may link to Mary Shelley’s own life, as her birth caused the death of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft. The main absent mother in the novel, is the motherless monster. Although the monster was not born, he was created by Victor Frankenstein who he sees as a mother figure. Margaret Homans argues that while Frankenstein is creating the monster – while he is pregnant with it, one might say – he is full of excitement and anticipation; but as soon as it is “born”, he hates and rejects his own creation, his own “child”.

With its focus being on Mary Shelley’s creature, Nicole Smith analyzes his growth in her article “Analysis of “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley: Morality Without God”. The article, as its to title insinuates, provides an interpretation on the values and morals expressed and evaluated by the creature, and specific influences that shaped them. Smith recognizes Shelley’s subtle biblical comparisons between the creature and the stories of Cain and Abel , Adam in “Paradise Lost”, and the “prodigal son’. The purity of a figure born not from nature but from the hands of man and lacks influences that man is normally exposed to since birth makes the creature intriguing. His expansion in character through means of observation and self education separates

Driven by an uncontrollable longing to create life, Frankenstein isolates himself from the people in his life who matter the most. Victor acknowledges the evil in his deeds and the unnatural nature of his desires, but succumbs to what he views as his destiny. In this, he abandons his conscience and his human ability to reason. He seeks not human companionship, but thrives in his solitude where none can remind him of his irresponsibility and selfishness. This inability to reason exposes his selfish and cruel nature while the monster who seeks for a taste of acknowledgment is able to present a much more reasonable understandings. In Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein, in the content of pages 102-103, both the creator and creation have an animated discussion and argument where Victor 's inability to reason is displayed. Victor Frankenstein 's sole focus is on himself and it blinds him to the ability to be reasonable or take responsibility for his creation as well as exhibits how the Creature at times displays more maturity, rationality, or human qualities than his creator.

Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses a ‘framed narrative ' using three different characters who tell their story at different times of the novel. In the beginning of the story, the audience receives Captain Walton 's point of view, who primarily writes letters to his sister Margaret Saville, in England. Secondly, the audience comes hand in hand with Victor Frankenstein 's point of view and within his narrative, they receive the indomitable Creature 's point of view. The major theme portrayed in Frankenstein is how Mary Shelley conveys the impression that technology changes the authenticity of how people live, people become self-absorbed and obtain a pompous personality because they feel the need to always be the best and catch up with what society has to offer. Personal freedom is lost because technology forces people to explore more than needed and it 's a controlling force. Thus, Victor becomes a lost soul when he tries his distasteful experiments on the dead and loses his moral boundaries because he becomes so fascinated in trying to find a way to revive the dead. The overindulgence Victor has in science takes away his humanity, and he is left with the consequences. He never thought about what negative effects could come about, and by ignoring an important essential, he created his own deadly hole. Mary Shelley takes a unique stand when she keeps the Creature 's whereabouts out of the eyes of the audience until about halfway throughout the story, this act gives her

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a book with a deep message that touches to the very heart. This message implies that the reader will not see the story only from the perspective of the narrator but also reveal numerous hidden opinions and form a personal interpretation of the novel. One of its primary statements is that no one is born a monster and a “monster” is created throughout socialization, and the process of socialization starts from the contact with the “creator”. It is Victor Frankenstein that could not take the responsibility for his creature and was not able to take care of his “child”. Pride and vanity were the qualities that directed Victor Frankenstein to his discovery of life: “...So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein-more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation”[p.47]. He could not cope with this discovery and simply ignored it. The tragedy of Victor Frankenstein and the tragedy of his creature is the same – it is the tragedy of loneliness and confronting the world, trying to find a place in it and deserve someone’s love. The creature would have never become a monster if it got the love it strived for. Victor Frankenstein would have never converted his creature into a monster if he knew how to love and take responsibility for the ones we bring to this world.