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Mary shelley's frankenstein character analysis and development
Mary shelley's frankenstein character analysis and development
Mary shelley's frankenstein character analysis and development
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Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film
A novel written in the epistolary style is by nature difficult to adapt to film. The director, perhaps already adept at navigating the ragged breakers of length-contraction and visual style, is forced to deal with the additional sandbar presented by a plot format in which no visual action occurs and, more often than not, this difficulty consequently runs the film aground. Kenneth Branagh, in bringing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the screen as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, succinctly sidesteps this potential pitfall by completely discarding the epistolary format; rather than existing as a lengthy letter penned to Mrs. Saville, the plot is presented as an overheard conversation between Victor and Walton. It is therefore surprising that the problem of epistemology, which is primarily motivated in the novel by its epistolary form, is still present in the film. Whereas Shelley's Frankenstein creates an aura of distrust regarding the veracity of the narratives originally offered through use of the epistolary form, Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein illustrates the dilemma of epistemology quite differently; by presenting a flashback in which characters could not possibly possess knowledge of the events upon which they act, the viewer is left to wonder at the authenticity of the whole story as depicted in the film.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein addresses the problem of epistemology by creating within the reader a sense of mistrust regarding the narrative. Presented in the epistolary format, each of the successively burrowing narratives is likelier than the preceding to have been altered in some fashion by its myriad raconteurs. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Saville, Walton suggests to his siste...
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...egarding the narratives in both texts, the audience concludes that the events did not occur as depicted, and that multiple characters are guilty of fabricating or altering parts of their accounts. Thus, both Shelley and Branagh utilize the problem of epistemology to reflexively opine about the truth of reality in general; using only characters that are not truthful and spin tales about themselves, Shelley and Branagh both suggest the subjective nature of reality. After all, they seem to suggest, what import does the truth carry anyway if nobody cares enough to tell it?
Work Cited
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. The Mary Shelley Reader. Ed. Betty T. Bennet & Charles E. Robinson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
11-72.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perfs. Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro. DVD. Columbia TriStar, 1994.
Using gothic conventions Frankenstein explores Mary Shelley’s personal views on the scientific developments, moral and economical issues that occurred during the 19th century and Shelley’s personal emotions and questions regarding her life. As an educated person, Mary Shelley had an interest in the development of the world such as political and moral issues and she challenged these issues in the novel.
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.
Bennet, P.; Cornelius J.; and Brune, N. Canada: A North American Nation. Second Edition ed. Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1995.
From the start of the 1920's, Canadians have faced a considerable amount of threat towards the Canadian culture from it's American neighbours. For Canada, living so close causes a concern on Canadian identity from American implementation, however, being in a close relationship with the States, it has also promoted Canadian culture. An examination of the nation's success with CBC from America's involvement in the airwaves, Canadian nationalism is promoted through Hockey Night in Canada and the establishment of the National Film Board during the growth of American entertainment industries, will clearly prove that American influence has not diminished Canadian identity but in fact has strengthened it.
Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.
A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and souls of its people. Many countries have been influenced by various things such as immigration, media, news, as well as trends and fads from both in and out of the country. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, there was mainly news and word of mouth. Many had argued that Canada should establish its own culture to have an identity separate, later growing into a concern of the government. Most would think that the cultural influence was negative as the influences of other countries would take away from the country’s own culture and identity, but it was not the case. The influence of American culture in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada was positive. American music, Hippie culture, and the impact the American
Today Canada and the United States are major trading partners, allies, and two neighboring countries with a long history of cooperation with each other. But is it possible for Canada to protect its independence and culture living next door to the country so powerful and rich as the United States. Since the Canadian confederation, Canada started developing relations with the U.S. As the years passed by, Canada began to relay on the United States in the national defense. Many Canadians think that the military, political and economical dependence would not make a difference to their daily life. But today more then even Canadian culture is affected by the American influence. Media, American artists, economic dependence, American propaganda and political pressure from the United States is making Canada too Americanized. All of these factors reflect on the social life of ordinary Canadians threatening the heritage and the traditions that define Canada as independent country.
Works Cited for: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. a. a. a. a. a J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Maurice Hindle. Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W.
The idea of duality permeates the literary world. Certain contradictory commonplace themes exist throughout great works, creation versus destruction, light versus dark, love versus lust, to name a few, and this trend continues in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The pivotal pair in this text however, is monotony versus individuality. The opposing entities of this pairing greatly contrast against each other in Frankenstein, but individuality proves more dominant of the two in this book.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992
Shelley, Mary. "Frankenstein." The Presence of Others. Eds. Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. 230-235.
Many thinkers and writers were first misunderstood by their contemporaries and criticized harshly for their artwork. Mary Shelley, author of “Frankenstein” or the mad scientist was one of them. Many readers couldn’t fully fathom how Mary Shelley’s monster acquired a certain literacy worthy of the great Aristotle, only after watching cottagers’ routine and reading some books. However, in his critique “The Reading Monster”, Patrick Brantlinger points out that this eloquence enabled the monster to challenge Frankenstein’s narrative in the novel, and even win the reader’s affection. But does the monster’s narrative in the novel really challenge that of Frankenstein, or does it simply complement his story? The monster’s
Morality is the ability to distinguish what is right or wrong. It guides the individual on differentiating good and bad behaviors. Moral people make the proper decision in their actions. On the other side, immoral people tend to work against the set law. Morality indicates the relevant code of conduct about a certain aspect. It defines a particular religion or culture believes as good or bad. Religion is a group of people who follow a certain system of faith and worship. In addition, religious groups have common beliefs (Geyer and Roy 2). For example, Christians believe in living a faithful life to please their God. Religious leaders play a better to educate the members concerning what is bad or wrong. Therefore, there is a strong relationship