Light And Darkness In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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In her classic 19th century novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley recounts the intense life of Victor Frankenstein, a devoted science student, and his creation, a hideous, yet fascinating, monster. Well detailed and grueling accounts of the events that occur let the reader experience the characters’ grief, isolation, and vengeance in a way that feels personal. Shelley accounts more than just a tragic monster tale in Frankenstein; she raises questions involving humankind and good versus evil that make a lasting impression on its readers. Frankenstein has an extremely character driven plot. Shelley takes great care in crafting all of the main characters with a well developed backstory and clear personality traits. Victor Frankenstein is an intelligent …show more content…

Light and darkness play a chief role in the novel. Light represents the positives. The prospect of new discoveries both in exploration and studies are often alluded to with mention of light by both Walton and Frankenstein. This directly contrasts with darkness as a symbol. Darkness represents ignorance in many instances. For example, Victor expresses to Walton that his creation of the monster is meant to bring “light into our dark world”. This relays Victor’s ignorance when it comes to such matters; he is foolish in this statement. The darkness is also reflected in the weather. When Frankenstein sees his monster after William's death, it is stormy and dark. In most instances in Frankenstein, it is rather stormy when the two …show more content…

Revenge is often the motives of either Frankenstein or the monster throughout the novel and is an extremely important driving factor of the plot. Frankenstein seeks vengeance because of the torment inflicted on him when the monster kills his loved ones. This is not only produced by resentment towards the monster, but also love for his family and friends. The monster’s vengeance is based on the isolation he feels. The monster experiences deep sorrow due to his lack of human companionship; he wants to punish Victor for causing him this pain. Despite both character’s actual intentions behind their rage, they mutually seek revenge towards one another, thus making revenge an essential motif in

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