On that fateful New Year's Day when Mary Shelley first published her legendary novel Frankenstein, she surely couldn’t have known how deeply rooted the novel is in our society even today. However Hollywood has made some major changes to the storyline to fit with their style. Our culture has latched tightly onto the novel Frankenstein; so much so is that it is deeply embedded into our entertainment. Various shows like Once Upon A Time or The Frankenstein Chronicles where the monster or Victor is featured as a character. The reason why the novel has lasted so long in our history is because Mary Shelley’s fantastic use of characterization and point of view to convey the theme. Through the use of characterization and plot,Mary Shelley conveys
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.
Virtually all literature contain instinctive trends in the human consciousness to represent certain themes or motifs, these are defined as archetypes. Archetypes can be thought as blueprints or as bundles of psychic energy that influence the manner in which we understand and react to life. There are two different categories of archetypes, the plot archetype and the character archetype. The orphan, martyr, wanderer, warrior, magician, villain, wise child, temptress, rebel, underdog, fool, saint, virgin, wise, old man or woman are all considered to be character archetypes. Call to adventure, isolation, quest and monster that turns against its creator are all considered to be plot archetypes. The novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, contains archetypes.
Frankenstein: Contexts, nineteenth century responses, criticism. By Mary Shelley. Norton Critical Edition. New York: New York. 1996.
Mary Shelley’s novel arises several questions relevant to the present day. A question that arises from the novel is whether man is born evil or made evil from his life experiences. The debate on whether how far man should pursue knowledge exists today as well as other questions challenged in the novel therefore “Frankenstein” is a popular novel at present as much as it was in the past.
In an influential event in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a young servant, Justine, of the Frankenstein family is on trial for the death of the youngest son, William Frankenstein. She claims to not have murdered this young boy, for she cares for him greatly as if he is her own on the account of the cousin of the Frankenstein’s, Elizabeth. The Frankenstein family is attending Justine’s trial and Victor Frankenstein believes that Justine is innocent. Also, that it is the monster that he is creating who kills his youngest brother. Victor recounts as Justine enters the court room, “For all the kindness which her beauty might otherwise excited was obliterated in the minds of the spectators by the imagination of the enormity she was supposed to have committed” (54). Even though Justine is not guilty of this crime, the jury’s “imagination” is getting the better of them, instead of staying objective and looking at the facts and noticing Justine’s innocence. It can be seen in Justine’s appearance that she embodies innocence when it states “the kindness which her beauty might otherwise excited”, and before this trial it is seen by others as well. The jury is not using their “minds” to observe the evidence, which is the picture of the mother of the Frankenstein family, that is on Justine when is belongs to William. When Justine is giving her defense she states, “I rest my innocence on the plain and simple explanation of the facts which have been adduced against me” (55). Justine understands that her “innocence” will be known though “the plain and simple facts” that is not to be diluted by the “imagination”. Justine then realizes that the “simple facts” or the truth of her innocence will not overcome the jury’s already overactive “imagination” ...
Most Americans have some idea of who Frankenstein is, as a result of the many Frankenstein movies. Contrary to popular belief Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a scientist, not a monster. The "monster" is not the inarticulate, rage-driven criminal depicted in the 1994 film version of the novel. Shelley’s original Frankenstein was misrepresented by this Kenneth branagh film, most likely to send a different message to the movie audience than Shelley’s novel shows to its readers. The conflicting messages of technologies deserve being dependent on its creator (address by Shelley) and poetic justice, or triumph over evil (showed by the movie) is best represented by the scene immediately preceding Frankenstein’s monster’s death.
Many stories have progressed enough to be the topic of conversation from time to time. The novel, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus has different relationships to many other topics. The author of the story, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley who was born almost 200 years ago bringing with her the age of horror (Edison 5), used biographical strategies to write Frankenstein. Also, as time progressed, Frankenstein became a well-known story. It was turned into many different films that depicted the time period that it happened to be from. One final relationship that Frankenstein has happens to be the way that everyone can draw morals from the story, no matter what the reader’s age, or how the reader’s life has evolved.
As time goes on, many things tend to change, and then they begin to inherit completely different images. Over the years, the character, created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s famous novel, has changed dramatically. The monster, regularly called “Frankenstein,” has been featured in numerous films, such as Frankenweenie and Edward Scissorhands. Although, the characters in today’s pop culture and the monster in the well-known 1800’s novel have similarities, they are actually very different. The many similarities and differences range from the character’s physical traits and psychological traits, the character’s persona, and the character’s place in the Gothic style.
Not quite a short story, but not quite a novel. Not quite human, but not quite robot. Mary Shelley, with some encouragement from fellow writers, created one of the most mashed up creatures never before seen. She combined mythological stories, science and human flaws to create this one of a kind ghost story. Mary Shelley’s fictional novella Frankenstein is the story about Prometheus with Victor as the tragic hero.
In conclusion, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is considered to be a historical novel, based on scientific advancements. In this novel Shelley depicts her own definition of human nature, by showing the Creature and the ways that humans reacted to him. The novel also showed the differences between morality and science. The differences of science from when Shelley wrote the novel until today, including the foreshadowing of what would happen if we use science for the worse.
Many timeless novels have impacts on our everyday culture, not only as a book, but also through music or movies. Many popular novels have multiple adaptations, which shape how we approach their interpretation, in ways we may never even notice. In some films, humans are depicted as monsters, whether through their actions, or through the thoughts of other beings. In these films we find issues with our own society, and in turn see ourselves as monsters, and look for ways we can change, for the better. One particular novel that influences this side of Hollywood is Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein”. The ways Frankenstein influences pop culture can be seen in science fiction films in which humans are depicted as monster, and “monsters” are seen as more humane beings, such as I, Robot, and Ender’s Game.
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
First, to illustrate the events of the story a writer uses particularly well thought out and descriptive vocabulary. This is done to help the reader visualize the image in the author's mind. But in Mary Shelly's, "Frankenstein", she has gone far beyond this, she not only paints a picture in the mind of the reader, but the words written actually place them in a state of mind. A great example of this is when she wrote, "I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs." As a result of passages like this, "Frankenstein" has captivated it's readers for roughly two centuries. In addition it has not only taken hold of the literary minds of the world, the story has also found itself on to the big screen. Mary Shelly's crowning achievement has inspired about fifty movies. Unfortunately, a vast quantity of the motion picture created does not follow the theme of the original story. They branched out from it and portrayed the creation as an inarticulate, rampaging monster when initially he was a confused and vengeful genius. What ever the form "Frankenstein has taken root in our society and its here to stay.
In any novel the author is free to create and shape their characters in whatever way they see fit. In Frankenstein, Shelley does an excellent job of shaping her characters, be it however minute their part in the story, so that the reader gets a clear picture of Shelley's creations. It seems that each character in Shelley's Frankenstein is created by Shelley to give the reader a certain impression of the character. By doing this Shelley creates the characters the way she wants us to see them. She tells us certain things about them and gives them certain traits so that they will fit into the story the way she wants them to. In particular I will examine the characters of the monster, Elizabeth, and old man De Lacey.
Walter Scott’s critique in the 1818, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Review of Frankenstein, is that Frankenstein is a novel of romantic fiction depicting a peculiar nature that narrates the real laws of nature and family values. This review explains that Mary Shelley manages the style of composition, and gives her characters an indirect importance to the reader as the laws of nature takes course in the novel. In addition, Walter Scott appreciates the numerous theme...