This creative approach of a monologue in the monster's perspective in Frankenstein brings insight on the monster's and Frankenstein's character development through the motif of physical appearance and transformation.
As this was a monologue, emotion is heightened by imitating the romantic style of the work. Romantic works emphasized the expression of emotion, in which this style allowed the audience to view the monster's perspective on his experience. The romantic style was also imitated to resemble Mary Shelley's work, by using descriptive language about nature, specifically being the Arctic.
This monologue is where the monster reflects back on his life near the end of the novel, where he is in the Arctic running from the pursuits of Frankenstein.
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All of these moments end negatively for the monster, with people screaming in fear of him or inflicting pain and suffering on him physically and emotionally. There is no physical transformation for the monster, but he transitions from the abnormal to the normal in the beginning. As in the monologue, he learns to speak and read, and also acquiring books, "consisting of Paradise Lost, a volume of Plutarch's Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter. (Shelley 151)" The monster believes that becoming more human-like might let people accept him and look past his gruesome appearance. However, when the monster discovers that it is because of his grotesque exterior which causes him to be rejected from society. He realizes that his good nature will only result in pain and misjudgement, thus turning to evil and vengeance. He is conflicted between revenge and compassion, as he wants to be kind, be accepted and to embrace the wonders of life. The monster eventually …show more content…
Victor Frankenstein starts off innocent, curious and science-loving. After he creates his monster, he realizes the horrors of it, as he abandons it, even saying that "a mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch (Shelley 60)". He finds out the implications of his creation, as the monster begins to kill his family. He transforms from the normal to abnormal, eventually becoming a revengeful, guilt-driven, mad scientist wanting to destroy his monster. He becomes a psychological monster, as he first appears to be normal-looking. However, he becomes sickly and exhausted following his creation of the monster, his physical transformation reflecting his psychological. He has transitioned from the creator to the destroyer, losing all of his humanity, as he becomes obsessed with his goal of killing the monster. He devotes his life to destroying the monster, giving him a Christ figure appearance, even saying "I devote myself, either in my life or death, to his destruction (Shelley 248)." The monster's perceptive of Frankenstein shows the monster comparing himself to Frankenstein, realizing that both have become very similar. The monster views Frankenstein as a monster, as he abandoned him to suffer through the rejection and isolation from
Rather, it is others who alienate it because of its grotesque appearance. The monster is quite literally ‘born’ into perpetual isolation beginning with Victor’s abandonment of it. He denies it domestic safety when he flees to his bedchamber. Victor disregards the monster’s utterance of “inarticulate sounds while a grin wrinkled his cheeks,” then escapes its outstretched hand “seemingly to detain [him]” [Shelley 49]. Examining the monster’s body language as though an impressionable infant, its actions can be read as a child-like plea for its father though the absence of speech not yet learned. Instead, its unattractive appearance causes Victor to run, leaving the creature alone with no information about himself or his surroundings. Therefore, Victor’s abandonment is a crucial justification of the monster’s negative experiences with society and nature and actions in desiring community. The monster’s alienation from family is the missing first school of human nature, and the first lesson where he learns he does not belong. The creature leaves into the wilderness to learn about the world and himself on it own, only to understand his interactions are
Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein is a novel narrated by Robert Walton about Victor Frankenstein and the Monster that he creates. Frankenstein grew up surrounding himself with what he loved most, science. He attended Ingolstadt University where he studied chemistry and natural philosophy, but being involved in academics was not enough for him. Frankenstein wanted to discover things, but did not think about the potential outcomes that could come with this decision. Frankenstein was astonished by the human frame and all living creatures, so he built the Monster out of various human and animal parts (Shelley, 52). At the time Frankenstein thought this creation was a great discovery, but as time went on the Monster turned out to be terrifying to anyone he came in contact with. So, taking his anger out on Frankenstein, the Monster causes chaos in a lot of people’s lives and the continuing battle goes on between the Monster and Frankenstein. Throughout this novel, it is hard to perceive who is pursuing whom as well as who ends up worse off until the book comes to a close.
For the duration of the monster’s involvement in the novel, the diction has relevance to the monster’s life. On pages 73-74 of the novel, as the monster is walking by himself, he said, “it was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and how frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate… I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I know, and could distinguish, no thing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides, I sat down and wept,” (Shelley 73-74). The use of organic imagery in the quotation is to incite in empathetic motion emotion in the audience. The monster’s use of organic imagery is a second important factor in his persuasion of Victor Frankenstein because he too could express in empathetic emotion to the monster and if Victor Frankenstein has empathy toward his monster, he could be prone, to a large extent, to fulfill the task he was asked to do. The monster’s use of organic imagery is a second important factor to persuade Victor
The monster tells Frankenstein of the wretchedness of the world and how it was not meant for a being such as himself. At the end of his insightful tale the creature demands a companion of the same hideous features but of the opposite gender to become his. Victor only has the choice to make the monster or suffer a lifetime of horror his creation would bring upon him. Which the creator ultimately agrees to make the female monster to save the lives of his family but gains a conscious that fills with guilt of all the destruction he has created and creating. When the monster comes to collect the female he tears her apart and the monster vows to destroy all Victor holds dear. The monster’s emotional sense is consumed with rage against Victor, murdering Frankenstein’s best friend. Though when the monster’s framing ways do not work to lead to Victor being executed, he then murders Frankenstein’s wife on their wedding night. This tragedy is the last for Victor’s father who becomes ill with grief and quickly passes within a few days, leaving Victor with nothing but his own regret. Shelley doesn’t give the audience the monsters side of the story but hints that the remainder of his journey consisted of being a shadow to that of his creator. It is at the graves of the Frankenstein family when the creature makes an appearance in the solemn and
In Shelley’s novel, the final picture of Frankenstein’s monster reveals important qualities of his inner nature; he is shown in the last moments of his life to be felling, fully conscious of his guilt, and firm in his decision to end his life. This is the conclusion of a long series of events providing insight into how the monster changed as a result of his creator’s actions and the actions of the people with whom he came in contact. Up until this final point, he has changed from being good and hopeful to being caught up in the desire for a companion, to being evil and only focused on revenge. All these changes are recounted by the monster himself in this scene. (Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine)
What is a monster, really? Is it really a Creature that has three eyes instead of two, with pus seeping out of every crevice in his face and an abnormally large form? Or is it someone with a mind so corrupt it rivals that of Satan? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a story within a story that centers on the tale of a man with an immense thirst of knowledge and a fetish to imitate the Creator. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a lot like the Greek mythological tale of the Greek God, Prometheus, and his brother, Epimetheus, who were assigned the task of creating man. The story captivates the theme of monstrosity. Mary Shelley wrote the novel in a form so the reader’s opinions never stray far from sympathy for the monster and apathy for Victor Frankenstein. The novel looks at “Monstrosity” and “Humanity” in a deeply analytical way.
In Frankenstein, Victor’s monster suffers much loneliness and pain at the hands of every human he meets, as he tries to be human like them. First, he is abandoned by his creator, the one person that should have accepted, helped, and guided him through the confusing world he found himself in. Next, he is shunned wherever he goes, often attacked and injured. Still, throughout these trials, the creature remains hopeful that he can eventually be accepted, and entertains virtuous and moral thoughts. However, when the creature takes another crushing blow, as a family he had thought to be very noble and honorable abandons him as well, his hopes are dashed. The monster then takes revenge on Victor, killing many of his loved ones, and on the humans who have hurt him. While exacting his revenge, the monster often feels guilty for his actions and tries to be better, but is then angered and provoked into committing more wrongdoings, feeling self-pity all the while. Finally, after Victor’s death, the monster returns to mourn the death of his creator, a death he directly caused, and speaks about his misery and shame. During his soliloquy, the monster shows that he has become a human being because he suffers from an inner conflict, in his case, between guilt and a need for sympathy and pity, as all humans do.
We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human than we think. It is in the complex structure of the novel that Mary Shelley creates sympathy. We shift from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to the monster and finally back to Walton. With each shift of perspective, the reader gains new information about both the facts of the story and the reliability of the narrator. Each perspective adds pieces of information that only they knows: Walton explains the circumstances of Victor’s last days, Victor explains his creation of the monster, the monster explains his turn to evil.
Peter Brooks' essay "What Is a Monster" tackles many complex ideas within Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the main concept that is the title of the essay itself. What is the definition of a monster, or to be monstrous? Is a monster the classic representation we know, green skin, neck bolts, grunting and groaning? A cartoon wishing to deliver sugary cereal? or someone we dislike so greatly their qualities invade our language and affect our interpretation of their image and physical being? Brooks' essay approaches this question by using Shelley's narrative structure to examine how language, not nature, is mainly accountable for creating the idea of the monstrous body.
The book goes into greater detail regarding the monster’s hardships, has a more eloquent and persuasive monster and has a more heartbreaking ending. As a result a reader feels greater sympathy towards the monster in the novel rather than in the play. The monster begins his journey a purely innocent and kind being, but because he has to suffer the misfortune of having such a monstrous appearance he is condemned by society. Frankenstein tells the story of a benevolent being persecuted by man, and has the reader questioning who the real monster is.
Throughout Frankenstein, one assumes that Frankenstein’s creation is the true monster. While the creation’s actions are indeed monstrous, one must also realize that his creator, Victor Frankenstein, is also a villain. His inconsiderate and selfish acts as well as his passion for science result in the death of his friend and family members and ultimately in his own demise. Throughout the novel, Shelley investigates the idea of monstrosity. She makes the point that a monster does not have to be genuinely evil in order to be considered monstrous.
A monster is usually viewed to be a supernatural creature that humans judge based on looks and not necessarily on personality. In the novel, Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the monster is a creature Victor creates but abandons immediately because he is horrified by his own creation. Due to the monster’s appearance, society does not give the creature a chance to show his true self. Therefore, the monster faces an external conflict because of Frankenstein’s and society's rejection, making it difficult for him to blend into his new life. Victor creates the monster because of his unusual compulsion of aspiring to be like God. However, Victor does not know how to treat or be responsible for his creature. Victor Frankenstein is the true monster
Essay 2 Psychoanalysis is the method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts (“Psychoanalysis”). This transfers to analyzing writing in order to obtain a meaning behind the text. There are two types of people who read stories and articles. The first type attempts to understand the plot or topic while the second type reads to understand the meaning behind the text. Baldick is the second type who analyzes everything.
After the Monster murders Elizabeth, Frankenstein chases after the Monster out of revenge and hatred, “I swear; and by thee, O Night, and the spirits that preside over thee, to pursue the daemon who caused this misery until he or I shall perish over mortal conflict” (190). In this statement Frankenstein swears himself to the destruction of the Monster out of hatred without thinking of the hardships nature will deliver him. He blindly chases the Monster without concern of his personal well being. Walton attempt to convince his crew to head north while they are trapped in ice, “ Did you not call this a glorious expedition? And wherefore was it glorious? Not because the way was smooth and placid as a southern sea, but because it was full of dangers and terror; because at every new incident your fortitude was to be called forth and your courage exhibited; because danger and death surrounded it, and these you were to brave to overcome” (201). Walton’s want for the pride of reaching the North Pole and completing Frankenstein’s wish blinded him from the dangerous nature that stood in front of him, and the will of his crew. Frankenstein’s reckless and foolish actions brought despair on himself and the people he cared about, and Walton’s actions centered around getting himself honor and not helping the people who rely on
First, the reader will discover in the novel, that the creature only wants to be of benefit to society and accepted by his creator, Victor Frankenstein. The demon explains in the story that he was only seeking to reach out and make a connection with Victor at his lab in Ingolstadt. But, he leaves the house rejected and lives in the forest. Confusion and despair are his only companions while he is learning to understand his body and its signals during these early days. Later, the creature persuades Victor to hear his story by reminding him that while he was vulnerable and ill equipped to deal with life, Frankenstein abandoned him. The demon then reveals all of his good deeds and how much he craves acceptance from society. He says, “believe me, Franke...