The Significance of Chapter 5 in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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The Significance of Chapter 5 in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Works Cited Not Included

This essay will consider the significance of Chapter five to the rest

of the novel, and look at how Mary Shelley's life has influenced her

writing. I am going to focus mainly on Chapter five, but first I am

going to consider some important aspects of the preceding chapters.

In Chapter one Victor describes how his mother and father met and how

he and Elizabeth where brought together. When he first describes her,

it contrasts greatly with his primary depiction of the creature

"Her brow was clear and ample, her blue eyes cloudless, and her

Lips and the moulding of her face so expressive of sensibility and

Sweetness" (chapter 1, pg 36).

Whereas Frankenstein's description of his creation is

"His watery eyes his shrivelled complexion and straight black

lips" (chapter 5, pg 58).

Victor is horrified with the creature's appearance, and wishes to

disassociate himself from his creation. Whereas in Elizabeth's case,

Frankenstein is delighted to be acquainted to such a beautiful woman

and describes her as:

"My pride and my delight" (chapter 1, pg 37).

Mary Shelley's mother was a devoted feminist, and had been advocating

the rights of women when she was alive. It is believed that Victor's

mother is perhaps an image of how the author thinks her mother would

have been like if she had met her rather than her dying ten days after

giving birth. However there are times when she speaks of Elizabeth as

if she was lower than Frankenstein

" I have a pretty present for my Victor" (chapter 1, pg 37).

The attitude of Victors mother reflects th...

... middle of paper ...

...ment haunts

him through the rest of the novel.

Victor is weak and it is only near the end of the novel that he

attempts to face his creature and to destroy it to restore nature's

order. Finally the pursuit of his creation destroys him. It is the

creation itself that decides he is an affront to nature and mankind.

" I shall collect my funeral pile, and consume to ashes this miserable

frame, that its remains may afford no light to any curious and

unhallowed wretch, who would create such another as I have been"

(Chapter 24, pg 224)

In this way the novel ends on the course of despair that it began in

Chapter five. This was with rejection and horror of the creation that

was 'man made'. This suspicion of 'playing with God' is as relevant

today as humans argue over issues such as 'cloning' and 'designer

babies'.

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