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Critical analysis essays of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Frankenstein mary shelley literary analysis
Mary shelley's frankenstein analysis
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Character Development in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
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.
One of the more minor characters but still an intricate part of the story is the old man, De Lacy. He is the father of the family whom the monster watches after he has left his place of creation in Ingolstadt. The monster learns from the family and feels a closeness to them that is new to him. The fact that the old man is blind is no coincidence at all. Shelly purposely made him blind so he could not be influenced by the monster?s hideous appearance. When the monster finally works up the courage and the old man is finally alone in the cottage, the monster makes his move. He enters claiming he is a wanderer looking for a place of shelter and rest. As he tells of his predicament he seems to befriend the old man, appears to be fluent in the English language, and for all intensive purposes appears a normal person. It is not until the old man?s children arrive home and he is alarmed by the screams of Felix and Agatha, that the monster is seen as any...
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...are more complex such as the monster, some such as the old man are put in to make a point, and some such as Elizabeth are created in a way that augments the imperfections of others. Each of the characters in Frankenstein has a role or purpose in the story and is created in a way that adds to the story line and the novel in general. By creating each character and shaping them to a specific likeness, Shelley has creates a complex story and one of English literature's greatest classics.
Work Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
Works Consulted
Levine, George. The Endurance of Frankenstein. Los Angeles: Moers, 1974.
Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html
Spark, Muriel. Mary Shelly. New York: Dutton, 1987.
Born on December 25, 1921, Clara grew up in a family of four children, all at least 11 years older than her (Pryor, 3). Clara’s childhood was more of one that had several babysitters than siblings, each taking part of her education. Clara excelled at the academic part of life, but was very timid among strangers. School was not a particularly happy point in her life, being unable to fit in with her rambunctious classmates after having such a quiet childhood. The idea of being a burden to the family was in Clara’s head and felt that the way to win the affection of her family was to do extremely well in her classes to find the love that she felt was needed to be earned. She was extremely proud of the positive attention that her achievement of an academic scholarship (Pryor, 12). This praise for her accomplishment in the field of academics enriched her “taste for masculine accomplishments”. Her mother however, began to take notice of this and began to teach her to “be more feminine” by cooking dinners and building fires (Pryor, 15). The 1830’s was a time when the women of the United States really began to take a stand for the rights that they deserved (Duiker, 552). Growing up in the mist of this most likely helped Barton become the woman she turned out to be.
“He was born soon after 770 and was given his father’s name. The family sent him as a boy to the great monastery of Fulda, where he was educated, and made a grant to the abbey of land which they held in the Maingau. In the 790’s he was sent by the abbot to Charlemagne’s court, where he became the pupil of Yorkshireman Alcuin who had gone to teach there, and succeeded him as teacher at the palace school.”
This paper will be reviewing the book “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: an introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations and models of integration, by David N. Entwistle. As the title states, this book discusses how to integrate psychology and theology. It also dives into to why it is so important to be able to integrate the two. Entwistle explains that just because the two are different does not mean they should be separated and that we have to use both our worldviews. “Weaving together perspectives from psychology and Christian theology can help us understand and appreciate humanity more fully than we could either perspective alone.” (p.3)
One of the first lessons taught in Mockingbird is the power of understanding other people’s perspectives. Initially, Scout has trouble empathizing with other people, especially her first Grade Teacher, Miss Caroline, whom Scout becomes frustrated at for not understanding Maycomb’s complex social structure. After hearing his daughter complain, Atticus tells Scout that she'll “get along a lot better with all kinds of folks [if she] considers things from [their] point of view” (39). After ‘standing in the shoes of another person’, it is much harder to be prejudiced towards that person. Indeed, this may be because a key tenet of prejudice is disregarding the views of whoever is being judged. Nevertheless, it proves difficult for Scout to grasp this relatively simple concept, who begins to hear rumors of Boo Radley, an enigma who has not been seen outside his home for over 30 years. Thus begins Jem and Scout’s quest to make Boo Radley come outs...
In 1988 Gloria Naylor wrote the novel Mama Day in hopes to show the world that one can either accept the hand they are dealt and make it come out to the advantage of themselves and others, or one can hide from their pain and live a life scared of what may come in the future. Mama Day is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia that is inhabited by the descendants of a slave population. The main characters in the novel; Ophelia, Abigail and Miranda, also called Mama Day, all experienced a lot of pain in their lives; it is how they chose to deal with their experiences that sets them apart from each other.
Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.
... good, but can be turned to evil by society’s narrow-minded view of what is normal, and the corruption of the mind through knowledge and education. The repercussions of Victor’s and others alienation of the creature turned a caring individual to an evil one. Shelley succeeds in bringing Rousseau's theory to life, that one is born good, but he can be turned to evil through civilization and education. This story still has a great meaning for us today. Millions of people are outcast by society, not only because of physical appearance, but also because of sexual orientation, social status, and religion. Once people quit looking so narrow-mindedly at one another, the world will be a much better place, and Frankenstein's "monster" will rest in peace!
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press, 1999.
Works Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. Edited with an Introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle. Penguin books, 1992
Amanda, M Ponosky. "Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
In many works of literature we are faced with good characters and bad characters. Sometimes we are faced with morally ambiguous characters. As readers we can not decide whether or not to distinguish them as good characters or bad characters.These characters are significant to the piece of work. In the novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, we are faced with the morally ambiguous character, Victor Frankenstein, his character trait is significant as a whole because of his feelings,and his actions.
middle of paper ... ... Generally in the novel, most readers tend to sympathize with Frankenstein because of the way in which he is mentally and physically harmed by his creation. However, one must also realize that while Frankenstein is a victim in the novel, he also exhibits features that make him a monster. These monstrous qualities, however, stem from his passion for science and his desire to create life. Not only does the reader criticize and pity Frankenstein, but the reader also empathizes with Frankenstein’s creation.
In the excerpt from Frankenstein, we can relate to him as a character through the importance of 1st person point of view, and the creatures observations and action that were significantly based on the humans. Emotions also not to mention had an impact on how the creature carried himself. This is important because we learn that emotions are connected in some way with the people of the cottagers.
But instead, our interpretation of the monster would be no different than that of a typical monster. The monster ends up killing a few people in the story, which is depicted as normal due to the fact that he's a monster. The monster's interpretation of himself is what surprises the average reader. He feels bad that he can't speak English and fit in with the others in the story. It his frustration in response to this that causes him to kill people, not the fact that he is a monster and was "born" evil. As represented in chapter 12, it is strange to read that the monster experiences a shift in personality and feels sympathy for a family in a cottage even after having killed someone. "I remember, the first time that I did this, the young woman, when she opened the door in the morning, appeared greatly astonished on seeing a great pile of wood on the out- side. She uttered some words in a loud voice, and the youth joined her, who also expressed surprise." (Shelley 78). This part of the story shows how the Monster has a variety of personalities, due to the fact that he helps and kills people throughout his