Essay On Parental Abandonment In Frankenstein

Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s Presence in Her Novel Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, has captured people’s attention since it was first written. People often wonder how much of Mary Shelley’s life is documented in her novel. From the theme of parental abandonment, to the theme of life and death in the novel, literary scholars have been able to find similarities between Frankenstein and Shelley’s life. The Journal of Religion and Health, the Journal of Analytical Psychology, and the Modern Psychoanalysis discuss the different connections between Shelley’s life and Frankenstein. Badalamenti, the author of “ Why did Mary Shelley Write Frankenstein?” in the Journal of Religion and Health, primarily discusses the connection between Victor

Shelley’s mother died eleven days after Mary was born ( Britton 4). Like Mary Shelley, the monster was born motherless, and this deeply affected him. The monster proclaimed, “no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses” (Shelley 86). Just as the monster longed for a family connection, so did Shelley. Barbara D’amato wrote, “The unconscious conflicts and psychic experiences of loss and of longing for connection are captured and revealed in the orphaned character of Mary Shelley’s fictional story, Frankenstein (118). Shelley and the monster also share the struggle of feeling abandoned and hated by their fathers. Shelley’s father abandoned her twice during her life. The first time was when Shelley was a young child. Shelley believed that her stepmother was interfering with Shelley’s and her father’s relationship, and this jealousy caused conflict between the family members. Shelley’s father later sent her to live somewhere else. When Shelley was older, her father disapproved of her decision to elope with Percy Shelley which resulted in him disowning Mary. This abandonment left Shelley with the feeling that there was something terribly wrong with her (D’Amato 126). The monster was also abandoned by Frankenstein, or the man that can be considered his father. The monster explained to Frankenstein why he had become the violent being that he was, when he told Victor, “Believe me Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone?” (Shelley