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Critical analysis essays of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Critical review of Frankenstein
Review of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
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The repercussions of treating sentient life as monsters or miscreation’s is disastrous. When non-human conscious life is created it is easier to treat these creations as outsiders rather than accepting them. There are two stories that show this clearly. The novel Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly and the film Ex Machina by Alex Garland. When self-conscious life is created it must be treated as such. In Frankenstein, everyone treats Victor’s creation like a monster including Frankenstein himself. This leads to the creation accepting that title and going on a murder spree. His creation says “When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation” (69). Victor’s creation shows that If this was unknown, they would be able to coexist with us. Ava is treated as a machine and Victor’s creation was treated as a monster. Ava was imprisoned and given the appearance of a machine. Because of this she was given no option but escape. She picked off the only people with the knowledge of her robotic origins and disguised herself as one of us so she could live her life as a human. Victor explains that his creation’s “gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy daemon, to whom I had given life” (55). Victor without communicating to his creation decides that it is a monster. If the creator of this being is disgusted by it then it is easy to assume everyone else would come to the same conclusion. When Victor’s enters a town “The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons” (82). The village people treat the creation as their enemy not because of his actions but because of his appearance, which he has no control of. Because of their origin and appearance, Ava and the creation are treated as outsiders. When self-conscious life is created it must be treated as such. The novel Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelly and the film Ex Machina by Alex Garland are two stories that
When we are created into this world it’s not by the choice of our own. However, we are created most times out of love from our creator. Like a baby just newly born into this world needs to feel its mothers touch, scent, and security. The bonding makes you feel a connection to your maker of the world and without it a person may feel lost, abandoned, and unloved. From the beginning we hope to build our self-esteem through the love of our creator. Sadly, most people are not loved or accepted by their creator. This leads to a person lashing out in a number of ways that society views unconventional due to the lack of understanding that person suffers through abandonment alone. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley illustrates the theme of monstrosity
...od; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous" (Shelley 66). In the novel, Victor has two chances to provide this happiness for the creation. In both cases, all the creation desires was a companion, be it Victor or a new creation. And, in both cases, Victor is influenced by his initial reaction of disgust at the sight of his original creation. This reaction originates from a preconception, a fear caused by the human nature to prejudge based on past experience. This prejudice is indeed the source of the pain and torment in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. If a "monster" exists in the novel, it is this aspect of human nature.
By means of looking at different representations of monstrosity we find how two different characters are effected by their surroundings and how their dissimilarity in nature has caused others to isolate or lower them in society. With this, we discover what monstrosity suggests about the human condition and how a living thing that does not relate closely to what is essentially “human” is seen as unnatural and
In response to the monster’s patient, rational inquiry, Victor exclaims, “Shall I create another like yourself, whose joint wickedness might desolate the world. Begone!” (130) In this senseless refusal of a sincere request, Victor proves once and for all that his true feelings for the monster are those of unjustified hatred and scorn. He has no basis for these feelings other than that of his undying prejudice against the monster. As a result of the opposing emotions illustrated by maker and creation, both are in constant conflict with each other and therefore can never live in harmony.
Victor plays the role of God and creates his “Adam” but unlike the Adam from the bible, the creature is not designed in a perfect image or guarded by the care of his creator. The creature compares himself to Satan when he says “I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; …like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me” (228). The creature was forsaken his first days of living and learned about the society of humans through observation and reading. God introduced Adam to the world with everything provided and guided him his early days of life. He saw Adams loneliness and granted him a mate. The creature asks Frankenstein for a companion as a last chance to become happy and good hearted. Victor destroys his hope and brings more tragedy among him by doing so. God creates all things good, Victor took his Job as a creator and his creation became malignant because unlike God he was ashamed of his creation. From that point on the creatures’ heart becomes cold and makes sure to destroy his creator. When Victor dies the creature repents for the damage that he has done and would live with continuing pain till his death. “…My agony was still superior to thine; for the bitter sting of remorse will not cease to rankle in my wounds until death shall close them forever” (380).
Throughout Frankenstein Shelley and Brannagh have shown how society will treat individual if they don’t fit in. Society only accepts people to be human if they are of an attractive physical appearance, similar genetic traits and emotions, meaning those who don’t fit in this category are immediately judged to be a ‘monster’. From the moment the creature was created he was rejected, by his ‘father’ and by society. Victor Frankenstein left the creature hanging from the chains. Although he escaped the chains, society acted inhumanly towards him, assuming he was truly a
Separating what is natural and unnatural, Frankenstein and his creature both walk the line (SP12). Their actions at times reflect those of a normal being that craves to strive and fit in with the world, but they also take turns falling into a mindset beyond humanity. Pushing the boundaries into new frontiers is not always a positive thing. Ethical codes of humans separate themselves from the barbaric ways on animals and also from the ideas of creation. A line must be drawn to separate man from beast, and man from god in order to preserve the natural order of things so that humanity can retain what it has without reaching too far and losing it all.
Every creature at birth needs love and nurturing, and when deprived of that it can cause a desolate life for that creature. The responsibility of nurturing can be seen across all species. It seems that Victor Frankenstein did not understand this and abandoned his creature. In the trial of Frankenstein’s creature, the creature's actions can be justifiable because he lives as a miserable outcast because society sees only his appearance and the negligence from Victor.
Frankenstein is a lonely creature isolated from society because of his looks. His request for a mate for Victor to create is a reasonable request. I believe that it is a reasonable request because it would give him someone in the world with whom he could bond and relate to this is something that everyone needs. The request for a mate would help Frankenstein feel less isolated and give him someone that could be a friend. In the book Frankenstein goes through so many hardships alone because of how he looks. His goal though this though seems to be that he wants companionship which if another was created like him it would give him what he wants.
Although, the monster would not have lived if it were not for Victor, it is Victor’s folly in creating and then abandoning the creation that led him to be homicidal. The creation longs for his creator to love him, or at least to show some affection or acceptance of his existence. Victor’s complete rejection of his creation is so hurtful, that the monster swears, “I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my archenemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred. Have a care; I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth."
In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Victor Frankenstein a student that attended the University of Ingolstadt has an obsession about creating life, after Victors mother died he was extremely upset, and he wanted to find a way to bring life back from the dead and ultimately plays god. Throughout the novel Victor was terrified of the creature physicals appearance and regrets that he ever created the creature. Throughout the book the creature has done some humane and some non-humane things, but at the end of the story the creature felt remorse for everything he has done when victor dies. The creature is considered a human being based of his intelligent and emotions. The monster is able to think and learn from others. He knows what he is
However repugnant he was on the outside, when Frankenstein’s creature begins to tell his tale of sorrow and rejection the creature does not seem to be monstrous. Although rejected multiple times by the humans around him when he finds a family in poverty and “suffering the pangs ...
As such, the problem society has with evaluating character stems from allowing emotion or pure analysis to guide an impression instead of combining the two (Bissonette, 109-110). In order to fix this problem, a conscious effort must be taken in evaluating characters. As with the example of Frankenstein, the beast is initially brought to this life without his consent and then left to die on his own by his creator (Shelley, 51). Considering ethics, it is unethical what Victor Frankenstein did. He defied nature and brought to life an abomination without considering the consequences of his actions. However, this does not mean the creature deserves to be considered an abomination because of its frightful origin. Those who use solely analysis to view character need to stop and evaluate the situation from an ethical and emotional standpoint. The creature could not control his bring of existence into this life, his looks, or his abandonment. As such, he is like a deformed child brought into this world that is immediately abandoned. The child has committed no wrong and deserves no mistreatment as such. It is the parents who were not ready to take care of the child that preformed an unethical act. Yet, those who view the monster using on the analytical approach place all of Victor’s unethical actions upon the monster as he was the
If not, elsewhere they meet with charity.The main character of this gothic, the titular “Frankenstein”, is Victor Frankenstein. In Shelley’s era, “Franken”, was a word meaning a builder or creator of some sort. This caused, Victor, as the doctor prefers, to become adept in piercing persistence, his most conspicuous quality. A lot of phenomenons that his creation, Frankenstein, creates are blatantly defeated by his unprovoked and often never ending persistence. The actual evidence of Victor’s persistence is known at the beginning letters of the book read by Robert Walton. The letters, show the settings of the ice caps in the arctic where Victor says he has chased the monster to. As Walton writes, we find out
The misdeed that is executed by scientifically creating a life is shown in the graphic novel Frankenstein. For example, “...One of the books was Paradise Lost. I read it as a true history. I was like Adam. I was not linked to anybody else, like him; but he was happy, and I was miserable” (Pg 69, Frankenstein). This reveals the monsters’ exact feelings at the particular time. He is informing Victor that he is lost because he is linked to no one, and he is unhappy.