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Themes of frankenstein by mary shelley
Themes of frankenstein by mary shelley
Mythological approach on mary shelleys frankenstein
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Society inevitably labels everything in its reach, not realizing the number of broken souls and hardened hearts it creates due to its judgements. Although these judgements can read accurate at times, they are mostly misconceptions. Mary Shelley presents the depths of society’s erring in her novel Frankenstein, as society unfairly associates Victor Frankenstein's creature as a monter due to its physical appearance. She highlights a constant theme of the creature desiring assimilation, yet facing rejection through biblical allusions and allegories.
In the creature’s earliest days of life, he grapples with what it means to be human and the concept of humanity; his new existence puts in him in an indefinite intrigued state. Since he is so freshly
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placed into the world, its unknown to him on what to expect. As he explains to Frankenstein in their first meeting, “I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable qualities of my cottagers, but I was shut out from intercourse with them, except through means which I obtained by stealth, when I was unseen and unknown, and which rather increased than satisfied the desire I had of becoming one among my fellows"(124). The creature is filled with desires that conflict. Although he idealizes the emotions and interactions of the cottagers, and wishes to assimilate with thim, he is unsure of his place and how much he would fit in with them. With his observations of the cottagers, the creature creates his own ideals of humanity. At this point in the novel, the creature still reflects a sort of affinity with those he observes, viewing other people (such as the cottagers) as closer to God, rather than him, as he speculates their apparent capabilities to function in a Godly world. This not only displays how the creature’s acquires a character of ethics through observation, but it is a biblical allusion to the Cain and Abel story from the Old Testament. Like Cain the creature is shunned and cast off by humanity and like Abel is separated from God due to him being a victim of desire. The creature’s desire to be accepted and assimilated is apparent when he speaks of his feelings towards the cottagers’ and says “The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures; to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection was the utmost limit of my ambition” (128). He exhibits a simplistic desire of participating in the cottagers’ lives, and to have them love and accept him, which highlights the tangible connection felt between the creature and the rest of humanity. As the story continued, however,and the more time the creature spent in society, the more its heart hardened due to the constant rejection it faced.
Never knowing the love of another, the final breaking point for the creature was when Victor destroyed its future companion. Although it warned Victor that it “shall be with [Victor] on [his] wedding night” (147), Victor chose to ignore its warning and still married Elizabeth, eventually losing her to the creature’s desire for revenge. Since Victor destroyed the creature’s only hope for companionship, the creature destroyed Victor’s lover and companion. Victor finally decides to take action against his creature, they both chase each other for revenge. However, even at the creature’s worst, it cannot stand to see Victor struggle, as on Victor’s deathbed, the creature weeps due to it losing the only person it had a connection with. Although the creature craved comradeship, it was left in despair, Its agony highlighted when it says “While I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires. They were forever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned. [...] Am I to be thought the only criminal when all mankind sinned against me?...Nay, these are virtuous and immaculate beings! I, the miserable, and the abandoned, am an abortion to be spurned at” (183). The creature feels abandoned and feels as it deserves the cruel treatment after being turned away from human civilization, similar to the
way that Adam in Paradise Lost was turned away from the Garden of Eden. However, in the biblical story, Adam is the source of his own fate because of his sins, while in Frankenstein, Victor is the source of the creature’s ugly existence, which is what causes the creature’s rejection from society. The epigraph from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, at the beginning of the novel, confirms the creation allegory. It cannot be ignored that the novel Frankenstein, by Mary O’ Shelly contains an enormous amount of biblical symbolism, through allusions and allegories, such as the story of creation, which are used by Shelley to emphasize the theme of rejection. The repeated dismissal the creature faces from society due to its grotesqueness causes it to become violent and decide to seek revenge, even though all it yearned for was acceptance and love.
Previously portrayed through Frankenstein’s letters as the sole cause of both his and society’s despair, the monster’s use of the word “abortion” instead demonstrates Victor’s individual contribution towards his creature’s destructive path. Since the definition of abortion serves as the premediated act of terminating life, Frankenstein’s deliberate decision to desert his artificial creature exhibits society’s lack of sympathy for those with uncontrollable differences such as the monster’s physical deformities. Nevertheless, the textual irony of the monster’s frustrations eventually becomes apparent when the creature exclaims “Was there no injustice to this?”. Setting off a chain reaction of several more questions, Shelly’s text further mirrors the monster’s bafflement with the careless actions of Victor Frankenstein. That is, although Frankenstein gave his creation the “gift” of life, the monster has been perpetually denied every chance to live happily because of mankind’s relentless and inescapable hatred. More so, explained as the abandonment or failure of a process, Frankenstein’s ultimate refusal to love his own creation typifies how the creator’s ironic choices remain accountable for failing both the monster and
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, values of society are clearly expressed. In this particular society and culture, a great value is placed on ideologies of individuals and their contribution to society. In order to highlight these values, Shelley utilizes the character of Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the main character of the novel, and with his alienation, he plays a significant role that reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values of individualism and use in society. This is done through Victor’s actions of self-inflicted isolation.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is ‘one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction’, and is also a frightening story that speaks to the ‘mysterious fears of our nature’. Mary Shelley mocks the idea of “playing God”, the idea that came from the Greek myth of Prometheus, of the Greek titan who stole Zeus’ gift of life. Both the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus reveal the dark side of human nature and the dangerous effects of creating artificial life. Frankenstein reveals the shocking reality of the consequences to prejudging someone. The creature’s first-person narration reveals to us his humanity, and his want to be accepted by others even though he is different.
Most importantly, the creature wrestles with the nature of his identity by asking “who was I?” . Being able to consider such human questions concerning identity and existence, the creature shows an intellectual capability unique to human beings. In the same respect of reflection, the creature acknowledges and respects his creator as exclaims “I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king, if thou wilt also perform thy part, the which thou owest me.” (Shelley 84).
Victor, at first sight of the Creature, abandons and leaves him to survive on his own. This is insignificant to the creature at the time, but later causes the Creature to have bitter feelings towards Victor. After the Creature discovers Victor’s notes, he becomes enraged, and incriminates Victor for the victimization that he faces; hence accusing him as a perpetrator of cruelty. Through the accusation of Victor one can see that the Creature believes that Victor should be held responsible, and owes the Creature a favor. Additionally, Victor double-crosses the Creature after obliging to create a mate for the Creature. These actions of betrayal demonstrate how Victor is a perpetrator of cruelty and how the Creature is his victim. Victor’s unintentional cruelty reveals how he only wanted what was best for himself and human kind. Victor’s betrayal is seen as an action of cruelty by the Creature, and consequently delivers the final blow that instigates the retaliation of the
By the time of their death, both Victor and the creature has committed repugnant acts: Victor created a being out of corpses and then abandoned it and let it wreak havoc on the people he loved, the creature directly killed three people. But Victor tells Walton that, “During these last days I have been occupied in examining my past conduct; nor do I find it blamable […] nor do I know where this thirst for vengeance may end” (269). Victor is not able to see past the metaphorical clouds that seem to shroud his mind from seeing the truth. Furthermore, Victor is not able to let go of his hate for the creature. In contrast, the creature admits, “But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered the lovely and the helpless” (275). The creature is able to recognize that he has made mistakes and as a result he loathes himself. He tells Walton that, “You hate me, but your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I regard myself” (275). Although no amount of regret or sorrow can bring back the people that he has killed, the creature does acknowledge the evil of his actions, which in turn allow him to make come to peace. He is able to reconcile his vengeful feelings towards his creator and praises Victor by calling him, “worthy of love and admiration among men” (275). Both Victor and the creature have done committed actions against each
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.
Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein does indeed do a lot more than simply tell story, and in this case, horrify and frighten the reader. Through her careful and deliberate construction of characters as representations of certain dominant beliefs, Shelley supports a value system and way of life that challenges those that prevailed in the late eighteenth century during the ‘Age of Reason’. Thus the novel can be said to be challenging prevailant ideologies, of which the dominant society was constructed, and endorsing many of the alternative views and thoughts of the society. Shelley can be said to be influenced by her mothers early feminist views, her father’s radical challenges to society’s structure and her own, and indeed her husband’s views as Romantics. By considering these vital influences on the text, we can see that in Shelley’s construction of the meaning in Frankenstein she encourages a life led as a challenge to dominant views.
During the 1700s, the Enlightenment period in Europe was at its highest peak. It was at this time that author Mary Shelley decided to create her most famous novel, Frankenstein. Amidst a rainy day on Lake Geneva, author Mary Shelley was stuck in a house with a few Romantic poets, so in order to pass the time Lord Byron suggested that they each compose a ghost story to entertain each other. Promptly, Shelly began to conceive a horrific tale that demonstrates the detrimental effects of isolation on the mind and soul. In the novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley delineates the theme of isolation and its destructive power using evolution in tone, allusions to the Bible, and symbolism.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein expresses human nature specifically through the character of the “Creature” and his development. The Creature has an opportunity to explore his surroundings, and in doing so he learns that human nature is to run away from something so catastrophic in looks. The Creature discovers that he must limit himself in what he does due to the response of humans because of his deformities. I feel that Mary Shelley tries to depict human nature to running away from the abnormal, which results in alienation of the “abnormal.” Even today, people have a prejudice against someone or something that is abnormal, and these people will act differently towards this abnormality that is put in front of them. In the novel, Shelley seems to suggest a conception of humanity that is deeply influe...
As the monster discovered, language is intertwined with culture (Brooks 594). He is on the side of nature, a deformed creature of appearance, and upon catching sight of his reflection understands not to show himself to the cottagers, of whom he yearns to win the love of, for fear of them fleeing (595). He is ‘excluded but learning the means, by which to be included’ (595) with language.
Over the years, the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has become universally portrayed in one way: a tall, green-skinned, dumb brute with no language or reasoning abilities. Society has turned the story of Frankenstein into a mere horror story, dehumanizing the monster more than was intended in Shelley’s novel. However, the message of Frankenstein is a far cry from the freak show displayed by the media. While many people may only see Frankenstein as a grotesque story meant to thrill its audience, its purpose goes much deeper as it advocates for the equal rights of women in society.
to reassure and respect him. The beast also confesses that he is lonely and disliked (Shelley 105). The creature’s confession indicates the impact prejudice can have on a victim. Though he
Fair skin covers multitude of sins; plain appearances hide kind hearts. Judgements on appearances prevent people from discovering the goodness that lies beyond the surface, and the reason of those judgements is prejudice. Being one of mankind’s most persistent problems, prejudice has been influencing people of all time periods This feeling has caused chaos and confusion in human society because people have always been blinded from the truth as they judge. The concept of prejudice is explored in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. In the novel, prejudice appears as an important theme when people judge others superficially.
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 ...