Monstrosity in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus
Merriam-Webster defines monster as a threatening force, and a person of unnatural or extreme ugliness, deformity, wickedness, or cruelty. Currently in pop culture monsters are dangerous and fatal creatures. For example, the 80s classic of the small-feisty gremlins, and 2017 renewal of the menacing clown named “It.” Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus sparks a revolutionary vision of the illustration of what monsters are today. While Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus is initially thought to follow the melancholy nature of the creature, Victor himself develops a maniacal insanity. Victor’s internal pressure and pursuit to possess the ability of being “God-like”
…show more content…
drives him to madness. Therefore, Victor reaches his breaking point promptly after he deems the creature as his failure. In her text, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley adapts light in her exploration of the “real” identity of monstrosity. The presence of light within Victor Frankenstein evolves into a darkness that peaks into depression. Victor’s ambition to possess the key to life and creation is parallel to the light in his mind. For example, when Victor experiences his epiphanies, the discoveries of natural philosophy show a presence of light. As Victor discovers and develops his knowledge of natural philosophy he says, “A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind.” In addition, in Victor’s moment of discovering the secret to creating life, he details his experience as “a sudden light broke in upon me.” Although with the enlightening possibilities of creation, Victor fails to fathom the dangerous consequences of the creature. As Frankenstein describes in his introduction to the creature as: A flash of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy demon to whom I had given life (Chapter 7). Victor’s disappointment with the outcome of his most precious desire to create life, leads him into darkness that is both abstract and similar to that of the creatures’. In comparison, the separation and rejection that the creature receives from Victor contributes to its vast absence of light and inexpressive pain. In contrast, in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, Edward experiences a loving and caring relationship with the inventor. While the bright colors and fluid imagery of suburbia engulf the town, Tim Burton introduces Edward in a dark and untouched mansion, completely separate from life. Edward’s dark wardrobe and monstrous appearance shows similarity to the creature through Shelley’s lens. Furthermore, the creature deals with resentment and disgust towards himself. As the creature exclaims: It was a scene of wonderful solemnity and stirred strange thoughts within me. I wept bitterly, and clasping my hands in agony, I exclaimed, “Oh! stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.”(151) This moment in nature leaves an absence of light which leads the creature to contemplate its worth. Comparatively, the light of fire associates with the many images of danger surrounding the creature and Victor.
Moreover, the rage that builds over within the creature causes dire consequences. The death of Elizabeth causes the town to use fire to hunt down the culprit of this murder and keeps the town lit with an indefinite flame from the torches. Additionally, Victor also exudes madness when he attempts to kill the creature. Following the death of Victor’s wife, his emotions intensely overwhelm him. Victor exclaims, “I rushed towards the window, and drawing a pistol from my bosom, fired; but he eluded me, leaped from his station, and running with the swiftness of lightning, plunged into the lake.”(Chapter 23) The speed of the creature’s escape from Victor compares to that of lightning, which is a frightening bolt of light from nature. The lightning is a short burst of light that is discernibly seen in any darkness. The text also mentions a flash of lightning in Victor’s disappointed introduction to the creature as being scary and inhumane. Additionally, in the evolvement of the staggering darkness and shadow that overcomes Victor. Also, in this instance the reader finds Victor left in a desperate state, longing for someone to blame for the horrible misfortunes of his present. For example, after Victor fails in capturing the
creature: My steps were like those of a drunken man, I fell at last in a state of utter exhaustion; a film covered my eyes, and my skin was parched with the heat of fever. In this state I was carried back and placed on a bed, hardly conscious of what had happened; my eyes wandered round the room as if to seek something that I had lost. (Chapter 23) The constant terror that revolves around the creature ultimately creates the insanity and trouble of Victor. The transparency of light and constant darkness that follows both the creature and Victor’s journeys are consistently parallel to one another. As the town tolerates and occasionally entertains the madness of Victor, he continues to become alienated. Victor ultimately has no other path, but to become insane. The many deaths of loved ones, and the biggest failure of his natural philosophy, force him to a state of uneasiness and constant paranoia. Shelley focuses the audience on this lens of the inquiry of who is the true monster of this tale. The adaptation of light fuels Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus to an unforeseen, yet anticipated, tragedy of Victor’s death. The hues and emotions provoked from a text or film are drawn from the era in which the art was made. The 1818 work of art, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, is a thought-provoking novel that was conceptualized by Mary Shelley at the age of eighteen, during her visit to Geneva. During the time of Illinois becoming the 21st state and the creation of the modern fire extinguisher, Shelley created the masterpiece that is Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. The gothic nature of Mary Shelley’s work was far beyond it’s time, the original text’s constant revision led to its modern version that is known today.
Ever since the beginning of Frankenstein’s tragic narrative, his story has been filled with distortions. When happy, the world seems imbued with a mystical glow and when depressed, darkness threatens to conquer everything and everyone. However, as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that was not just the narrator who had a various distorted outlooks on the world, but other primary characters as well, including, but not limited to, Frankenstein’s monster and Frankenstein’s dear friend Henry Clerval.
In chapter seven, Victor witnesses a flash of lighting over the mountain Mont Blanc. Lightning is a reminder of Victor’s childhood that mankind will never understand nature.
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
I had the opportunity to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley several years ago and it became one of my favorite books. My initial feeling was sorrow, what a wonderful story that has been slowly destroyed by Hollywood through the years. We think of Victor Frankenstein as a mad scientist trying to destroy mankind, and the monster having bolts in his neck with very little intellect. Mary Shelley’s book is completely different from the Hollywood version we are accustom to. The monster is intelligent and has emotions, the mad scientist or Victor was scared of his own creation due to his appearance. The monster initially showed no signs of evil in the novel, but where did he learn it from? Who is the real evil monster
What is a monster, really? Is it really a Creature that has three eyes instead of two, with pus seeping out of every crevice in his face and an abnormally large form? Or is it someone with a mind so corrupt it rivals that of Satan? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a story within a story that centers on the tale of a man with an immense thirst of knowledge and a fetish to imitate the Creator. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a lot like the Greek mythological tale of the Greek God, Prometheus, and his brother, Epimetheus, who were assigned the task of creating man. The story captivates the theme of monstrosity. Mary Shelley wrote the novel in a form so the reader’s opinions never stray far from sympathy for the monster and apathy for Victor Frankenstein. The novel looks at “Monstrosity” and “Humanity” in a deeply analytical way.
A monster is usually viewed to be a supernatural creature that humans judge based on looks and not necessarily on personality. In the novel, Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the monster is a creature Victor creates but abandons immediately because he is horrified by his own creation. Due to the monster’s appearance, society does not give the creature a chance to show his true self. Therefore, the monster faces an external conflict because of Frankenstein’s and society's rejection, making it difficult for him to blend into his new life. Victor creates the monster because of his unusual compulsion of aspiring to be like God. However, Victor does not know how to treat or be responsible for his creature. Victor Frankenstein is the true monster
In the novel, Frankenstein, a doctor named Victor Frankenstein created a monster. Victor’s monster was created using old human parts, chemicals, and a “spark.” Victor wanted to create this monster in order to benefit mankind, and for the purpose of playing God. Victor thought his creation would turn out great, but in all actuality, his monster ended up terribly wrong (Shelley, 145). The monster was a deformed man, standing eight feet tall, with yellow eyes, black hair, black lips, and skin that did not conceal his internal features (Shelley, 144-145). Even though the monster was very grown, he had the mind of a newborn child, and he was very kind and gentle (Shelley, 327). The monster’s appearance terrified Victor, and he immediately abandoned it. Dr. Victor Frankenstein also never named his creation because he disliked it that much. The monster was longing for love, and since no one loved him, he became very violent. He ended up killing Victor’s brother and best friend out of pure revenge (Shelley, 193). Anytime the monster tried to help people, he was bea...
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, explores the monstrous and destructive affects of obsession, guilt, fate, and man’s attempt to control nature. Victor Frankenstein, the novel’s protagonist and antihero, attempts to transcend the barriers of scientific knowledge and application in creating a life. His determination in bringing to life a dead body consequently renders him ill, both mentally and physically. His endeavors alone consume all his time and effort until he becomes fixated on his success. The reason for his success is perhaps to be considered the greatest scientist ever known, but in his obsessive toil, he loses sight of the ethical motivation of science. His production would ultimately grieve him throughout his life, and the consequences of his undertaking would prove disastrous and deadly. Frankenstein illustrates the creation of a monster both literally and figuratively, and sheds light on the dangers of man’s desire to play God.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or; The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, is a product of its time. Written in a world of social, political, scientific and economic upheaval it highlights human desire to uncover the scientific secrets of our universe, yet also confirms the importance of emotions and individual relationships that define us as human, in contrast to the monstrous. Here we question what is meant by the terms ‘human’ and ‘monstrous’ as defined by the novel. Yet to fully understand how Frankenstein defines these terms we must look to the etymology of them. The novel however, defines the terms through its main characters, through the themes of language, nature versus nurture, forbidden knowledge, and the doppelganger motif. Shelley also shows us, in Frankenstein, that although juxtaposing terms, the monstrous being everything human is not, they are also intertwined, in that you can not have one without the other. There is also an overwhelming desire to know the monstrous, if only temporarily and this calls into question the influence the monstrous has on the human definition.
A common way to describe a modern day monster can be described within the soul and mind. Many people have a complex and confused mind. Stephen King states, “ I think that we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside asylums only hide it a little better- and maybe not all that much better, after all.” Monsters can overpower the mind. Many people struggle to listen to themselves, and they let their monstrous conscience take over their actions which will cause harm to them or people around them. It is common for people to battle monsters within their souls. Many people feel too weak to stand up and be free from
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
While watching the lightning, Victor sees the “deformity of its aspect more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed [him] that it was the wretch, the filthy daemon, to whom [he] had given life.(73)” Therefore, lightning identifies with both qualities of the beauty as it destroys the objects it strikes which symbolizes the creature’s destructive powers on the people that Victor loves. Even though the creature is not beautiful, the lightning represents the creatures desire for the beautiful things in life, but since he does not get them he resorts to ruining other individuals lives especially that of his creator. Like the lightning, the creature is like a child because he does not know much about the world, since his creator just created
Can corruption of the innocent can lead to the unwanted destruction caused by the individual that was once innocent? It is evident in books such as Macbeth, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Brave New World, and Lord of the Flies. Each one has examples some better than others but all of them once had an innocence that got ripped from their bare hands all while they still thought they had it making confusion for those around them.
The word monstrosity is ambiguous; Although in Frankenstein it is seen more as a sequence of actions we take that leads to evil and doom. The book Frankenstein by or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley shows explores the monstrosity of the characters such as victor Frankenstein. It shows the progression of his monstrous actions in what he did or did not do. Mary Shelley argues that monstrosity is not inherent but rather the outcome from our actions and decisions.
A monster is defined as an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening. By this definition, Victor’s creature who is depicted to be eight feet tall and hideous