Frankenstein Argumentative Essay

1103 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Frankenstein analysis

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Argumentative Essay
Shahmee Weaver
Mercer University














Introduction
Mary Shelley was one of the most notable literary heiresses among the romantic poets of the nineteenth century. She was an avid reader of contemporary Gothic novels, German and French works, and the great romantic works of her husband, Percy. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is the story of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, an eccentric scientist, and his creation that is a grotesque monster. This creature is the main character of this classic book, which is a great combination of gothic ideas, science fiction and horror elements.
About the creature
The creature in this novel is aware of his creator and he fights to establish his own existence …show more content…

Her expressions through the creature telling Frankenstein about his admiration of the loving and sweet manners of the cottagers and how it admired these virtues clearly brings out the writer’s thoughts about what life should be and the virtues that lead to a happy life (Sean, 1994). The creature struggles and fights with various conflicting desires after it experiences and understands the concept of humanity and what it is to be a human being. Although he cannot be one among them, he idealizes the feelings and interactions of the cottagers in his own way. He creates for himself a set of ideals of humanity. The people around seem to be closer to God for the creature because it watches their ability to work on their own in this world of God. Since he is isolated from all those around the sense of morality grow within through …show more content…

Here again the writer’s views that emotions and nature are greatly responsible for all kinds of actions is quite explicit. The monster reveals that the more he saw them his wishes to gain their kindness and protection became greater and his heart yearned to be loved and known by the soft-hearted humans. His main aim was to see love and compassion their eyes for him. Shelley’s thoughts are reflected in the words of the monster and the desire to be one with the others that will give it a new existence of respect and goodness. He wants to be a part of the society where he lives and the seclusion gives a lot of pain. The difference between the creature and other people who are his neighbors is clearly visible and the desire to be accepted by the cottagers and enjoy love and affection become intensified in the creature the more he sees them. Although the monster is a scientific creation, he has a heart it seems and can feel like humans and reason too. So he is sure of his capabilities and worthiness of sharing the softer feelings of life. He is eager to live in harmony with all people around for he too can reciprocate psychological feelings and express emotions of love and care just as

Show More
Related

  • Free Essays on Frankenstein: The Creature as a Foil to Frankenstein

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his father’s home, points out that he is unlike Elizabeth, who would rather follow “the aerial creations of the poets”. Instead he pursues knowledge of the “world” though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word “world” is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealised in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature begins his own journey into the discovery of the strange and hidden meanings encoded in human language and society. In this essay, I will discuss how the creature can be regarded as a foil to Frankenstein through an examination of the schooling, formal and informal, that both of them go through. In some ways, the creature’s gain in knowledge can be seen to parallel Frankenstein’s, such as, when the creature begins to learn from books. Yet, in other ways, their experiences differ greatly, and one of the factors that contribute to these differences is a structured and systematic method of learning, based on philosophical tenets, that is available to Frankenstein but not to the creature.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein: Mary Shelley's Ability to Create Sympathy for the Monster

    1840 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...h him, because we do not truly know how he felt. We know that he felt unloved and that he cannot even face to love himself, whereas we have always received love from our parents and the creature never received this. He was always alone, he never even had a companion of his own species which had ‘the same defects’ .The creature does not want to be alive any more, as he does not love the world he lives in any more, and this is the world we live in.

    Read More

  • Isolation In Frankenstein

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the Creature executes extreme and irreversible acts due to his isolation from society. Although the Creature displays kindness, his isolation drives him to act inhumanely. The Creature, pushed away from his creator because he is an abomination, and indicates his isolation as the only one of his species. As the Creature gets more comfortable with the De Lacey ’s, he approaches the old man as his children are gone but before he can explain himself, the children come home and see the Creature, “Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me?

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Out of Class Essay

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    Critic Northrop Frye says, “Tragic heroes tower as the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, the great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning”. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein greatly exhibits the theme of the consequence of knowledge and irresponsibility among others through its tragic hero, Victor Frankenstein. Northrop Frye’s quote is certainly true when looking at Frankenstein’s situation. Victor is a victim of his divine lightning, and ultimately causes much trouble for himself; however, Victor also serves as the tragic hero in the lives of the monster, his family, and his friends.

    Read More

  • The Real Monster, Victor Frank

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary Shelley's narrative, Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation. 'It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils…by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.(52)'; This was the time and the place in which the creature came to life. Victor Frankenstein thought that his creation was a hideous monster, but his ignorance blinded him from the truth. In veracity, Victor Frankenstein was the real monster this was evident from his selfishness, from his cruelty and rejection of his creation, and because he indirectly caused the deaths of his own family and friends.

    Read More

  • Social Responsibility in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a complex novel that was written during the age of Romanticism. It contains many typical themes of a common Romantic novel, such as dark laboratories, the moon and a monster; however, Frankenstein is anything but a common novel. Many lessons are embedded into this novel, including how society acts towards anything different.  The monster fell victim to the system commonly used by society to characterize a person by only his or her outer appearance.

    Read More

  • Humanistic Relationship In Frankenstein

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    On page 81 of the novel, the monster is thinking to himself as he said, “My thoughts became more active, and I longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures.” (Shelley 81). It is distinct in the quotation how the monster sees his humanistic abilities—he has feelings and he has motives. He is beginning to understand the relationships the human population has with one another, and he would like to be able to experience a humanistic relationship with someone who is similar to him.

    Read More

  • Tragic Hero in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Gothic Theme in Chapter 5 of Frankenstein

    1554 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary Shelley, the author of the novel Frankenstein, was born on August 30th 1797. He father, William Godwin, was a philosopher, and her mother was Mary Wollstonecraft, who is still well known for being an author and one of the first feminists. But unfortunately Mary Shelley’s mother died of puerperal fever ten days after giving birth to her daughter. As Mary’s father was a philosopher, Mary had to listen to many intellectual talks. Mary was strongly impressed by the brilliant talks she listened to since she was young as she was surrounded by famous writers and philosophers. The intellectual environment in which she lived stimulated her Romantic sensibility and the political revolutionary ideas of the time. Later on in life Mary married a man named Percy Bysshe Shelley. Percy was a poet and a member of the Romantic Movement. But unfortunately Mary had to elope with Shelley at the age of 16 as he was...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Accumulation Of Knowledge By Mary Shelley

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the knowledge of the creature increases Shelley is able to convey more intricate layers of humanity. In this case through a form of literature, the creature becomes fascinated with the creation of man “‘Their melancholy is soothing, and their joy elevating, to a degree I never experienced…When you read their writings, life appears to consist in a warm sun and a garden of rose…’” (Shelley 56-57). Which reflects the complex human development of literature. However Shelley also uses the creature’s perception to reflect the unintentional judgmental side of humanity. While the creature attempts to save a girl, with the intention of doing the right thing “I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now withered under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone” he questions the actions of the human as he had felt that he did the right thing (Shelley 128). Although somewhat aware of human interaction, this surprises the creature as he is very

    Read More

  • The “Other” Creation: Post-Colonialism in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein (sometimes also known as The Modern Prometheus) is the classic gothic novel of her time. In this eerie tale, Dr. Victor Frankenstein – suffering from quite an extreme superiority complex – brings to life a creature made from body parts of deceased individuals from nearby cemeteries. Rather than to embrace the Creature as his own, Frankenstein alienates him because of his unpleasant appearance. Throughout the novel, the Creature is ostracized not only by Frankenstein but by society as a whole. Initially a kind and gentle being, the Creature becomes violent and eventually seeks revenge for his creator’s betrayal. Rather than to merely focus on the exclusion of the Creature from society, Shelley depicts the progression of Dr. Frankenstein’s seclusion from other humans as well, until he and the Creature ultimately become equals – alone in the world with no one to love, and no one to love them back. Frankenstein serves as more than simply a legendary tale of horror, but also as a representation of how isolation and prejudice can result in the demise of the individual.

    Read More

  • Sympathy for the Monster in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    411 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this essay I am going to answer ‘how and why does Mary Shelley make the reader sympathise with the character of the monster in her novel Frankenstein’.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein: Don't Judge a Monster Based on His Appearance

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    The greater detail about the monster’s experiences provided by the book is the first thing that allows a reader to sympathize with the monster better than an audience member. When the Frankenstein monster is retelling the story of the hardships he has endured, he mentions events that were overlooked in the play. One example of this is when the monster saved a young girl’s life. An act such as this would be praised with the greatest heroism if it was done by a human, but as a reward he is shot, receiving only “the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone.” (Shelley 135) The book also examines the months of hard work the creature put into learning about human nature and language in order to be fully accepted when he chose to reveal himself. The monster hid by the cottage for around a year, never leaving during the day and working to help the cottager’s at night in order to learn from them. The monster went ...

    Read More

  • Romanticism In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Or The Modern Prometheus

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the monster escapes from Frankenstein’s apartment and into the woods, he discovers an abandoned fire, “ I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly withdrew it out again with a cry of pain,” (91). In this act the Monster shows his lack of knowledge of the natural world by this childish act caused by curiosity of nature. Next, as the Monster builds a stable shelter next to the family of cottagers he develops the want to interact with them, “But when I contemplated the virtues of the cottagers, their amiable and benevolent dispositions, I persuaded myself that when they should become acquainted with my admiration of their virtues, they would compassionate me, and overlook my personal deformity” (118). Even though the Monster was rejected many times, he was still hopeful that he may in some way receive kindness from these people that he thought of as more than strangers. He would hope that instead that the people would look past the unnatural deformity of his face and instead accept him through his benevolent personality. In conclusion, the monster seeked for the comfort of things or people that he did not understand. Through his ignorance he felt the consequences of emotional damage on his person from these events that made him

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Critical Analysis Essay

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary Shelley in her book Frankenstein addresses numerous themes relevant to the current trends in society during that period. However, the novel has received criticism from numerous authors. This paper discusses Walter Scott’s critical analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in his Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Review of Frankenstein (1818).

    Read More

More about Frankenstein Argumentative Essay

Open Document