Frankenstein, written in the early 1800’s, details the creation and abuse of a monster by Victor Frankenstein. Mary Shelley uses her personal family life as a basis for the novel, as there are many obvious parallels. Consequently, a traumatic experience, like the abuse the monster receives from Victor, can have negative effects on such a being. After the monster commits a series of murders, it becomes apparent that the monster has been deeply affected by its abuse. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the actions and iniquities of the monster can be attributed to the abuse and abandonment by Victor Frankenstein.
According to research, children who have been abandoned by their parents at a young age are 25% more likely to experience delinquency during their teen years(). Victor is considered the monsters guardian; someone who nurtures and cares for the monster in his early years. Victor, however, finds his creation ugly and dismisses himself from caring for him. The monster immediately has hatred for the human race as Victor, the monster’s only insight into the human race, demonstrates selfishness and maltreatment to him. At one point in Frankenstein, the monster feels as though “[he is] malicious because [he is] miserable. [Is he] not shunned and hated by all mankind? [Victor, his] creator, would tear [him] to pieces and triumph… why [should he] pity man more than [man] pities
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[him].
Shall [he] respect man when [man] condemns [him]?” (Shelley 129). The monster brings up a valid point on why he should be kind to man when man has only ever been atrocious to him. Towards the beginning of
the novel, the monster tries to befriend DeLacey, a blind man who the monster had been spying and learning off of. He thought this would be his only chance to reconnect with mankind and hopefully find decency in the race. Him and DeLacey have an educated conversation, with DeLacey trying to reassure the monster about the human race saying “the hearts of men … are full of brotherly love and charity" (119). The monsters only hope to reconnecting with mankind was with a blind man who couldn’t see his “ugly” figure, but as soon as the children came back and cause a scene, the monster goes back to his murderous rampage. Neglect is defined as “the failure of a parent or guardian to provide for a child’s basic needs” (). Taking into account how Victor treated the monster, it can easily be said he neglected the monster. After creating the creature, Victor “rushed out of the room” (51) and slept. From the monsters theoretical “birth,” all he knows is neglect and abandonment. He was never taught how to succeed in human society or how to act. While this doesn’t eradicate all of the monsters actions, the reader still feels sympathy for him. Along the same lines, a being who was abused/abandoned as a child is “ 1–7 percent more likely to become perpetrators of youth violence” (). All the long-term consequences of abandonment and abuse are present in the monsters behavior.
In most novel and movies monsters are known to be evil, committing numerous crimes against humanity and are normally the ones that we don’t sympathize with. However, this novel carefully shows the reader that monsters can be good creatures, with a decent heart and act based on the actions of others. The novel shows how the monster should be pitied, rather than criticised. Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein” manages to create sympathy for the creature through speech, actions and mistreatment the creature suffers.
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein the protagonist Victor Frankenstein creates a monster. The monster in the novel is deprived of a normal life due to his appearance. Like the creature, some serial killers today are killers due to the same rejection. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley warns that a childhood of abuse and neglect will often result in evil actions.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
The brutal behavior that causes people to suffer or feel pain mentally or physically is known as cruelty. It is actions that people, real or fictional, experience, and these actions usually come from the one’s they love. Cruelty can either be unintentional or on purpose, and both forms negatively affect the person or object receiving the action. Throughout the novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, acts of cruelty, such as when Victor leaves the monster, are driving forces that causes characters to realize their mistakes, ultimately causing their own destruction. Victor’s cruel abandonment of the monster once he awakens causes the monster to feel lonely and isolated which affects his feelings towards humans and life in general in the 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
In this essay I will be looking at the differences between the creation of the first and second monster, how Mary Shelley portrays the feelings of Victor and the monster and the different myths and legends that she refers to within the novel. Victor Frankenstein had a wonderful life as a child: 'No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself' (p.39) He was loving and cared deeply for his family, especially for his foster-sister, Elizabeth, who he looked upon as his own, and saw as a 'more than sister' (p.37). Victor always had an 'eager desire to learn' (p.39) about 'the secrets of heaven and earth' (p.39). When he was thirteen years old he started studying the works of Cornelius Agrippa and the fact that his father called it all 'sad trash' (p.40) fuelled his curiosity and enthusiasm and caused him to study even more which was to him, 'the fatal impulse that led to my [his] ruin' (p.41).
“Allure, Authority, and Psychoanalysis” discusses the unconscious wishes, effects, conflicts, anxieties, and fantasies within “Frankenstein.” The absence of strong female characters in “Frankenstein” suggests the idea of Victor’s desire to create life without the female. This desire possibly stems from Victor’s attempt to compensate for the lack of a penis or, similarly, from the fear of female sexuality. Victor’s strong desire for maternal love is transferred to Elizabeth, the orphan taken into the Frankenstein family. This idea is then reincarnated in the form of a monster which leads to the conclusion that Mary Shelley felt like an abandoned child who is reflected in the rage of the monster.
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.
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein centers around a creator who rejects his own creation. The plot thickens as Victor Frankenstein turns his back on his creation out of fear and regret. The monster is cast out alone to figure out the world and as a result of a life with no love, he turns evil. Shelley seems to urge the reader to try a relate with this monster and avoid just seeing him as an evil being beyond repentance. There is no doubt that the monster is in fact evil; however, the monster’s evilness stems from rejection from his creator.
Victor Frankenstein serves as an instrument of suffering of others and contributes to the tragic vision as a whole in this novel. He hurts those surrounding him by his selfish character and his own creation plots against his master due to the lack of happiness and love. The audience should learn from Frankenstein’s tragic life and character to always remain humble. We should never try to take superiority that is not granted to us because like victor we shall suffer and perish. He had the opportunity to make a difference in his life and take responsibility as a creator but his selfishness caused him to die alone just like what he had feared.
In Frankenstein, Shelley creates two very complex characters. They embody the moral dilemmas that arise from the corruption and disturbance of the natural order of the world. When Victor Frankenstein is attending school, he becomes infatuated with creating a living being and starts stealing body parts from morgues around the university. After many months of hard work, he finishes one stormy night bringing his creation to life. However, “now that [Victor] had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (Chambers). Right after Victor realizes what he has done, he falls into deep depression and must be nursed back to health by his friend. Victor spends the rest of the story facing consequences and moral problems from creating unnatural life. When he realizes that the ‘monster’ has killed his brother, even though no one believes him, he feels responsible for his brother’s murder because he was responsible for the existence of the ‘monster’. Also feeling responsible, Victor...
In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, a young aspiring scientist, Victor Frankenstein, violates the laws of nature to make his dream experiment of creating life. In the beginning of the novel, Victor is sent to the University of Ingolstadt in Germany to fulfill his science career; leaving Elizabeth his soulmate, his father Alphonse, and best friend Clerval behind in Geneva. Using electricity, Frankenstein shocks his two year long creation to life. The creation known as the monster is abandoned by Victor, and rejected from a human companionship because of his appearance. Because of his abandonment, the monster ravages through Frankenstein’s family and friends, committing numerous murders. The monster is the physical murderer of many innocents
Many people know that Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was part of a family of famed Romantic era writers. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was one of the first leaders of the feminist movement, her father, William Godwin, was a famous social philosopher, and her husband, Percy Shelley, was one of the leading Romantic poets of the time ("Frankenstein: Mary Shelley Biography."). What most people do not know, however, is that Mary Shelley dealt with issues of abandonment her whole life and fear of giving birth (Duncan, Greg. "Frankenstein: The Historical Context."). When she wrote Frankenstein, she revealed her hidden fears and desires through the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creation, putting him symbolically in her place (Murfin, Ross. "Psychoanalytic Criticism and Frankenstein.”). Her purpose, though possibly unconsciously, in writing the novel was to resolve both her feelings of abandonment by her parents, and fears of her own childbirth.
Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1818, is a science fiction novel in which a man named Victor Frankenstein resuscitates a creature (a deceased man). The creature, who is neglected by Victor, vows to spend the rest of his life tormenting Victor because he cannot interact with anyone, making him utterly alone in the world. Although the creature commits the majority of the horrible atrocities, Victor is the true sinner because he completely neglects the creature that he gave life, he will not create a mate for the creature (who has agreed to stop hurting people if the mate is created), and he decides to marry Elizabeth despite the warnings from the creature. Victor, despite his presumably good intentions, ends up torturing himself, the
Misfortunes are the memories that most people keep in mind and do not forget. It is the pain and suffering that they thrive on. In the lifetime of Mary Shelley she experienced various misfortunes that influenced her writing. Many of these events that occurred in her life influenced the content within Frankenstein. These events started occurring at a young age which affected her mental health. In the novel Frankenstein it demonstrates the consequences of man-made life and the pain inflicted upon Mary Shelley by tragic experiences. Many that have heard about the novel believe that the “monster” created by Victor is named Frankenstein. Although, the young man responsible for the unnamed creature brought to life is named Victor Frankenstein. Throughout