How Mary Shelley creates a sense of horror in Frankenstein.
Frankenstein
Introduction
In this essay, I will be writing about how Mary Shelley creates sense
of horror in Frankenstein. Horror stories are usually dark and
sinister. They are also very mysterious. They mostly use catching
background music and horrible settings to create a sense of horror.
Mary Shelley creates a sense of horror through the characters,
settings and the language. From the beginning of the story, the
audience's speculate that there was a reason behind Victor
Frankenstein's interest to the anatomy of science.
" A mind of moderate capacity, which closely pursues one study,
Must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study."
This creates a sense of horror because it suggests that Frankenstein
is obsessed with the subject. It isn't just a plain interest.
After his mother died, he was very upset and angry. He wanted to
create a living human being- bringing a dead body alive. He wanted to
do something that no one else has done. This can be looked at, as a
metaphor saying that, he wanted to make something that even nature
hasn't even created.
This creates a sense of horror because, people in the 19th century
were very superstitious and believed that going against the nature
means going against God, and that's the worst sin that can be
committed.
" Darkness had no effect upon my fancy."
This creates a sense of horror because he was different from the other
people as well as the human characteristics. He had no fear of death
or any superstitious belief. He appears as a person who would do
anything because he is contending to himself as well as God.
He wanted to create something that wouldn't have to follow the
procedure of life.
"I should attempt the creation of a being like myself"
This creates a sense of horror because it suggests that he wants to
break the natural chain. He is willing to create a human like himself
but it should live for eternity. He wants to prevent death. He wanted
to "succeed and arrive at great proficiency in that study".
He finally decides to learn everything about human bodies and create a
human creature from dead body parts so he started to make framework
with bones and organs as an experiment.
Frankenstein collects most of the materials that he needs from the
charnel house where dead bodies are kept, and also goes to other
places that are associated death such as churchyards, the dissecting
room and the slaughterhouse.
"Churchyard was the receptacle of bodies deprived of life" and
"The dissecting room and the slaughter house furnished many of his
materials".
All these settings creates a sense of horror because, it's set in a
that is able to create a human life and he wants to greater than his
The civil rights movement brought enlightenment towards the abolishment of segregation laws. Although the laws are gone does segregation still exist in fact? “What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?'; said, in a poem by Langston Huges. The story, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry showed segregation and its affects upon all races. This essay will show how Assimilationists and New Negroes fought for their own identity in the mid twentieth century. Whether they were being true to themselves or creating carbon copies of oppression was determined by one’s view upon society.
Miller, Roger G. 1998. "The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949." US Air Force Historical Studies. Accessed April 26, 2014. http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101001-053.pdf.
In contrast, Frankenstein’s passion is science. He goes to study at Ingolstadt and begins taking several courses. He begins to study death and decay and in this he uncovered the secret to life. As Shelley states, “After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (51). And so he did bring life to an inanimate object.
The literary elements of remote and desolate settings, a metonymy of gloom and horror, and women in distress, clearly show “Frankenstein” to be a Gothic Romantic work. Mary Shelley used this writing style to effectively allow the reader to feel Victor Frankenstein’s regret and wretchedness. In writing “Frankenstein” Mary Shelley wrote one the most popular Gothic Romantic novels of all time.
him because he has not been brought up to learn right or wrong, so he
He was unjustly shunned by society because of his physical appearance. On the other hand, the reader realizes that, like Frankenstein, the creation can not be sympathized with entirely. He too exhibits traits that make him appear villainous. It is the duality of these two characters that make Frankenstein and his creation two of the most appealing characters of the nineteenth century.
Romantic examples flood this novel and make it intriguing for scholars even today because of its remarkable ability to give subtle nods to things that strike our inner most emotions. Mary Shelley managed to take our sympathy and pour it onto the Creature and tell the story in a truly Romantic fashion.
Now adays symbols define a lot of our everyday objects, for example, gender symbols or company logos. Symbolism is the use of symbols to show ideas. One book that uses symbolism is the drama based play written by Lorraine Hansberry named “Raisin in The Sun”. This book is about a poor black family in South Chicago during the 50’s called the Youngers. The Younger Family gets a $10,000 dollar insurance settlement. Unfortunately $6,500 is lost to an investment with a man named Willy Haris, over a liquor store, but $3,500 is put into a down payment purchasing a house in clybourne park. Throughout the story the author uses symbolism in 3 different ways, the windows represented opportunities, the light represented hope and the plants represented dreams.
Walter Lee’s dream was to own his own liquor store to get more money for his family, even though it is probably not the best idea. Walter in A Raisin in the Sun expresses, “Yeah. You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be
First, Beneatha shows negative consequences when a dream is deferred. Beneatha is a sassy and non-confirmative woman whose dream is to become a doctor. Beneatha has wanted to be a doctor ever since she saw Rufus
It was formed as a response to NATO, which was formed by most West European countries supporting Capitalism, which also had major military backing from the United States. They believed that Capitalism would become aggressive, which would lead to war against East Europe, but NATO believed that Communism would become aggressive which would lead to war against West Europe. The Warsaw considered of counties in East Europe that were not part of the Soviet Union. The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance between Communist countries in East Europe to counter the threat of Capitalism in Europe. It had a great effect as a military obstacle, on any of the European nations seeking war against other nations, to better further the spread of the ideas it
The award-winning play A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry focuses on characters that are challenged by the reality of their dreams and the harsh society around them. Walter Lee Younger, a working man with a small family, is someone who has high hopes for his future, but, during the book, he repeatedly had doubts about the outcome of his goals. As the play progressed, Walter’s dream plays a large role in his character development because he starts off as a man who felt as if all of his family members neglected his dreams, and transitioned into a person who is willing to do whatever it takes for his family’s dreams to flourish, instead of purely his own.
Bad things, they happen. If every egregious occurrence were represented by the amount of themes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the themes would, well, still be outnumbered exceedingly, but not as much as most other books would be. This novel is thematically packed, welcoming commentary on appearance, treating people how you want to be treated, revenge, and most topical of the ones listed, violence. Although no one likes to talk about it, violence is a universal staple, and sometimes the ones in the act justify their use of such. It may be understandable, but when is violence okay and when is it not? Perhaps giving my perspective on violence and how it’s used in Frankenstein will do the title justice.
The novel Frankenstein is about a man named Victor Frankenstein who wanted to tamper with life and death by "exploring unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." (Frankenstein, pg.40). He acquired the knowledge of science when he attended the university of Ingolstadt, and once the knowledge of science was gained, Frankenstein went to his secret laboratory to create a creature with gigantic stature. At first, Frankenstein had doubts about creating a human being; however, with "the improvement which every day takes place in science and mechanics, [he] was encouraged to hope [his] present attempts would at least lay the foundation of future success." (Frankenstein, pg.47) Once Frankenstein created his human being, his dream was vanished because he had accomplished his dream. His dream of creating a human being soon turned into a nightmare.