More handpicked essays just for you.
Frankenstein a2 english literature
How does mary Shelley use language to describe the creature
Literary analysis about frankenstein
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Scientists always tell us that interfering with the environment too much can lead to dangerous consequences. This type of sentiment is perfectly echoed in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which goes into the moral ethics of bringing back creatures from the dead. Mary Shelley uses the setting of nature to ground Victor into reality and help him cope with his guilt of the creature’s murders and spreads the message that nature is beautiful on its own and should not be tampered with. The beauty and calmness of nature during Vicor’s nature hike helps him cope with the guilt death of Justine and William and ultimately makes him realize the natural beauty of the world without technological interference. Victor feels an immense sense of guilt after …show more content…
the deaths of Justine and Williams, and Victor’s guilt is further exemplified after he confirms that his creation conducted these murders. During Victor’s nature hike, it's clear that he still holds his guilt. However, Victor has come to terms where he feels that he can’t go back, still contemplating on deaths of his friends. During his hike he finds a boat near a shallow river and decides to go on it. Victor says “I left the boat to pursue its own course and gave way to my miserable reflection” (Shelly 61). In this quote, the setting of shallow river is being used as a platform for reflection for Victor. When Victor says that he “left the boat to pursue its own course”, the author clearly implies that Victor is now leaving nature to control his destination. The use of the setting of a flowing river also implicitly shows Victor that nature takes its own course and can go on its own without being tampered with. After a brief period of time Victor does eventually get over his guilt and while casually exploring he says: “The weather was fine:it was about the middle of the month in August,nearly two months after the death of Justine; that miserable epoch from which I dated all my woe. The weight upon my spirit was lightened as I plunged deeper into the ravine of arve.The immense mountains that overhung me, the sound of the river and waterfall spoke of a power mighty as omnipotence”(Shelly 64). Shelly clearly uses setting in this instance to relate Victor’s mental state to his surroundings. The presence of fine weather shows that shelly is trying to tell the reader that Victor has finally recovered from his period of guilt towards the creature’s murders. Shelley also mentions Victor's journey into the ravine inadvertently implying that the ravine is a new path for Victor similar to the river mentioned in the last quote. The big mountains also serve to block Victor from his troubled past and instead focus on newer things to come. Nature in this quote is drawing Victor deeper into its wonders to educate him about how nature does not have to be supplemented with technology. Phrases like “sound of river and waterfall” indicate that Victor is starting to feel the power that nature has over this world. Mary Shelley makes use of the icey setting in Walton and Victor’s ship journey to convey sense of a regret and teaching.
The first and last portions of the novel where Victor is on a ship is important because it captures the message that shelly wants to spread through the use of establishing atmosphere. This can be seen in Walton’s journey when he is blocked by ice sheets and unable to traverse the sea. In his letter he says : “Last monday we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed up onto the ship at all sides scarcely leaving her in the sea room which she floated”(Shelly 8). Although this quote is not directly related to Victor it is clear that Shelly is trying to use the icey setting to convey a sense of teaching for Vicor. If it was not for the icey setting then Victor would not have survived because he would have never been rescued by Walton and his crew. Although this motive is unclear to the reader because of the book’s onion-style narrative structure; when read in hindsight it is clear that the ice portrays a message that Victor should have respect for nature as it saved him. Additionally nature is also shown to be powerful on its own when Victor sets out to catch the monster he finds himself in a dangerous mountain and says “As I still pursued my journey to the northward, the snows thickened, and the cold increased in a degree almost too severe to support”(Shelly 152). Shelley's use of an icey setting in this quote is used to add complications to Victor’s journey and show him how powerful nature can be. The depiction of the cold serves as a reminder that he is still mortal while compared to the creature who is powerful. The icey setting is used to help Victor cope with the creature’s murders as it serves a reminder to him about the dangers that nature poses. It ultimately helps him cope with the murders as he dies in peace in Walton’s
ship. Throughout Victor’s journey it is clear that the setting has a clear influence on him and implicit shows him the beauty of his surroundings without any interference. All this ultimately culminates to a message that humankind should treat nature fairly and with care.
Shelley is very good at using the settings in this novel to evoke emotions from the reader. Whilst some of these settings are named areas, there are also some which include mere words that create a depiction of Frankenstein’s emotions and the seriousness of the current happenings. The significance of a setting is very important in a novel because, ‘Setting is the time and place where a scene occurs. It can help set the mood, influence the way characters behave, affect the dialog, foreshadow events, invoke an emotional response, reflect the society in which the characters live, and sometimes even plays a part in the story. It can also be a critical element in nonfiction
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, she addresses the challenges that arise in both the creation and life of a dead creature that has been brought back to life in hideous forms. The
At the beginning or the story, Victor lives in ecstasy, reveling in life’s every joy. Desolation and darkness no doubt had minor roles in his life, but these were glanced over in an instant, as Victor was remembering the times as good and perfect. The harsh dichotomy of this perspective and the perspective he maintained for the majority of the novel after the creation of the creature is stunning. After, he saw the world as always filled with darkness and loneliness. He even stated that he almost caught himself feeling happiness at one point and stopped himself. This distortion that the world became a fruitless wasteland is simply untrue, but it sheds light on how totally our feeling twist our perception of the world. By shoeing the polar opposites, the novel further emphasizes how our outlook on life shapes what we see in the world around us, for better or for
While the virgin unexplored frozen sea of artic was an interest of Robert Walton, but this is the location where Victor picked to lure the monster. In Mary Shelley’s novel ice also represent the path victor’s and the monsters life took.
Victor Frankenstein violates nature in a way that portrays how he feels and treats women. Nature is looked at as being a female because of the way it acts and moves. Frankenstein believes: nature is passive, beautiful, and serene but also is something he can manipulate. He also sees it as something he can violate nature and pursue her to her hiding places with impunity.
In today’s world of genetically engineered hearts and genetically altered glowing rats, the story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, seems as if it could be seen in the newspapers in our near future. The discoveries seen in modern science, as well as in the novel, often have controversy and negative consequences that follow them, the biggest of which being the responsibility the creator of life has to what has been created. Victor Frankenstein suffers from a variety of internal and external conflicts stemming from the creation of his monster, which in return also experiences similar problems. Shelley uses these tumultuous issues to portray the discrepancies between right and wrong, particularly through romanticism and the knowledge of science.
Andrew Lustig proposed a great question to the readers of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, “How far should we go in out efforts to alter nature, including human nature? As stewards of God’s creation what are our responsibilities?” (Lustig 1) This question results in theme of nature vs. nurture in the novel. The nature vs. nurture debate is an important topic in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. The two central characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature that he creates; both, characters were raised differently. The nature and the nurture of their upbringing can be a cause of why they are, the way they are. Victor and his creature are subject to very different nurturing styles. Shelley also incorporates the representations of light and fire. This representation is key to the nature vs. nurture discussion in the novel.
Romanticism deals a lot with elements and how they affect human beings. In the very beginning of the story, Captain Walton finds Victor nearly dead after his ship is stuck in a sea of ice, where he says, "...and we beheld, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice, which seemed to have no end." (12). Ice symbolizes death and pain or illness in Romantic novels. This shows there is no coincidence in Victor's state of being and the environment they are in at the time. This is also one of those subtle nods towards former works Shelley had read. For anyone who has read "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (another Romantic work), his ship
Dr. Frankenstein, as well, escapes to a place of natural beauty to clear his mind and ease his worries when he visits Chamonix. Shelly conveys the contrast between altered and unaltered nature even more starkly by vividly describing these locations and displaying the inherent beauty that nature exhibits and therefore should not be tinkered with. While history often views the story of Frankenstein as little more than a horror story about a monster, it is obviously much more. It is a tale that explores the darker side of mankind, loneliness, guilt, sorrow and above all the dangers of manipulating nature. The bounties that humanity has reaped through the works of science have indeed been great, but the consequences of some such discoveries can be far greater.
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.
Victor Frankenstein and his creation are alike in several ways, one of them being their appreciation of nature. Victor embraces the nature for the quick moment that he escapes the creature as it “filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy” (Shelley 84). Vict...
With the advancement of technology and science, we are now able to genetically modify animals. Mary Shelley found a way to make science an epitome, and confirms what could happen if science is taken too far. In conclusion, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is considered to be a historical novel, based on scientific advancements. In this novel Shelley depicts her own definition of human nature, by showing the creature and the ways that humans react to him. The novel also showed the differences between morality and science.
... may result in the imbalance of that which sustains us and our subsequent destruction. While Victor can control nature and bend it to his will in unnatural ways, once confronted with the natural elements, none of his science and ingenuity can save him. Throughout the novel Victor goes to nature for solace, expecting nothing but return, and expects the same throughout the novel, right to his own demise. This lesson is not only applicable to when Frankenstein was written, at an explosively progressive period during the Industrial Revolution, but also to all generations and their relationship with human progression and nature preservation.
Nature is a key element in romanticism as the early romantics stressed the divine beauty they saw in nature. Mary Shelley uses the elements of nature to further the emotions of her characters and create a safe place for them to think. She also goes into the aspects of science and nature, "[Scientists] penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding-places” (Shelley 33). In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley creates a novel based around science overreaching to boundaries. Many scientific experiments of the early 1800s make an excellent base in history for Frankenstein. Trials such as biomedical trials that began during along with the continuing studies into human anatomy and the natural world. Weather is an important element of nature which is commonly used to reflect and supplement human emotions. After William’s death, whilst Victor is returning to Geneva to talk to his father “the heavens were clouded, and [soon] the rain was coming slowly in large drops” (Shelley 62). Therefore, the storm reflects Victor’s mournful attitude and as the storm p...
Frankenstein has been interested in natural science since childhood and has described himself to “always have been imbued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature”(Shelley 25), which foreshadows his future aspiration to create life, and