Mary Shelly Impact On Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a unique piece for its time and a forerunner in the science fiction/horror genre, is an extremely well-articulated literary masterpiece. Over time, Shelly’s work has become a quite well known and influential tale. The story, although drawing elements from other works, has a still apparent uniqueness that has made it a model for many of its ilk.

The distinctiveness of the story comes from a combination of both the plot and style of writing Shelly uses, along with the way the story is narrated. The characters and their accounts lay out an interesting and thrilling journey, and Shelly’s words bring those accounts to life. Being a writer from the Romantic era, Shelly has a beautifully animated diction rich with imagery.

Each character has a distinct personality and purpose, and together they are what excite the intrigue and emotions of the reader. The story’s narrator is Robert Walton. He is an adventurous man who writes his account to his sister, Margaret Saville. He captained an expedition ship headed to the north pole, and rescued the main protagonist, Victor Frankenstein. Victor was a Swiss man who grew up in the town of Geneva. He was the son of Alphonse Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort, brother of Ernest and William Frankenstein, and husband to Elizabeth Lavenza. He pursued philosophy and science, and discovered the secret of reanimation. The story is based around Victor and the torment and sorrow that comes from life he created. Victors creation, the antagonist, was a hideously grotesque being, standing at eight feet tall, constructed from the pieces of other humans. He sought companionship and affection from humans, specifically with a family of peasants. He hid within their abode, spying on them and learning from them. Aware of his appearance, he hid until he could communicate with them. The family consisted of an old blind man named De Lacey, a young man named Felix, and his sister Agatha. Eventually attempting to communicate with them, he speaks to De Lacey

Although he tries to love and be loved, he is born into a world that hates him, and lives a life of sorrow and loneliness. His inner conflictions between deciding to be compassionate and giving into hatred leave him pleading with Victor, but to no avail. A few of the creature’s words stand out and exemplify the sorrow that consumes him. The creature, being very much influenced by Paradise Lost, says statements such as, “…I ought to be the thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.” (84), and “But it is even so; the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” (185), and, “Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.” (111). In the first statement, he references Adam, God’s first human creation, and Satan. He argues that, being his creation, he should be his beloved “Adam”, but instead, even without doing wrong, he is treated as a devil. In the second and third statements, he mentions how the devil is cast out and opposed by man and his creator, and how he still has companions in his isolation, yet the creature himself is absolutely and miserably alone. The use of these biblical comparisons dramatically emphasizes the grief the creature faces. In trying to explain himself,