“Compare the ways in which the writers of your two chosen texts attempts to make their story believable”
In “The Handmaids Tale” Margaret Atwood tends to make her story believable by challenging realistic issues which persist in our society such as the divide between man and women as well as the disunity between social classes. Margaret Atwood also makes her story believable through the theme of dystopia, as people know that the world is not always going to be as it is, it is bound to change so in this way she intrigues many young readers with the interest of what their futures may look like, which makes her story highly believable. In “Frankenstein” Mary Shelley makes her story believable through the use of science vs nature, as her audience
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knows that there is a dramatic change with science becoming significantly more dominating, this makes her story more believable as she is challenging contemporary social affairs. Both writers use very similar techniques to make their story believable such as using relating to contemporary issues of the time. In Frankenstein, Mary shelley makes her story believable through her effective use of a epistolary novel at the beginning of the novel. The collection of 6 letters from Captain Walton help Mary Shelley to make her story believable as it allows for her audience to get various perspectives of the novel this is also emphasized through her use of a 3 frame narrative, were Walton, Frankenstein and the Monster are narrators, as the novel Is written in a 1st person narrative it allows for us the readers to develop a personal connection with the characters making her story significantly more believable. Alternatively, Margaret Atwood does not use an epistolary novel method but she used a very unusual structure for her novel, each chapter is separated by a chapter of “night” which makes her novel believable as it mimics the structure of a typical person’s day, which also allows for her to connect with her readers as we can relate to the structure of her novel. Therefore, both writers use different structural techniques to allow us to relate to the novel which makes their stories significantly more believable as they seem to be more realistic. In addition to this, Mary Shelley explores the theme of knowledge in Frankenstein in many ways; firstly, she uses a frame narrative to show different people’s views of, and reactions to, the same information and to combine lots of different writing style into one piece. This allows for us to get a different perspective of how the different characters are feeling, we get a different perspective, for example at the very start of the novel we believe that the monster is the bad guy and he Is isolated from the other characters because he is different, because he was created through science, however towards the end of the story we get the narrative of the creation and as readers we start to believe that the creator- Frankenstein- is the one who is the bad person in the novel as he completely isolated him and left him alone in the world which begins to become his explanation to why he is the way he is, he ends up killing Justine and other members because from when he was “born” in chapter 5, he was not shown any love, and because he was created through science and during the time of the novel there was an ongoing industrial revolution and the people were being introduced to science therefore this helps for Mary Shelley to make her novel more believable as she is referring to the contemporary issues of the time, the use of the frame narrative also makes Shelley’s novel more believable as we get a connection with the novel, the use of a frame narrative also allows for the novel to run more fluidly and puts everything to place which makes her story more believable because the story is consistent and is well structured. Mary Shelley not only wanted to inform her readers about the social and economic changes of the 19th century and how it affected people, but also how science had a huge impact on society therefore this makes her novel believable as she is telling a real life story. Similarly, to how Mary Shelley uses contemporary issues to make Frankenstein believable, Margaret Atwood too uses contemporary issues in her novel of which two mention the impacts science has on society. In both the novel science shows to have a negative impact, in “The Handmaids Tale” the decreasing birth rates is blamed by science due to the pollution which affects fertility, and in “Frankenstein” science deteriorates society itself there is a general theme of death and darkness, and this is emphasized through pathetic fallacy as the negativity of science are mirrored in the dark and stormy weather. In both novels the writers focus of the divide between men and women in the novel and they use biblical references to make their novels more believable.
In “the handmaids tale” Margaret Atwood shows how there is a very strong divide in society when it comes to the roles of men and women, women have no identities they are possessions of their husbands, and are viewed as walking wombs, and within this divide between men and women there is a further divide in social class especially when it comes to women, during the birth scene the wives get provided with a buffet and the handmaids have a glass of milk, the handmaids have a role of providing a couple of a higher hierarchy with a child/children if she does not accomplish her role then she will be viewed as “unwomen” by the other women . in the novel there are a lot of biblical references, and during the ceremony there is an obvious play of words from the bible reference as Gilead wants for people to follow what they think is right, they needed a way to support their actions, just like Margaret Atwood is using biblical references to make her novel more believable as we can link what we are reading to the knowledge that we already have. Similarly, Mary Shelley also uses biblical references in her novel, an example would be of how the monster associates himself to Adam and is asking for an “eve”. This helps to make her story more believable as , as human beings we live to find our other half, we live to be loved and have someone to care for us just like the monster who is currently lonely, this links to Mary Shelley’s target audience of young people of which most have not found their significant other and are at a stage of looking for someone just like the monster, and most people as young adults go through a stage where they too feel isolated from everything and everyone and feel different. Alternatively, there are also people who are like Frankenstein, adventurous and looking to do something that no one has done
before like he created a monster through science and the use of electricity. This makes Mary Shelley’s novel significantly more believable as it allows for her target audience to specifically link to a character, In conclusion, both novels use similar techniques but in different ways in attempt to make their novels more believable, they both use religion and biblical references to link their stories with the past and the future which is the way we generally think, we think about the future but the past always haunts us, in “the handmaids tale “ Margaret Atwood uses the theme of dystopia to portray the future for women to make them want to appreciate what freedoms and rights they now have but don’t realize, they take advantage and want more but don’t realize that they have a lot more than other women had 100 years ago and Mary shelley in general is making an assumption of what could happen in the future if science takes over our society , people will be able to create creatures without the natural process of birth she too wants her readers to realize that we need to appreciate religion and not try to change our world as it could have a unpredictable effect. Both of the novels however have different techniques when it comes to the structure of their novels, whilst in Frankenstein has a frame narrative and 3 different narrators, “the handmaid’s tale” only has one main narrator which also makes her novel believable as if we got a perspective of someone else telling offred’s story we could have questioned it and it could have been less realistic and less believable.
Knowledge can be the key to success and can lead people to happier life. However, there are some instances that you can not gain any more knowledge because of how it would change your whole life. The drive of wanting more and more knowledge is best portrayed through two well -known books. In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, and in Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon, both the creature and Charlie are ostracized by society because they are different from everyone else but this distinction gave way for distinct fallouts because of their quest for knowledge beyond their reach to achieve happiness.
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, a very gory story, can also be seen a romantic piece within having characteristics, such as celebration of the individual, importance of imagination, strong emotions, and an awe of nature. Within the piece there is many references to how one comments on the accomplishments and achievements of another or themselves, also known as the celebration of an individual. An example of how Frankenstein uses the celebrations of individual is when Frankenstein, himself, talks about his achievements of how fast his experiments turned out. He talks about his success, by staying, “ As I applied so closely, it may be easily conceived that my progress was rapid ” (chapter four). By saying, “applied” it shows that he is saying
In the stories Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, there are characters that have similarities, and also share some differences. In the book Frankenstein, the character I chose is the monster, and the character I chose from the book A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Oberon. I chose these individuals because they are both out for revenge, they both are cruel, but they also differ. Their differences are that Oberon has a wife, but the monster does not. The monster was created by Victor Frankenstein, but Oberon was born.
Intro: In the play “the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” and the story “the handmaids tale” the characters Gertrude and Serena joy share similar characteristics. Gertrude, The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet deeply, but she is a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status more urgently than moral truth and Serena Joy: The Commander’s wife who worked in pre-Gilead days as a gospel singer then an anti-feminist activist. In Gilead, she sits at the top of the female social ladder and yet, she lives an unhappy life
Mary Wollstonecraft, mother of Mary Shelley and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, held the firm belief that women were equal to men. As such, it is hard to imagine that the daughter of a prominent women’s right advocate would only portray passive and disposable women in her novel, Frankenstein. Despite this, the story only includes women such as Justine Moritz and Elizabeth Lavenza, “each of whom relies upon male intervention and agency to save them” (Cadwell). While it can be argued that these women were used to show the flaws of misogyny, on the surface they each provide nothing more than character development for the male leads or a means by which to further the plot.
James Whale's Frankenstein is a VERY loose adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel. The spirit of the film is preserved in its most basic sense, but the vast majority of the story has been entirely left out, which is unfortunate. The monster, for example, who possesses tremendous intellect in the novel and who goes on an epic quest seeking acceptance into the world in which he was created, has been reduced to little more than a lumbering klutz whose communication is limited to unearthly shrieks and grunts. Boris Karloff was understandably branded with the performance after the film was released, because it was undeniably a spectacular performance, but the monster's character was severely diminished from the novel.
Therefore it’s hard to believe that Shelley, a daughter of one of the leading feminists of the day was responsible for presenting women as the submissive role to their male counterparts. How ironic it is that that she was not subservience to her male counterparts in her own life, because although of her father’s disapproval of her partner Percy Shelley, who was already married and to his pregnant wife. She fled to France with him, and disowned herself from her family.
Many consider Shelley as an early feminist. Certainly her mother’s views on the issue cannot be doubted. In her book “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” Mary Wollstonecraft criticizes society’s treatment of women. Similarly in Frankenstein Shelly, more than simply telling a story, challenges a dominant patriarchal value system. In the novel the women are constructed as victims of male egotism and selfishness. Caroline Beaufort, Victor Frankenstein’s mother, lived in ‘poverty’ due to her father’s ‘abominable pride’ that refused to accept help or charity. Safie, daughter of the Turkish merchant is almost kept from the one she loves by her father’s ‘treachery’. Thus we can see that Shelly presents us with a s...
Frankenstein “supports a patriarchal denial of the value of women and of female sexuality” (Mellor, 356). Mellor’s point is significant here because a woman was devalued if she was not able to produce children or if she showed signs of independence. Mary Shelley’s own mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, defied gender roles and strongly advocated for the freedoms of women. This influence shines through Shelley’s novel as the deaths of the women
As time goes on, many things tend to change, and then they begin to inherit completely different images. Over the years, the character, created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s famous novel, has changed dramatically. The monster, regularly called “Frankenstein,” has been featured in numerous films, such as Frankenweenie and Edward Scissorhands. Although, the characters in today’s pop culture and the monster in the well-known 1800’s novel have similarities, they are actually very different. The many similarities and differences range from the character’s physical traits and psychological traits, the character’s persona, and the character’s place in the Gothic style.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, social turmoil after a staged terrorist attack has led to a totalitarian Christian regime. In this dystopian future, the roles of men and women are much different than in today’s society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are unequal because they have no choice about their bodies, their dress, or their relationships.
Within Frankenstein, the level at which a female is portrayed is quite low. Like we have heard in class, women were not necessarily respected as much as men were when the novel was written. Published in 1818 by Mary Shelley, her story tells of the adventure of young Victor Frankenstein and the creation of his creature. Though deep within this narration of Frankenstein’s life, there seems to be an underlying theme seeping through Shelley’s writing. Shelley seems to venture into the idea of feminism and grotesquely show how men are treated much better than women. Her novel includes various concrete examples to support this hypothesis.
As The Handmaid’s Tale is considered an allegory of the social injustice women face against traditional expectations of their role in society, the symbolism of the Handmaids and other women as a whole for repressed feminine liberty and sexuality allows Atwood to connect her work to the theme between gender and expectations in her society. As Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead, females are stripped of their previous identity and are defined as a tool of reproduction for the men who is assigned them. At its core, these females are forced against their will to be mere tools, experiencing unwanted sex at least once a month, which Gilead names “The Ceremony”, hiding its true nature as a form of rape. Offred
The women in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, first published in 1818, are indirectly represented and are completely passive. They are only seen through the eyes of Shelley’s three male narrators; Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster. They are described in very little detail, which makes them a passive presence and ultimately reduces their importance and direct impact to the readers. According to Lucy Morrison, “Frankenstein depicts women firmly entrenched in the domestic sphere, their focus conventionally invested in children and household, while men are more active, more powerful, and encouraged to study and explore the world” (Morrison in Fisher, 2003: 112). As a result, the women in Frankenstein serve as tools to draw out the
The epigraph in The Handmaid’s Tale amplifies the importance of fertility in Gilead. The quotation at the beginning of the book ‘‘And when Rachel saw the she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, Give me children or else I die...And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees,that I may also have children by her.’’ makes it seem that Gilead wants to go back to traditional values, thus manipulates its citizens that their ideology is correct since it corresponds with what the Bible says. Consequently, this state is telling its citizens that a woman’s worthiness only depends if she is able to produce or not. In fact women who are barren, and are not of a high class are sent to the colonies. The handmaids’s only purpose is further amplified through the rights Gilead abolishes; they can not communicate with others, in fact Offred says, ‘How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it’ and are no longer able to go outside alone or without being spied...