More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary analysis essay of frankenstein by mary shelley
Critical analysis of frankenstein monster
Critical analysis of frankenstein monster
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor seems to fall sick after science is brought up, or something traumatic happens. This is probably because he makes himself so paranoid and anxious it makes himself physically sick. After he created Frankenstein he said, “ I trembled excessively; I could not endure to think of, and far less allude to, the occurrences of the preceding night.” (45). The previous night he had created Frankenstein and was so terrified he ran away for the night, and when he came back it was gone. The old saying “worry yourself sick” definitely holds some truth. People will become so obsessed with something that they forget to eat, sleep, drink, or excrete substances, that they physically harm themselves. Victor has a past of
obsessing over things like Elizabeth, science, life and death, and creating life. He is continually sick for months at a time. Henry Clerval tells Elizabeth about this and when she sends him a letter she mentions this and the fact that William has died and he should come home. When he receives this letter, it seems as though he is almost instantly better. After he had recovered from the torture from the night of the creature, he would get sick whenever he saw something that reminded him of chemistry. “...the sight of a chemical instrument would renew all the agony of my nervous symptoms.” (52). Today we would call his nervous symptoms a panic attack, or an anxiety attack. In all likelihood he probably got sick whenever he saw a chemical instrument because it reminded him of the dreadful night all his dreams came true. “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.” (42). Victor put his body through obstacles by being so compulsive on creating life that when he went from hoping around the clock to being scared all the time, it shocked his systems and resulted in sickness.
I believe Frankenstein is a villain in this book. I believe he promotes the idea of evil which is symbolised through creating the creature. He is described as “a creature causing havoc”. The creature is an unwanted person. He has no belonging in this world. He was created, and because of this, he is an outcast because of Victor Frankenstein. The creature is the victim. He is lonely and rejected. Frankenstein is the cause of this. I believe it is wrong to play god. No man should try and create human beings. He has created a being that is driven to the extremes of loneliness in life. This is destroying innocent lives.
Through out the novel we are under the assumption that the demon in the novel is the man who is disfigured and hideous on the outside. While we view Victor Frankenstein as the handsome and caring victim, even though sometimes a monster cannot be seen but heard. Looks can be deceiving but actions are always true.
Mary Shelley is the original playwright of 'Frankenstein' and it has been adapted since then by Phillip Pullman. Mary wrote it in 1818 and it was first performed in 1988, at the Polka Children's theatre in Wimbledon. In the play, a doctor called Victor Frankenstein created life from an experiment, a monster, and although Frankenstein had intended the monster (who wasn't to be called 'the monster') to be a kind, caring and loving creature, the way the villagers treated him and turned away in disgust when they saw the monster, was the reason that the monster became evil.
Mary Shelley refers to her most famous work, “Frankenstein,” as her “hideous progeny” (Shelley, 169). Her creation—the novel—mirrors Victor’s since they are both considered “hideous.” Shelley’s terming of the novel reveals her insecurities about her creation, much like Victor about his. Shelley calls the novel hideous like a form of self-deprecation. She let this novel “loose” like Victor let his creature “loose” on society, unsure of how it would be perceived. Her insecurities lie in the fact that she is a female author. Female authors were criticized and considered inferior to their male counterparts. This also displays her insecurities about childbirth, due to the death of her own mother through childbirth and having experienced a miscarriage
Victor has just created the malicious monster and his initial reaction is: “I have worked hard for nearly two years, for the soul purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I have deprived myself of rest and health” (Shelley 51). Victor falls into a fever and it takes him many weeks to recover. The hours he spends working on his creature, and trying to attain his goal of creating life, has made him malnourished because he does not stop his quest for knowledge, even to eat! This causes the decay of his health, and makes him very ill.
Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that follow the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party. First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done. He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being. This is obviously something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks. All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous. The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family. In the play of Frankenstein, when Victor comes home and sets up his lab in the house, he is very paranoid about people coming in there and finding out what he is doing. At the end of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor says:
“Symptoms of these disorders may include hallucinations and delusions severe deviations of mood depression and mania lack of, or, inappropriateness of emotional response and severe impairment of judgment.” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia) “During her illness many arguments had been urged to persuade my mother to refrain from attending upon her.” (Shelley 29) A lot of feelings and emotions are currently running through his mind in this situation and it 's causing him to freak out. He is scared to lose her wife because he loves her a lot and it 's causing him to get scared and probably say and do things he does not mean to. Considering that Victor is going through his older ages in this story he tends to have thoughts that cause his brain to function in the wrong way. “Occurring in middle to old age, these disorders involve progressive, nonreversible brain damage. Organic brain damage may also result from toxic reactions to such substances as alcohol, PCP” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia) “I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death.” (Shelley 44) Victor was starting to go insane after see what the world has put him through and experiencing the things he has. He was beginning to hallucinate and claim that he saw Elizabeth even though she had
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.
Frankenstein 's Fever a Journey of Restoration the very nature of Dr. Frankenstein himself, as well as the broader symbolism of nature in restoring the natural order of the world. Although one may argue that sickness as motif is very utilitarian in its placement within the novel either serving to signal the oncoming death of a character, or act as a defense mechanism for Victor Frankenstein 's cognitive dissonance towards the creation of his monster. However the very deliberate placement of illness after events that go against the natural order such as Victor 's creation of the monster, or in foreshadowing the death of his family members. This proves that
The abnormal behavior of Victor Frankenstein simply could not be explained by anyone. He was obsessed with building his monster, no matter what the morality or the outcome of his actions were. Consequences wreaked havoc on the creator when the monster turned on him and took his anger out on Victor’s family. He was so focused on building his perfection that he overlooked some factors. After further research, it is concluded that Victor suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder during the creation of his monster, which resulted in a rigid following of the ethics and morals of science and technology.
Dr. Frankenstein, the so labeled decent, no-fault man, is actually irresponsible, stubborn, and extreme in his actions throughout the novel. From the very first encounter with Victor Frankenstein we get a hint if his insaneness when he asks R. Walton, "Do you share my madness?". That is the first thing that he says when he recovers from his illness. Right from the start we know that something is awry with Victor. Dr. Frankenstein's irresponsibility shows through many times in his feelings toward his creation. While he was in the process of shaping his creation, Frankenstein gets so caught up in his work and his yearning to be remembered for all time that he does not consider what will happen after life is breathed into his creation. He is so consumed by his work he does not sleep for days on end, go outside, eat meals, or write to his family. Frankenstein even admits that he could not control his obsession with his work, "For this I had deprived myself of rest and health". What sane person puts his work before his own health? After his cre...
The most prevalent theme in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is that of obsession. Throughout the novel there are constant reminders of the struggles that Victor Frankenstein and his monster have endured. Many of their problems are brought upon by themselves by an obsessive drive for knowledge, secrecy, fear, and ultimately revenge.
Monsters can come in various physical forms, but all monsters share the same evil mentality. A Monster is a being that harms and puts fear within people. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a prime example of how appearance does not determine whether a creature is a monster or not. In the story, Victor Frankenstein tries to change nature by creating a super human being. The being appears to be a monster. Victor becomes so obsessed with his creation and then rejects it. Victor is the real monster because of his desire for power, lack of respect for nature, and his stubbornness.
At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.
Within the book Frankenstein Victor realizes the negative consequences outweighed any positive fulfillments that he hoped to satisfy with creating life from death. Several bad consequences involves the pain and suffering experienced by the creature, William, Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth and Victor. The creature suffered from mental anguish due to not understanding his own existence and the alienation of his own creator. William, Justine, Clerval and Elizabeth all die violent deaths due to the creature. Victor ultimately bears the weight of his consequences and dies from illness that is brought on by his depression, grief, and sadness. In today’s medical field Doctor’s constantly consider whether or not a treatment will benefit the patient, unlike Victor’s