What Are The Similarities Between 1984 And Frankenstein

Throughout the chosen literature, an overarching theme of love and relationship emerge. The components of good and bad love emerge as every story unfolds. George Orwell’s 1984 features a particularly toxic relationship between the main character, Winston, and his “wife”, Katharine, who are all suppressed by the government, that may or not even exist. In the arranged marriage, the only objective of the couple is to reproduce because it was “[their] duty to the Party”(132 Orwell). Contrasting this in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet and his father have a great relationship. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the main character Frankenstein and the other characters have rocky relationships, which creates the tone of sadness and madness. Then in Shakespeare’s

Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet have a terrific relationship, where there is understanding and trust, along with mutual respect.
The fundamental components of a strong relationship are not present between Winston and Katherine as loyalty is only shown towards Big Brother.

Katharine had no deep feelings for Winston and even flinched every time that Winston touched her. In contrast, Romeo and Juliet show true love throughout their forbidden love. Even when Winston thought that he was truly in love, Winston betrayed her in the end when confronted with his worst fear of rats, screaming “‘Do it to Julia!’” over and over again(Orwell 286). Contrary to this attitude, are the actions of Hamlet, blindly following his father’s orders to avenge his death and become a murderer himself. Though valiant, Hamlet’s actions result in his death, presenting the ultimate sacrifice. This blatant self sacrifice or rather sacrifice for another is a key part in a healthy relationship, as both sides cannot always have their way must learn how to compromise. Another important key to a good relationship is open

communication.
In Hamlet, Hamlet’s muse, Ophelia, overhears and misunderstands Hamlet and jumps to the wrong conclusions without consulting with Hamlet. This ineffective communication leads to the demise of many relationships. Hamlet and Ophelia’s collapse would have been prevented had Ophelia talked to Hamlet. Open communication could have also been used between he and his mother, as over the course of the play, he becomes increasingly hostile towards his mother and implicates that she had a role in his father’s death. From the beginning of the play, Hamlet states that he does not like deception from anyone and the fact that it comes from his mother is the most hurtful to him. Hamlet uses the words “seems” and “madam” while addressing his mother instead of the more informal thee(Shakespeare I, II). This blatant use of formally addressing his mother shows his icy demeanor. This demeanor is also prevalent when he speaks to Claudius, his new stepfather. In fact, when Claudius addresses Hamlet, Hamlet brazenly ignores him while continuing to speak to his mother. Analogous to this is the way that Victor Frankenstein neglected to contact or speak to his family for two years.
In Frankenstein, Victor, raised in the best of all possible situations with everything that he could possibly want, is dissatisfied with the world.

This woe is me attitude is deleterious to any real relationship that he could have had. Even when given Elizabeth’s hand in an arranged marriage, he manages to botch it up when he doesn’t make his monster a partner and Elizabeth ends up dead, along with his best friend. Victor becomes so obsessed with creating his monster that he neglects himself and his family. This neglect stems from his preoccupation of making his mark on the world and his destiny. Contrary to this, is the unnamed monster that Frankenstein created. The monster was abandoned from the moment he was created, never having any friends even though he was considerably nice. Never having parents to tell him what to do and what not to do, he had to learn by himself what was normal, even though he himself was anything but. He was a lonely fellow and his only consolation was that Dr. Frankenstein could make him a partner, so he was not so alone. When Dr. Frankenstein refused, the monster became obsessed with making Frankenstein as miserable as possible. Obsessions in relationships like with Frankenstein and the monster cause tension and need communication between both parties in order to be

resolved.
Likewise in Romeo and Juliet, there are obsessions as well, but they are with each other. Even before learning who Juliet even is, he is smitten with her and describes her as seeming to “hang upon the cheek of night”(Shakespeare I V). Without even knowing who she is, he admires her beauty. Although a relationship based solely on looks will not last for long, it is a great start because of the passion involved and from there, deeper connections will be made. Unlike with Rosaline, Romeo’s feelings are reciprocated by Juliet which is a condition of passionate love; Paris has feelings for Juliet, but she only has eyes for Romeo. Compounded by this is the want of rebellion by many adolescents and being from feuding families, the insurgency against their families and society was all too tempting. The question of whether the relationship would ultimately last is a question that remains unanswered, many a blog have been written on this subject, but all are speculation.