In chapter 5 of Frankenstein, Victor has just finished his creation, with seemingly great regret. To begin with, the use of pathetic fallacy allows the readers to gain definite expectations.
“It was on the dreary night of November...”
The fact that this particular scene is set during November, a wintery, cold, dark season, makes it obvious that Mary Shelley is trying to create a chilling atmosphere in order to get the readers to know that an abominable event is bound to happen, creating a Gothic foundation for the rest of the chapter. This way, it fuels the intensity of the climax, which is when the creature finally comes to life. Beforehand, Victor seems to acquire mixed-emotions about his achievement. He calls the creature an “accomplishment” which may suggest his realization that he has reached his objective (to create life from the dead). Nonetheless, he still knows that what he has done is wrong by calling his work “toils”, a word used to define troublesome events. Correspondingly, his description of the creature appears to alter from positive to negative, as if he is constantly overcome by the joy of succeeding his goal (Romanticism), blinding him from the horrific image.
“...his hair was lustrous black...teeth of pearly whiteness...”
On the contrary, he describes the creature having “dull yellow eyes”; the negative use of the word “dull” defines the fact that, to Victor, the creature is the exact picture of death, a person with no identity. There is also his use of sarcasm, as if he is sensing his changing feelings; he stated that:
“...his features are beautiful...”
But soon adding, “Beautiful—Great God!” this may be clarifying that he cannot believe what he just said or maybe even the fact that he just used God, a g...
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...an, therefore, saying that the creature is from the depths of hell, an evil spirit which Victor is trying to avoid. Thus, it is being gothic. Besides that, Mary’s decision on choosing a Coleridge poem may be due to the fact that he is known for creating poems related to purgatory. The definition of Purgatory is when a soul is made ready for heaven, which means that it is neither in heaven nor in hell. This shows the exact state of the creature, he is neither dead nor alive; he is in a limbo between two worlds. Generally, the use of language creates horror by using excessive amounts of vicious words and phrases to describe the monster as well as Victor, allowing the reader to acknowledge that fact that nothing good is going to result from this event, and also the fact that it is humankind that creates the “monster” within the creature (Victor’s abortional attitude).
In comparisons to the three other sources in my annotated bibliography, this source is the least useful as the details are not in much depth, but the details that are provided cover the whole premise of the gothic novel. As the author of this particular academic journal is Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, the journal is not biased towards any specific detail or character, giving a clear explanation of the novel. Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature provides a great explanation of the novel as a whole, and through the hours of research that is visible through their journal on Frankenstein, their information is very reliable. The goal of this particular source is to give the reader the foundation for the gothic novel Frankenstein, and to begin to explore that Victor’s horrible decisions are a major cause of tragic events in the book, and Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature does a great job of getting their goal across to the
The monster is seen as the complete opposite of Victor Frankenstein. This is due to the creature being alone, having to face the challenges of life while being at the mercy of the environment surrounding it. The creature’s young life is most influenced by nature. But the nature of the creature first starts before the creature is even created. Shelly’s uses complex and strong diction to provide the reader with a vivid picture of the inhuman way Victor created the monster. Victor saw the body parts needed to create the creature as “raw materials.” This unethical deed “had no effect upon [his] fancy, and the churchyard was to [him] merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life,” (Shelly 38) Victor states. The nature of the creature is that of the action needed for the creature to be created; a disgusting, dishonorable act. Victor resents his creation from the first moment it is produced. He describes his emotions toward the “demoniacal corpse to which [he] had so miserably given life to” (40). Shelly’s delivery in this description of the creature is utterly shocking and very complex. Her phrasing of a depressing tone creates a melancholy atmosphere that foreshadows coming events in the creature’s life. Also the words “demoniacal corpse” causes an aggressive and miserable representation of this creation to the reader. The only
I believe that Victor and the creature are both right about what they want and yet monstrous in their reactions. Victor is right about what he wants; one reason is because he is very committed to his work and in creating life for his creature. On the other hand he is evil because he abandoned the creature and left him on his own: "I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited" (Shelley 57). Shelley shows Victor's monstrous reaction to the creature in the way that he abandoned the creature to his own luck and he shows no responsibility for him.
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “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” (Shelley 35). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
Mary Shelley shows how both Victor and the monster create sympathy for one another. They are both victims, but they are also wrongdoers. They bring a great burden of suffering to each other lives, causes hatred to be created for the characters.
...he window and see his own creation killing his wife. As a result of all the deaths in Victor’s family, his father kills himself because he cannot stand all the grief that he has been struck with. His death is a result of the hideous monster that his own flesh and blood created, but he will never know that because Victor will not tell anyone.
At first, Victor believes himself superior to nature, and he builds a creature to prove his dominance. After gathering the information and materials needed to create life, Victor begins to fantasize about what he is about to do. He sees “life and death [as] ideal bounds, which [he] should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into [their] dark world. A new species would bless [him] as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]” (Shelley 55). Life and death are natural things, but Victor thinks that he can “break through” them and create life. He alone would be the person to “pour a torrent of light into their dark world,” as if he was God, ruling over all of the world. This shows Victor’s lack of respect towards life and how he intends to overcome the boundaries set by nature. Unlike the Romantic who revered and honored nature, Victor wants to use it for his own gain. He expects “happy” and “excellent natures” to obey him, and he doesn’t dwell upon the consequences of his actions. His outlook changes after the Creature comes to life. As Victor stares into the watery, lifeless eyes of his creature, he finally realizes his mistake in trying to disrupt the natural order of the world. Scared by the outcome of his actions, Victor attempts to run away and find comfort in nature. He travels to the Arve Ravine, where “the
When Victor died, the monster wept over his body. “‘But soon,’ he cried with sad and solemn enthusiasm, ‘I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct,’” (277). This quote from the monster exhibits the void he felt after Victor died. The realization that his creator is dead becomes too much to bear for him, so he proclaims that he will die. This is symbolic to Mary Shelley’s real life.
The creature is born into the world with a fully functional brain; however, he has no knowledge of anything. As the story progresses, the creature quickly learns the language, culture, and customs of the world he lives in. Since he is horribly ugly, he is rejected by the people of his society, this is the motivation behind his need and desire to learn about himself and the society he lives in. As the creature obtains more and more knowledge, he finally discovers his origins and birth from Victor. As a result, the Creature becomes a wretched monster, who now has no sympathy for anyone or anything. The Creature becomes fixed on the idea of needing a companion, and due to this obsession, he turns Victor’s life upside down. The Creature is able to torment Victor by killing his family members, then quickly vanishing so Victor can not tell who or what he saw. The Creature and Victor finally meet again and the Creature tells Victor of his stories and struggles. Throughout the novel, the Creature remains in the same state of being, he persistently harasses Victor and maintains a watchful eye on him. At the beginning of the novel, the Creature is an innocent being, made purely for science. In the end of the novel the reader sees what the Creature truly becomes when Victor has died and the Creature is having his last words, he says: “I felt the cheering warmth of summer, and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation”(pg. 166). This explains how the Creature is aware of how he has changed from start to beginning. The society that he lived in, causes him to shift from an innocent and loving creature, to a hopeless and wretched
...three different symbolic levels, as a Romantic novel, Archetype novel, or a Gothic novel. On the romantic level, Victor is the villain because he abandons the creature and leaves it to fend for itself. The creature is miserable and just wants a friend, but was abandoned by Victor making it almost impossible. On the Archetype level, Victor is the villain because he tries to play god. He wants to be worshipped like a god, by creating his own species, and creating life from plain matter. But in doing so, Victor disturbed the natural order of things. Finally, Victor is the villain on the Gothic level. There he is the villain, because he and the creature are part of a greater being, and Victor's subconscious wants William and Elizabeth dead, which is why the monster kills them. Despite the fact that Victor didn't physically murder anyone, he was the villain of the novel.
Victor had created the creature with the vision from his dreams of a strong, tall perfect being with no flaws. His years of study with the unnatural and science had come to this final conclusion and masterful idea that he was determined to finish. To his surprise, he had created the opposite, “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. 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.” (Shelley 35) Victor is saddened by what he thinks of as a failure. He leaves his own apartment to go sleep in his court yard outside following his creation. He begins to isolate himself from the creature because of his fear of the creature’s outward appearance. He loses all hope for the creature without even learning anything about him. The fact that Shelley begins to refer to the being that Victor created as a “creature” shows Victor’s ignorance and lack of acceptance. It is Victor’s prejudice that blinds him of the creature’s true potential due to the unwanted preconception that follows the creature as he finds meaning in
In drastic contrast to Victor, The creatures early beginning had no ounce of love as victor had as Victor gave none. Naomi Hethering describes Victors want to give affection to the creature “only fleetingly“ as his first responses to the creature were of disgust, even to the point of saying “Dante could not conceived”(43) such a horror. Appearance alone caused major alienation of a son to a father or creator, and when your father cannot even accept you where can you turn? Society's judgement on appearance continues to be illuminated as his sight alone causes an entire villages to immediately erupt in violence and causes old man to run with speed “of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable”(90). Mary Shelley addresses this conflict directly later as the creature sees his own reflection and is horrified. We know the creatures character character is good as seen with his interactions with the Blind DeLacy so the only thing to pin this drastic alienation is the creature's appearance. His appearance and happenings with others drove his contempt of the beautiful. This seen with his interactions with Justine Moritz, as he prematurely decided what her reaction would be to seeing him and resented her for it, saying that “she shall suffer...be hers the punishment”(128). Mary Shelley illustrates a picture of horror on so manys faces during the
...e all the evil things they have done. When he goes to Victor's coffin, the creature does the opposite of what a evil being would do. He grieves over Victor despite all the horrible things the creature has done to Victor. The creature even feels guilt over the innocent people he has killed and the torment he put his creator through. Despite Victor's actions leading the creature to commit evil deeds, the creature finds in himself to feel regret in the end.
Victor himself is the most biased out of the three narrators based on the pure hatred he holds for the monster. Constantly, he is describing the monster in vivid detail of its grotesque nature, drawing light to its indescribable obscene features. One can only question whether or not he is exaggerating the atrocity of the monster with his own extreme disdain for the creature. “He approached; his countenance bespoke bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity, while its une...
The Creature, after learning what it is to love, requests that Victor creates a companion for him. Victor rejects the creature’s proposition, as Victor now understands the consequences of animating what shouldn't be alive, the Creature wants nothing more than for Victor to suffer, to feel the pain that he, as a wretch, faces. The Creature does so by devoting his life to the destruction of Victor’s. In chapter 24, the Creature states “But it is even so; the fallen angel becomes the malignant devil.” The creature is viewed as entirely evil by the characters of the novel, despite the scenes in which his benevolent nature is shown. It is ironic that Victor and his creature are foils of one another, yet they suffer a similar fate: their desire to destroy one another led to their ultimate