Analysis Of ' Frankenstein ' By Mary Shelly

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells the tale of a man whose entire life turns to misery after creating what he calls a monster, a demon and a fiend. However, the real monster in this story is pride and the feeling of superiority. This is evident in the novel with Robert Walton’s view of himself and his expedition, Victor Frankenstein’s attitude towards himself in comparison with the creature, and mankind’s perception of the creature and their ignorance towards him.

Frankenstein, a novel first published in the year 1818, stands as the most talked about work of Mary Shelley’s literary career. She was just nineteen years old when she penned this novel, and throughout her lifetime she could not produce any other work that surpasses this novel in terms of creativity and vision. In this novel, Shelley found an outlet for her own intense sense of victimization, and her desperate struggle for love. Traumatized by her failed childbirth incidents, troubled childhood, and scandalous courtship, many of Shelley’s life experiences can be seen reflected in the novel. When discussing the character and development of the monster, Shelley launches an extensive discussion on the

"A Hermit is simply a person to whom society has failed to adjust itself." (Will Cuppy). In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we follow the life of Victor Frankenstein in 18th century Germany. Shelley displays a recurring theme of isolation and how it drives once good people to do terrible things. If civilization does not adjust itself to a creature of any kind they will be forced into isolation and ultimately self destruction.

Every work is a product of its time. Indeed, we see that in Frankenstein, like in the world which produced its author, race, or the outward appearances on which that construct is based, determines much of the treatment received by those at all levels of its hierarchy. Within the work, Mary Shelley, its author, not only presents a racialized view of its characters, but further establishes and enforces the racial hierarchy present and known to her in her own world. For the few non-European characters, their appearance, and thus their standing in its related hierarchy, defines their entrances into the narrative. For the Creature, this occurs on the ices of the Artic, when, “atop a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile;” Walton and his men perceived, “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.” (Shelley 13) Shelley clarifies, even this early in her novel, the race of its principal Other as soon after the intrepid adventurers rescue its namesake, Victor Frankenstein, who, Shelley clarifies, “was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but an European.” (Shelley 14) Later, closer examination of the Creature reveals a visage and figure of near unimaginable disfigurement, with a “shrivelled complexion,” and yellow skin which “scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath.” (Shelley 35) This could be contrasted directly

Mary Shelley’s story of internal turmoil, the cruelty of altering the laws of nature, and the consequences of redefining the laws of nature is a harrowing one, known widely by many audiences, yet it is never the nature of the characters that is discussed, only the outcome. Shelley’s deliberate use of different character foils portrays the deeper connections and themes in her 1818 novel, Frankenstein. The creation and presence of Frankenstein’s monster directly foils the character of Victor Frankenstein himself, illustrating overarching themes of self inflicted isolation and internal conflict, exposing the dangers and consequences of complete and total narcissism, and revealing a truth many still refuse to accept: we, as humans, are capable

Alienation is a product of society’s inherently discriminatory bias, catalyzed by our fear of the unknown in the realm of interpersonal conduct. Mary Shelley, in her novel, Frankenstein, dissects society’s unmerited demonization of individuals who defy—voluntarily or involuntarily—conventional norms. Furthermore, through her detailed parallel development of Frankenstein and his monster, Shelley personifies the tendency to alienate on the basis of physical deformity, thereby illustrating the role of the visual in the obfuscation of morality.

Shelley addresses romantic conventions in Victor to convey his loss of identity. Victor is impatient and restless when constructing the creation, so much, that he does not think about it’s future repercussions. One of the great paradoxes that Shelley’s novel depicts is giving the monster more human attributes than to it’s creator [p. 6 - Interpretations]. This is true as the monster seeks an emotional bond, but Victor is terrified of it’s existence. The monster later reveals, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurred at and kicked and trampled on [Shelley, p. 224].” Victor’s lack of compassion is rooted from the inability to cope with his reality. He distances himself from others and is induced with fainting spells [Shelley, p. 59]. From this, the nameless creature exemplifies Victor’s attempt to abandon his creation to escape his responsibilities. His creation is described as, ‘wretched devil’ and ‘abhorred monster,’ eliciting that the unobtainable, pitied identity [Shelley, p. 102]. The act of not naming the creature reveals Victor as hateful, and unnaturally disconnected to his own created victim.

What differentiates Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein from the majority of horror novels are the very real and timeless themes it explores.  The overriding theme of the novel - scientific investigation without consideration of morality and responsibility is still an important topic in today’s world.  “Perhaps the reality of cloning and genetic engineering makes this theme more relevant today than when Frankenstein was first published”(Patterson). This theme, along with the more subtle themes of revenge, the inability to accept those who are different, and the inability to control one's destiny are all themes which separate Frankenstein from other novels in the genre.

In the novel, “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein demonstrates unethical behaviour many times during the major moments in the book. Frankenstein‘s poor decisions include leaving loved ones to pursue education and making a creature, his method of dealing with the creature, and his method of dealing with the deaths of his friends and family. Victor Frankenstein’s moral and ethical misjudgements spark the tragedies in the novel.

The name of Mary W. Shelley somehow hidden behind the fame of her best known work, Frankenstein. The story of Frankenstein has past through the years without being forgotten, while the name of  Mary Shelley is unknown to the general public. Following the plot of her own story, Mary Shelley is, somehow, the "victim" of her creation. Frankenstein can be seen as the story of a terrible monster who threatens society. It is the purpose of this essay to illustrate that it is actually society that has made a monster of Frankenstein.  

In Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, the monster which is created by Victor Frankenstein acts as a mirror to reflect and bring out Victor’s hidden thoughts. In a particular study called Frankenstein – A Critical Study from a Freudian Perspective, it argues that Victor on the surface seems to be a “healthy man” (Johnson 1). In fact, he unconsciously has many dangerous thoughts, and the creation of the monster brings out those thoughts and finally leads to his failure (Johnson 2). In specific, present paper will analysis Victor’s characters by examining his intention and decisions toward the monster he creates, and the paper is intended

Mary Shelley’s novel discussed extreme measures and actions that are relevant today. The issues that Victor and the book’s other characters deal with symbolize many of the situations we as humans go through in real life. Consequences and persistence are themes in Frankenstein that can be connected to problems of our nature. Frankenstein’s determination to create new life through the manipulation of science is what resulted in the monster’s rising. Today, people are so driven to act upon things such as fame, success, or power that they will do anything to achieve their goal. Sometimes people only see their goal and don’t keep in mind the drawbacks that may occur if they see nothing else.

I thought that ‘Frankenstein’ was really interesting and that if I had the chance I would read it my whole life and continue to read it and watch the movie my whole life. Not only would I read it with my cousins and my aunt and uncle I would read it with my brothers and parents. I thought it would be a great read and would be an interesting thing to be reading. I also thought that it would be a history type of book. Yes, it did live up to my expectations because it was an interesting read and it was entertaining. No, because it was not part history like I thought it was going to be. I would recommend it to all of my friends because it was a really entertaining book that I think that they would like it so yes I would recommend it to some

Intertextuality is a literary technique that weaves together and creates a relationship between two texts, enriching the reader of the primary text with a look into history, and the ability to further interpret what they are reading. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online) “intertext” is defined as “A text considered in the light of its relation to other texts;” (“intertext” def. 1), meaning that intertext is when a text is better understood by having knowledge of the text that it alludes to. In Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell uses intertextuality to further demonstrate key concepts present in the text by alluding to works of other famous authors, well known biblical passages, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. By doing this, she effectively shows how the relationship between the working class and the middle to upper class must be compassionate and understanding of their shared connection in order to be successful.

Frankenstein asserts this moral because he himself cannot succeed but has paid a heavy price for his ambition; however, his experience is not any evidence or proof for others’ failures. In this essay, I shall point out the two deadly vices that cause Frankenstein and his family’s final destruction— I shall do this by offering examples, illustrating that we should criticize human fears and condemn our presumptions about others’ characters, which are the real “monsters” in this novel— without these two evil qualities, success of ambitions may become possible. In the end, I shall also form a comparison between