Essay on Creation and Alienation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Dr. Frankenstein, the creator of the hated creature has clearly been characterized as an unfit care taker. Why has the author of this book portray her main character this way? Her reasoning can be seen through the actions of the monster itself. Following the evidence provided by Shelley, the monster symbolizes a young child. Victor was meant to take on the actions of a parent to his “child”. Rather than being focused on the role of women during this era, the main focus seemed to link to importance of parenting. The importance of a parent-child relationship is seen through this book with our main characters Victor Frankenstein and his creation and Mary Shelley herself.

How can such disparate characters, that are even resentful towards one another, be so consubstantial? Though Victor and the monster do not share the same physical or social traits, they have many of the same personality traits. Victor and the monster are analogous with their desire for knowledge, relationships with nature, and with desires for family. The author uses complex diction, symbolism, and syntax to emphasize these similarities. Throughout the plot, these similarities become more apparent and as this occurs their relationship worsens.

Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, tells the story of Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit of creation and the monster he unintentionally brought to life. Horrified with his own creation, Victor escaped his responsibilities, leaving him to fend for himself. The story follows the monster’s futile attempts to assimilate into humanity, his hatred finally leading him to killing his creator’s family one by one until Frankenstein committed himself to vengeance. The theme of humanity was prevalent throughout the novel as the monster’s existence blurred the line between what was “human” and “inhuman.” The question of whether nurture, or nature, mattered more to one’s identity was explored throughout the story. In Frankenstein, nurture rather than

In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is portrayed as a grotesque abomination. However, as Hopkins states in Contending Forces, the cultural and geographical situations, or lack thereof, in which one matures in play a crucial role in the proper development of one’s mind and brain. The monster is simply a product of circumstance. The lack of social interactions alongside geographical isolation propelled the daemon to be alienated from society, ultimately resulting in a lack of morals and an underdeveloped psyche. By being a culmination of his surroundings and experiences it is revealed that the true monstrous entities are the factors that leave the daemon predisposed to fail in a modern society. Arguably, Victor created a being, while the circumstances that said being was placed in “created” a monster. Shelley purposefully terrorizes the monster with such intensity to provoke and justify the overarching theme in this novel which states that people should not be judged on their physical appearance.

The characterization of Victor’s creature, the monster, in the movie although somewhat dramatically different from Mary Shelley’s portrayal in the novel Frankenstein also had its similarities. Shelley’s views of the monster were to make him seem like a human being, while the movie made the monster out to be a hideous creation. The creature’s appearance and personality are two aspects that differ between the novel and movie while his intellectual and tender sides were portrayed the same.

Isolation in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, has several themes imbedded in the text. One major theme is of isolation. Many of the characters experience some time of isolation. The decisions and actions of some of these characters are the root cause of their isolation.

A predominant theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is that of child-rearing and/or parenting techniques.  Specifically, the novel presents a theory concerning the negative impact on children from the absence of nurturing and motherly love.  To demonstrate this theory, Shelly focuses on Victor Frankenstein’s experimenting with nature, which results in the life of his creature, or “child”.  Because Frankenstein is displeased with the appearance of his offspring, he abandons him and disclaims all of his “parental” responsibility.  Frankenstein’s poor “mothering” and abandonment of his “child” leads to the creation’s

Isolation as a Key Theme in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein A key theme of isolation is The Modern Prometheus. Prometheus was a son one of the last Titans. He was isolated like Frankenstein's creature, as Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to a man, one of the sons of God. Victor Frankenstein gave life to the monster and was isolated for his creation, as God only creates life.

    The creature's ambiguous humanity has long puzzled readers of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In this essay I will focus on how Frankenstein can be used to explore two philosophical topics, social contract theory, and gender roles, in light of ideas from Shelley's two philosophical parents, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft.

It is because of this that Shelley seems to suggest that Frankenstein overstepped his boundaries as a man by trying to create life. In the critique, “Female Gothic: The Monster’s Mother,” Ellen Moers points out that “Frankenstein’s exploration of the forbidden boundaries of human science does not cause the prolongation and extension of his own life, but the creation of a new one. He defies mortality not by living forever, but by giving birth” (220). Clearly Frankenstein realizes he has overstepped his boundaries as a man as those to whom he is closest are killed one by one as a result of the creation of the monster: first his brother William, then Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth, his father, and, ultimately, himself. This could be seen as analogous to men in society during the nineteenth century and before: overstepping their boundaries by creating a patriarchal society. Shelley seems to suggest that if men were to continue to take as much control away from women as they were back then, society would eventually become a “monster” that would destroy everyone.

Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley didn’t know when she began it that her “ghost story” would become an enduring part of classic literature. Frankenstein is an admirable work simply for its captivating plot. To the careful reader, however, Shelley’s tale offers complex insights into human experience. The reader identifies with all of the major characters and is left to heed or ignore the cautions that their situations provide. Shelley uses the second person narrative style, allusions both to Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and the legend of Prometheus, and the symbols of both light and fire to warn against the destructive thirst for forbidden knowledge.

Alienation and isolation have been apparent in society since the beginning of man. When an individual stumbles outside the realm of social normality they are viewed as degradation to society or a threat to normal society.(“Truthmove” 2012) In the gothic tale of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley frequently displays the many different forms of alienation. Victor Frankenstein and his creation were two of the characters in this book that went through alienation and isolation.

This section of “Frankenstein” shows us how Dr Frankenstein usurps the role of women by creating life or giving life to an inanimate object. It shows this with an abundance of natal diction and birthing imagery. “how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form” Here, Frankenstein is saying that, after all the time he has spent planning and creating the creature, he finds it ugly and pitiful. This links in to the myth that when all mothers give birth, they are at first disappointed with their baby, because it is so ugly and wrinkled, which is not what they expect.

The scene is set on a dreary night of November at one o'clock in the

Introduction: Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a book with a deep message that touches to the very heart. This message implies that the reader will not see the story only from the perspective of the narrator but also reveal numerous hidden opinions and form a personal interpretation of the novel. One of its primary statements is that no one is born a monster and a “monster” is created throughout socialization, and the process of socialization starts from the contact with the “creator”. It is Victor Frankenstein that could not take the responsibility for his creature and was not able to take care of his “child”. Pride and vanity were the qualities that directed Victor Frankenstein to his discovery of life: “...So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein-more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation”[p.47]. He could not cope with this discovery and simply ignored it. The tragedy of Victor Frankenstein and the tragedy of his creature is the same – it is the tragedy of loneliness and confronting the world, trying to find a place in it and deserve someone’s love. The creature would have never become a monster if it got the love it strived for. Victor Frankenstein would have never converted his creature into a monster if he knew how to love and take responsibility for the ones we bring to this world.