Diction In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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

Mary Shelley’s use of the elements in Frankenstein aid in developing different moods experienced throughout the novel. Habitually describing details of the existing weather, she is able to relate it to the emotions of her characters. Whether the conditions are malevolent or delightful, she never fails to help the reader recognize the indication of an emotion or incident that will soon occur in the story.

In the attached passage, Mary Shelley weaves numerous rhetorical devices and effectively utilizes different styles of syntax to enhance the explanation of how Frankenstein becomes interested in chemistry and decides to make his own accomplishment in science.

In this passage from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creature recounts his earliest memories in a conversation with his creator, Victor Frankenstein. The author uses obscure diction and infantile imagery to convey the impression of the creature as a baby just learning about life and the world.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has several literary devices- such as structure, imagery, and many intricate details. She perfectly places words and puts them in such a way that the passage has a dual tone. Shelley begins with establishing the monster’s nature as being peaceful, because he wanted to reason with Victor. Him wanting to reason shows the importance of his decision to meet with Victor and shows that even though he has been through a great deal, he is still respectable to others. The audience gets to see the creature’s humble nature and makes the audience feel sympathetic towards him. This creates a peaceful tone to the passage. The monster wants to be loved by “any being and if they showed benevolence to me, I would return them hundred an hundred fold” (Shelley 148). The creature’s begging makes it sound like Victor will answer his plea. Using a broad term like “being”, demonstrates the monster’s need to be loved, putting him in a position with the audience again feeling empathetic towards him. Eventually, Victor’s compassion begins to fluctuate. The desperation the creature has looks like the desperation a human might have. This only gives the readers another reason to relate to him which leads to the other tone, impossible. Victor’s unreasonableness heightens this shared discontent as not only has the build up of the creature’s wistful nature made him an utmost identifiable character, but our views are adjusted in such as way that Frankenstein is seen

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

“Nurture vs. Nature”, are some individuals destined to become evil? Or does the environment and experiences of the individual shape who they are? In Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” there is a character (the creature) that these questions apply to. Through her use of diction, changes in perspective, and imagery, she was able to make the creature seem more human than creature by making the reader sympathize with the creature.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the narrator, Dr. Frankenstein, enhances an atmosphere of horror through diction and imagery, which creates escalating a tone of darkness. Frankenstein had been working on this experiment for months, and on a late, fall night it finally presents itself. The narrator is extremely anxious, and images of a lack of light, his “candle… nearly burnt out,” promotes a tone of fear and disquietness. Frankenstein means to contrast the living and the dead by reviving a “lifeless thing,” but ends up locating the peak of dread.

Mary Shelley utilizes figurative language in this excerpt to describe the surroundings of Frankenstein on his journey home and set the tone of gloomy, because of his brother’s death. Shelley uses personification to express the pattern of the raindrops as “violence quickly increasing” as if the raindrops were a person becoming very violent. This figurative language device develops the tone by tying into the violent actions of whoever murdered William, Frankenstein’s brother. Shelley uses the figurative language device of simile to compare the weather of nature such as, “vivid flashes of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it appear like a vast sheet of fire”. Shelley begins the sentence with a cheerful tone then takes a

Listening to the monster’s story for the first time, it becomes evident to both the reader and Frankenstein that the monster initially lacked knowledge and experience with the world, however it adapted through trial-and-error and adjusting its actions based on newfound knowledge. This is especially proven when the monster was incapable of even being able to discern between its senses; it took him “a long time before [he] learned to distinguish between the operations of [his] various senses” (Shelley 70). Shelley shows that, despite having a fresh slate, the monster had a developed body and brain. After being abandoned by Victor, the monster had to get accustomed to bright and dark, cold and heat, and hunger. Just as a child would, the monster learned about the world from making mistakes. For example, when he “found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth [he] experienced from it,” and “thrust [his] hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain” (Shelley 71). Probably the biggest parallel between the monster and a child would be with learning how to communicate. While learning about the world, the monster found that humans fear it, and run away from it. As a result, the monster stayed away from humans and found refuge near a cottage. The monster tries to learn the language by listening to the group of cottagers converse. He “found that … people possessed a method of

List at least three examples of diction in the text that add to the overall tone. Explain how each word contributes to the emotional power of the piece, hospitality, the author uses this word to attempt to create a positive feeling in the story to show that they want hospitality inside the cyclopes home. Exquisite, the author uses this word to give a positive feeling in the story. . Savages, this word contributes to the emotional power of the piece, because it’s telling the reader what these people could be.

The character is bold and majestic demonstrated when he rejects his duties and responsibilities and goes to the country side where there is peace and nature which contradict widely with his bothered mind. It is clear that nature is significant in Frankenstein’s life. There is sympathy for the creature because there is great significance on the power of nature that people would not complicate life and there would be more sensations and empathy for each other. It is clear that a child’s innocence is corrupted by evil acts due to victimization at some point in their

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein a story that contains stories inside each other portrayed in letters. The diction Shelley used captured the feeling of abandonment and sorrow that the monster felt through his perspective and Victor was able to acknowledge the emotion as well. Victor also went through the feeling of sorrow because the very thing he created destroyed his whole family. Throughout the story, Shelley goes back and forth from writing from Victor point of view and the other characters point of view through the letters. The structure of this book is quite unique in the sense of communication through the characters in the novel. The diction used was complex and abstract. The diction allowed the audience to connect to the characters and

Throughout the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the creature is subjected to countless acts of violence and rejection. For a monster to develop, one must have been formerly exploited either by an individual or their society. The creature is not only a physical product of science, but his atrocious behavior is also an explicit result of Victor’s actions toward him. The creature was not born a monster, but slowly morphed into one as he experiences violence and rejection from his society.

Both Frankenstein and the monster use of parallel language to convey their unceasing curiosity and thirst for knowledge, which eventually lead to the self-damaging character apparent in society. One example illustrates, Frankenstein studying sciences at Ingolstadt, he becomes obsessed with learning how bodies live and die. With Frankenstein’s break from reality, he begins to warn Walton of his regrets due to his curiosity, Frankenstein confesses, “I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery. Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge” (Shelley 53). Frankenstein learns what comes with the abundance of knowledge, it leads to devastation and isolation. Frankenstein’s use