Frankenstein 's Better Half By Mary Shelley

This novel reflects Shelley’s own childhood, which consisted of her feeling obligated to rebel against her own father’s wishes and his choice for her marriage. Frankenstein is a way for Shelley to tell her own experiences with parental conflict and how she feels she was affected by her demanding father and the environment she grew up in, by comparing herself to Victor’s monster. Shelley analyzed her own characteristics, and the characteristics of her father, and placed them within Victor and the

Elizabeth frequently makes sacrifices for the Frankenstein family from early childhood all the way until her death. She assumes the role of womanhood at a young age after Caroline 's death. Rather than living out her days of childhood, she comes almost a mother figure to Victor and his younger brothers. While Victor is allowed to seize opportunities to travel and further his education, Elizabeth instead stays in Geneva (Shelley, 23).

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has undoubtedly withstood the test of time. Frankenstein’s direct association with fundamental Gothic literature is extremely renowned. However, the novel’s originality is derived from the foundational thematic values found within the relationship (or lack there of) between Victor Frankenstein and the monster he had created, in combination with a fascinatingly captivating plot. Understandably, Frankenstein can often be associated with a multitude of concepts; however, in this particular instance, the circumstances in the book seemed remarkably coherent with Shelley’s Romantic beliefs in preserving the natural world, and one’s natural existence. These values present themselves as metaphorical symbols that

Although humans have the tendency to set idealistic goals to better future generations, often the results can prove disastrous, even deadly. The tale of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, focuses on the outcome of one man 's idealistic motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of horrific creature. Victor Frankenstein was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor parenting of his progeny that lead to his creation 's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. In his idealism, Victor is blinded, and so the creation accuses him for delivering him into a world where he could not ever be entirely received by the people who inhabit it. Not only failing to foresee his faulty idealism, nearing the end of the tale, he embarks upon a final journey, consciously choosing to pursue his creation in vengeance, while admitting he himself that it may result in his own doom. The creation of an unloved being and the quest for the elixir of life holds Victor Frankenstein more accountable for his own death than the creation himself.

Many of Victor’s close family and friends experience the hatred of Victor’s monster, because they are the only ones that Victor feels any relationship with, but Victor’s relationship with them is unnatural. Victor also only has one friend, Henry Cherval and seems to have difficult time acquiring close relations with others. Victor marries Elizabeth, but his relationship with her seems to be one based more on his possession of her versus one of emotional capacity or love as Victor envisions, “[Elizabeth] was only to be mine" (Shelley 46). Victor sees Elizabeth as a prize or something to be owned, because “promised [himself] that from [his] detested toils it was the prospect of that day when [he] might claim Elizabeth,” that kept him going (Shelley 130). Victor does not perceive the aspects of a mutual relationship, for all of his relations are based off of his own selfishness.

Like Caroline and Safie, Elizabeth Lavenza’s father causes her unhappiness. However this is drastically confounded by the egotism of Victor Frankenstein who seeks to take on the vitally female role of the creator. Elizabeth is constructed by Shelley as an extremely positive character, whose ‘saintly soul’ shines ‘like a shrine dedicated lamp’ in the Frankenstein’s ‘happy home’. She, like her foster mother Caroline, keeps the family together ‘veiling her grief’ for the benefit of the children. However, when victor attempts to take on the role of a woman and ‘create life’ Shelley shows us that it is an unfortunate masculine characteristic to doom idealism with egotism and the pursuit of glory. Despite his noble goals of ‘unfolding the mysteries of creation’, to confer ‘inesteemable benefit’ on all mankind, Victor’s masculine egotism endures

What purpose does it serve to have multiple narrators telling a story? In Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, three main narrators tell the story about the creation of a monster and the events that follow. The job of narrator shifts between Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster that Victor creates. As each narrator shares his own recollection of the events that occurred, new facts are introduced to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Although Frankenstein uses multiple narrators to tell the story, it is important to look at the effects it might have on the stories accuracy. In this essay, I will closely examine the motives, differences, and similarities of each narrator to see what influences, if any, they have on the narrative.

Victor Frankenstein was close to his family from the beginning of the story. His parents gifted him Elizabeth, whom he grew close with, and would eventually wish to marry. Victor’s father was incredibly proud of him, and due to their closeness, Victor eventually wished to become a doctor, as his father was. Victor’s father pushed him towards medicine, sparking the initial interest in science for Victor. He grew up with an incredibly strong moral conscience because of his loving family. His family

In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the writer speaks of how Victor Frankenstein fell in love but it didn’t turn out so great for him. Mr. Frankenstein, since met Elizabeth was in love with her. Mary Shelley invokes,”…Elizabeth is mine-mine to protect, love, cherish.” It took Victor time to marry her because of his admonished betrayal to his family. One there wedding night she went into their room alone and she was killed.

Elizabeth Lavenza was an orphan who was taken in by the Frankenstein family. She is described by Victor as “fairer than pictured cherub” (Shelley, 29). She was the perfect sister and future wife to Victor. During the adoption of Elizabeth, Caroline announces to Victor, "I have a pretty present for my Victor -- tomorrow he shall have it" (30). Rather than treating Elizabeth as a sibling or playmate, Victor said that he thought she was “mine to protect, love, and cherish” (30), like Elizabeth was a possession of his.

Elizabeth’s fate is given to her at the young age of five when she is adopted by the Frankensteins and groomed into becoming Victor’s future spouse. His mother, Caroline, tells him the day before the adoption that Elizabeth is his “pretty present” (Shelley 43). At this moment, Victor believes that Elizabeth is his very own property, which takes away the freedom for Elizabeth to be herself and live her own life. As her life progresses, she remains the sole possession of Victor, as he prohibits her from doing things she loves, such as exploring, he views her as a reward waiting for him when he finishes his work.

A romantic life full of pain and abandonment could only be given the monstrous form of "Frankenstein." Mary Shelley 's life gave birth to an imaginary victim full of misery and loneliness and placed him as the protagonist of one of her most famous and greatest works of art. As most people would assume, he is not just a fictional character, but in fact a creature who desperately demonstrates Shelley 's tragedies and losses during the age of the Romantic Era. Since Mary Shelley 's birth there have been numerous losses in her life. One extremely dominating event in Shelley 's life was the death of her mother. Soon after, her father remarried and Shelley entered a battle as the victim of a fight for love. In her

From such a young age, Victor and Elizabeth have been told they are expected to marry one another to fulfill their mother’s dying wish. While Victor goes on a mad search at sea to find his creature, Elizabeth is expected to stay at home and wait for his return so they can partake in their union. Later on, as Victor begins to recover from his sickness, his father expresses to him, “‘I confess, my son, that I have always looked forward to your marriage with your cousin as the tie of our domestic comfort, and the stay of my declining years. You were attached to each other from your earliest infancy; you studied together, and appeared, in dispositions and tastes, entirely suited to one another’” (Shelley, 162). This lack of decision making in Victor’s own life led to his longing for power and how he believed that he would be able to control his creature with no objection.

After the death of her mother, Elizabeth is adopted by Frankenstein family. Caroline encounters Elizabeth when she is on a trip to Italy to visit an Old Italian friend. By this time, Victor is almost in his fifth year. Caroline adopts Elizabeth with the hope that one day Elizabeth and Victor would become husband and wife.