Mary Shelley genially wrote Frankenstein. A book that has been re-told a countless number of times, a story that almost every child heard as they grew up, becoming almost an American tradition. Various aspects of the story even though fiction were reflections of Mary Shelley’s personal life. Shelley uses tragic and shocking events to develop her characters. The symbolism she uses is that of what happens in the world at all times, mirror images of our true society. Shelley’s writing was odd for her time period.
Mary Shelley was the daughter of famous authors. Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the first feminists which reflect somewhat in her female characters. Growing up in Europe it was only natural she base the book about somewhere she
…show more content…
“I am by no means indifferent to the manner in which whatever moral tendencies exist in the sentiments or characters it contains shall affect the reader…. ” (2). The Monster serves as a perfect foil to Frankenstein. Making one almost feel pity for Frankenstein, when in reality Frankenstein deserves nothing less than what he receives. Mary Shelley has perfectly executed the purpose of the Monster as a foil, as Miguel Cervantes uses Sancho Panza for Don Quixote De La Mancha. Their are many likes, as their are differences between Frankenstein and the Monster.
In creating the Monster Victor Frankenstein tried to portray the role of God, in which he inevitably wanted the Monster to think as he did. In the short time that the monster lived it's life resembled that of Victors in certain aspects. They both were isolated from society either by choice of forced. The Monster due to his lurid appearance was thrust into a hovel. Victor had a very unique outlook on the world, secluding himself so that he could create the Monster. Loneliness for both Victor and the Monster affected their lives greatly. Elizabeth was what gave meaning to Victor’s sad life, at any point of depression he just thought of her. The De Laceys were a family that in a parallel form were related to the Monster, both were outcasts of societies. The tragedy of both the De Laceys and the Monster came to be over good intentions. “God in pity made man beautiful
In a similar way, Victor’s monster was subjected to hate and ridicule from the society around him because he did not get the nurturing he deserved. He did not get education and was left to take care of himself. Wherever he went people were scared by him, and he is confused about his existence. When troubles invaded his life, he had no one to guide him and in the process of self-education he made some wrong decisions that proved fatal, both for him and the others. He yearned for counsel and a family to belong to. Since he did not get this from his creator, he tried to substitute him with the family of the De Laceys in the forest.
Mary Shelley alludes to literary text, intellectual history, and her personal life in order to deliver the theme with literary style, to develop the characters’ background, and to emphasize the universality of the story. Literary texts such as Paradise Lost, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and the myth of Prometheus induces a sense of how commonplace the story of Frankenstein could be. Intellectual history adds to that effect by emphasizing the story with logic. Similarities to her personal life such as her childhood and marriage exemplifies her point. The external references in the novel serve to represent the Gothic and Romantic Movements and to encourage the readers to relate the situation to their own lives.
The foil is a person or thing whose traits, by differences and similarities, help to emphasize and enhances the qualities and actions of the protagonist. Many characters, such as Elizabeth Lavenza, Henry Clerval, Robert Walton and Frankenstein’s creature, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus qualify as foils for Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist. However, Frankenstein’s creature is the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein. The creature’s similarities and differences with Frankenstein along with his actions and traits allow him to be a more effective foil than Walton, and contributes to the meaning and structure of the novel.
Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein, was a highly intellectual and creative woman, one of the elite writers in Britain. Her inspiration for Frankenstein was taken from several things.
The monster was always judged on the way he looked which made him the outcast because he was not normal in the human’s eyes. By using this in depth character interplay, Shelley further expands upon the monster archetype and allows the reader to question who truly is the monster inside of Frankenstein.
In any novel the author is free to create and shape their characters in whatever way they see fit. In Frankenstein, Shelley does an excellent job of shaping her characters, be it however minute their part in the story, so that the reader gets a clear picture of Shelley's creations. It seems that each character in Shelley's Frankenstein is created by Shelley to give the reader a certain impression of the character. By doing this Shelley creates the characters the way she wants us to see them. She tells us certain things about them and gives them certain traits so that they will fit into the story the way she wants them to. In particular I will examine the characters of the
Victor Frankenstein's upbringing in a perfect society ultimately led to the destruction of his life which coincided with the lives of those emotionally close to
Mary Shelley discusses the themes of birth and creation, appearance and the necessity of companionship, love and acceptance in her novel Frankenstein. The themes that are explored in Frankenstein are relevant to today’s modern world. Shelley challenges readers by endorsing and confronting attitudes and values in her text through the events, circumstances and outcomes that take place in the novel, thus causing the reader to reflect upon their own lives and in turn the society around them.
The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, was a piece written in 1817 during a time when women weren’t considered to be adequate authors. Shelley’s work is both intriguing as it is thought provoking. She brings to light the true nature of society and life altogether when tested. She factors in how the outside world can influence our choices in writing. George Levine from “The Ambiguous Heritage of Frankenstein” and Benjamin Truitt from “Frankenstein Critical Analysis and Literary Criticism” both share their opinions about Shelley’s piece of written work.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley is an author who wrote the novel of Frankenstein. Mary Shelley herself in her life, experienced many deaths of close friends and family. When she was first born her mother died, furthermore Mary had a baby, who died 12 days later and her husband Percy Shelly drowned. Maybe it was these experiences, which led Mary Shelley to write such a novel of great horror published in 1818. Frankenstein itself is called 'the modern Prometheus'.
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.
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. The book was first published in 1818, making it one-hundred ninety-eight years old as of 2016. The book is considered a classic novel, and Frankenstein’s monster is one of the most famous in the modern era. However, classic literature is not always an easy read. The novel has four written letters, which give a lot of exposition to the novel.
The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is a story about how important having a family is to some, but also judging someone based on their appearance. Victor Frankenstein starts the novel by describing his childhood with his loving and supportive family. Family is very important to him because he did not have many friends growing up. While Frankenstein is away at school he starts to become very depressed and you see his attitude towards his family and his life change. Being away at school, he creates a “monster” by using different pieces of corpses and that becomes the only thing that matters to him until he sees how hideous it is. He immediately hates his creation just because of how he looks. Frankenstein begins to abandon everyone and thing in his life because of his obsession with the idea of glory and science, causing the novel to go from Romanticism to Gothic. The “monster” finds a family living in a cottage, by watching all winter he learns how a family should love and accept others. By seeing this, Frankenstein’s creations understand what was taken from him, and will do whatever he has to do to have a family of his own.
There is a lot that one can say about, Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein. It has a lot of wonderful sensory depth, explaining what characters are seeing, touching, hearing and feeling. There are also a lot of reminders of the time in which she lived. She absolutely had amazing writing techniques, but some of the facts within her writing were a little offset such as stitching veins together. A very strong part of the book is her intense detailing about her character's surroundings. Overall she sets the tone of the book with darker imagery.
The scene is set on a dreary night of November at one o'clock in the