Paradise Lost Frankenstein Analysis

In the above quote, the creature is looking for his creator, or his "parents" .

Throughout Shelley’s work, the creature struggles to conform to society, alone from his first moments - abandoned by his creator - he is given no proper upbringing, and abhorred by society. He grows up in hiding and fear, his only interactions with others ending in violence. Hence, seems only natural that his desperate need to conform would lead to violence. The need to “belong” is an essential “human” desire, however this sense of belonging his completely dependent on one’s upbringing.

The author’s word choice is still vague, indicating the creature is not yet completely aware of himself or his environment, however the creature is now able to identify, to a certain degree, aspects of his environment and make connections between those aspects and his sensations. For instance, the creature is able to associate the “several changes of day and night” and “the orb of night [that] had greatly lessened”, or in other words the waning phases of the moon, with the passage of time. He even notes that he “began to distinguish [his] sensations from each other” after so much time had passed. He also began to identify the “clear stream that supplied [him] with drink” as a quencher of his thirst, and “the trees that shaded [him] with their foliage” as shelter or protection from the “oppressive” heat that drained his energy. Likewise, a baby begins to identify its mother’s breast as a quencher of its thirst, or begins to make connections between nighttime and sleeping. The creature is learning about his life and his world as time goes on, just like babies learn more about their lives and their worlds as they grow older. He was even able to identify that “a pleasant sound … proceeded from the throats of little winged

The creature began to converse freely with the blind father who addressed him with kindness. However, when his two children returned, the daughter fainted and the son "dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick" forcing the creature to "quit the cottage and escape unperceived to my hovel" (115). These acts of cruelty emphasize how often humanity stereotypes individuals. Just because a creature looks monstrous does not mean his intentions match his appearance. After this heartbreaking event, the monster decides to stop seeking love and instead to seek revenge against his creator and attempt to force Victor to create a companion for him. The creature attempts to explain his cruel ways when he exclaims, "There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my

The creature was completely alone. His own creator could not tolerate the sight of him and deserted him. He was left with nobody. The monster explained that he was a "poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing". He had to discover survival,

The creature feels abandoned by his creator, Victor, and proclaims to him: “Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel” (Shelley 87). Shelley refers to the creature as being abandoned by Victor just as God abandoned angel Lucifer after he committed terrible sin. The reference to Adam in the Bible is a reoccurring theme which reflects how Victor’s abandonment of the creature caused him to do harm. Victor brings his monster into the world as an innocent creature, or so the creature believes. However, society rejects the creature because of his appearance and he is corrupted to a life of misery, thus losing his innocence. Shelley uses this allusion to prove that as humans (or creatures of similar nature, in this case) experience the corruption that exists in the world, their innocence is lost.

The rejection the creature faces in the female role causes him to adopt the male role in his story, forcing him to attempt to sacrifice his feminine morals of emotionality, as social norms make it impossible for the creature to reconcile the male and female roles. The creature mistakenly kills William, and this leads the creature to believe that perhaps he is not like Adam (157). Rather, he begins to see himself as powerful — as if playing the role of Satan, whom he

When the creature finally decided to come into contact with the family, he waited until the “old man, at his own desire, was left alone in the cottage”. (p. 107) He knocked, and upon being admitted, made conversation with the old man. The creature explained that he was “an unfortunate and deserted creature”. (p. 108) When the heard the younger people returning, he told the old man to “save and protect” him. (p. 110) As soon as the younger people saw him, they were horrified. “Agatha fainted; and Safie, unable to attend her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward and …

The creature claims that the creation of a equal partner like himself would make him happy. The creature proclaims, "my virtues will necessarily arise when I live in communion with an equal. I shall feel the affections of a sensitive being, and become linked to the chain of existance and events, from which I am now excluded" (121). In this speech, the creature tries to provoke sympathy from Doctor Frankenstein. However, because of his previous acts of violence, his request is denied. This agonizes the creature: "Shall each man...find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have a mate and I be alone?" (140). The result of these constant rejections that the creature becomes violent and therefore cannot be blamed for his violence. The creature's desire to be given affection and sympathy can only reside in another being like himself since he has been denied by the world around him.

He decides to make the female companion for the creature. The creature says that he will stay and monitor

Finally, the creature tells us about one of the seminal experiences in any child's life - the destruction of the ideal of the just world. The creature has a childish idealism in his belief that he will be accepted by the cottagers: "I persuaded myself that when they should become acquainted with my admiration of their virtues they would compassionate me and overlook my personal deformity" (Shelley 125). But the cottagers are instead deeply afraid of the creature when they finally behold it. It is at this moment that the creature progresses out of childhood and into what we might see as a protracted adolescence. This adolescence is characterized by an awareness of the unfairness of the world, which shows a cognitive development past the idealism of the child. The creature is not yet adult, however, because it displays a certain egotism characteristic of those not yet fully mature.

When Victor has the opportunity to become an important figure in the Creature's life he fled; leaving his Creation alone, abandoned, and uniformed in a world where society scrutinizes every detail. The Creature was only a child when Victor abandoned him and left him to navigate a world that would not accept his physical flaws or lack of external perfection. To try and understand the world the Creature is obsessed with watching and observing the DeLacey family to acquire some basic social skills. According to Anne Mellor, the Creature also learned the “nature of heroism and public virtue and civic justice,” from observing the DeLacey family (Mellor 48). The Creature initially believes that the DeLacey family was a family of power and

As a result of Victor's neglect and rejection of the creature, society also denies the creature acceptance which creates a life of loneliness for it. The creature, after being rejected by Victor, is left helpless, wanders into a forest, and experiences what hunger and pain are for the first time in life. The creature longs for acceptance, especially from Victor, but is denied. For example, the creature first learns of its rejection from society when it enters the house of an old man that is cooking; it as at the sight of the creature that the man "shrieked loudly" (90) and runs out of his hut. From that moment the creature realizes it is deformed and unlike anyone else. While the creature is roaming through the woods one day it comes upon a cottage. The creature notes the inhabitants of the cottage, the DeLacey family, as being beautiful in comparison to its

When the Creature first started living near the De Lacey’s, he was innately good and humble. He believed that they were greater than him and could not understand why anybody would look as sad as the De Lacey’s seemed. All he wanted to do was make life better for them,