Physical Appearance In Frankenstein

Some people may believe that if you are ugly, you will not be successful in society. In Frankenstein, Shelley reinstates the fact that the Creation does take steps to learn about the world around him and become a better “person.” Throughout the book, he observes the humans in order to learn words and collect wood for them, proving that he is not truly a monster. The quotation, “You, my creator, detestm and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us” (Shelley 113) analyzes this concept. By incorporating logos into Frankenstein, Shelley makes the point that we cannot control the way we look.

   Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, sheds light on the importance of appearance through the tale of an unwanted creation that is never given a chance by society. Ironically, the supposed beast was initially much more compassionate and thoughtful than his creator, until his romantic and innocent view of the human race was diminished by the cruelty and injustice he unduly bore. Not only does the creature suffer the prejudice of an appearance-based society, but other situations and characters in the novel force the reader to reflect their own hasty judgment. The semi- gothic novel includes several instances of societal prejudice that include the isolation and outcast of Frankenstein's creation,

It always find a way to categorize or place labels on things. Although, some of these placements are accurate, majority of them are misconceptions. People in this society are prejudice toward the creature and often place him in an evil category based on his appearance. They hold disdain for people unlike them, especially for a creature they never seen before. Society wrongly treat the creature on the assumption he is a monster. They torment him because of his forbidding look. The moment he was accused of murder he demeanor took a turn for the worst. “I had saved a human being from destruction, and as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” (16. 19-20). Neglecting the sunshine and truce, society has brought the monster out of the monster. This led to the mass murder of Victor Frankenstein’s brother and

While reading the novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly and the excerpt “Problems of Perception” by Anne K. Mellor, I came quick to notice that most of characters in the novel judge the creature by his outward appearance and never gave him a chance to show himself good. As we all know, the creature turns out to be a vicious killer of the ones that are dear to his creator. I believe the creature is this way because he is always criticized and rejected by everyone and has never been accepted in mainstream society.

Alienation is a product of society’s inherently discriminatory bias, catalyzed by our fear of the unknown in the realm of interpersonal conduct. Mary Shelley, in her novel, Frankenstein, dissects society’s unmerited demonization of individuals who defy—voluntarily or involuntarily—conventional norms. Furthermore, through her detailed parallel development of Frankenstein and his monster, Shelley personifies the tendency to alienate on the basis of physical deformity, thereby illustrating the role of the visual in the obfuscation of morality.

In the story the main speaker is Victor Frankenstein, who is the creator of the monster and describes the monster throughout the novel. The first descriptions given to the creature are based on the physical features of it; the first impression he has is “His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath… his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.” (Shelley 58) This shows that the monster does not look anything close to a human being, and these traits represent how his first impression defines his destiny through the story. On the other hand, when the monster tells his story, he expresses himself with “I have good dispositions; my life has been hitherto harmless and in some degree beneficial; but a fatal prejudice clouds their eyes, and where they ought to see a feeling and kind friend, they behold only a detestable monster.” (Shelley 159). He expresses how he faces prejudice from other people, and how they are afraid that the monster might hurt them. The consequence is that many people that

However, when Frankenstein realizes that he has just looked at the body as individual parts, for example the “pearly teeth”, “blue eyes”, “lustrous black hair”, but he had not looked at the body as a whole. When he did, he realized he had created an abomination, “Beautiful-Great God! His Yellow skin barely covered the work of arteries and muscles beneath!” When Frankenstein comes to this realization, he flees, “now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”. Frankenstein regarded the creature as ugly, evil, inhuman, unflattering to the eye, and vulgar, like a monster.

But he was only acting negatively because all of society was rejecting him, calling him names, screaming and running away from him. How would that make you feel? Because being treated like that can not make you feel better of yourself. Except when the monster meets the old blind man, that man is the only one who doesn't run from and scream from him. Which is good, because even if you are ugly on the outside, it's what matters on the inside.

In this essay I will examine how the monster’s looks and actions reflect the predominant cultural feelings that those who look different are bad, evil or incapable of normal feelings. That somehow because one may look different from the rest of us there must be something emotionally as well as physically wrong with them.

The topic of appearance and judgment is greatly exemplified in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as it becomes apparent that

When others saw him, they saw the outside apperance and not what the creature had to offer personality wise. "If the multitude of mankind knew of existence, they would do as you do and arm themseles for my destruction. (Shelley 69). " Here, the creature is explaining that his existence is not only unwanted but is hated. Which leads us back to the theme of prejudiceness, the creature feels excluded from society due to something so uncontrollable as his looks.

(Shelley). The fact that Frankenstein fled from his creation very shortly after it came to life, proves how he refused to accept his obligations and responsibilities after his creature was created. ?The [creature] is Frankenstein?s abandoned child? (Mellor Abandonment 357). It is unfair to bring something into the world, and then not teach it how to survive. Victor was intimidated by his hideous characteristics and felt threatened by the creature. He did not know his creation at all, so he had no right to judge him. This is an example of how various people and society place too much judgment on physical appearance. The creature had just come into the world for the first time, and the first thing he saw was his creator screaming for his life as a result of his appearance. This traumatized the creation, and caused him to seek revenge on Frankenstein. This novel shows how when people are prejudice against physical deformity or ugliness, it automatically characterizes that person as bad or monstrous (Halberstam 59). Victor was the one who gave him these characteristics; so in fact, he is to blame for the creature?s appearance being so monstrous.

The creature receives the banishment from society because of his appearance, creating the theme that people inherently hate those that are different. In the end, the reader will understand that humanity is innately cruel as their treatment of the monster shows. The people’s harsh actions directed at the creature stems from the idea that humans fear what they do not know. As a result, irrational decisions will be made out of pure instinct. The monster’s appearance is something that humanity has never seen before, which leads to an almost racial and harsh treatment of the being.

Beauty and prejudice have become commonplace in today’s society; the tiring cycle of living up to impossible beauty standards and facing the constant criticism of one’s image seems never-ending. However, this incessant obsessiveness over image has been around for thousands of years. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, a prominent struggle between beauty and hideousness occurs throughout the book. Shelley uses the motif of undesirable appearances and the constant praise of beauty throughout Frankenstein to establish the theme of prejudice.

Mary Shelley creates an allegory between the community’s reaction to the monster and human nature. The monster physically appeared different from humans; therefore he was rejected by society to the point where he was the target for objects being thrown at him and scared the villagers to the point where they fainted. The monster acknowledges his difference when he said “its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes” (104). The community’s reaction is an allegory to human nature to reject the one’s who are different. Ordinary people are raised to accept those who are like them and avoid the outcasts, therefore the monster is unable to find acceptance among the community.