Prejudice And Discrimination In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

From his creation to the end of the story, the creature has always been judged based on his appearance. It wasn’t until he built up the courage to talk to the old man, De Lacey, that we truly get to see how kind, gentle, and caring the creature can be. Even the creature himself states that, “I had sagacity enough to discover that the unnatural hideousness of my person was the chief object of horror with those who had formerly beheld me” (Shelley, Ch. 15). The creature hopes that De

Most of these instances come from humanity. The De Lacey family rejects the creature before he has a chance to say a word to any but the blind father. Prior to that, the creature’s attempts – however barbaric –at finding shelter “grievously bruised” (Shelley 91) him “by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons” (Shelley 91) from the villagers who think themselves as superior and despise the creature at first sight. Even in the eyes of a child who has not yet conformed to society’s views, William Frankenstein still sees the creature as a monster and proudly yells ‘‘Hideous monster! Let me go. My papa is a Syndic… he will punish you” (Shelley 127). Mankind may help itself, but it will not help the “inferior” and the

   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,

this in such a way that the reader feels sorry for the monster, but we

Introduction: Frankenstein, a novel written by Mary Shelley, is one of the most popular representations of the romantic era. The romantic aspects of the book allow for a unique analysis of the human personality and its emotions and potentials. This includes many interpretations of a human personality based on one’s socioeconomic status. Using this perspective one can easily analyze the interclass and intraclass social power imbalances and interactions. It is also possible to survey the novel through the unbalanced justice provided to each class. Through various events and trials in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley shows that one’s lack of social power leads to vulnerability because it forces the person to have less of an advantage when compared to others with more power.

In declaring the “everlasting war against the species” Shelley confirms that the Creature does not correlate with humans because of the feared rejection of the differences him and other species. Shelley’s interpretation of human nature is one of complexity of social and personal interaction, and the look of impenetrable crime and awareness of a monstrosity viewed by its transgressors.

For centauries, women have been forced to live life in the outskirts of a male dominated society. During the 1800’s, the opportunities for women were extremely limited and Mary Shelly does an excellent job in portraying this in her gothic novel, Frankenstein. Furthermore, in this novel, Mary Shelly shows how society considers women to be possessions rather than independent human beings. In addition, the female characters rely heavily on men for support and survival, thus proving their inability to do it on their own. Lastly, the female characters in this novel are in many ways victimized by the male characters. In conclusion, in Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein, the female characters always fulfill the limited and archetypical roles that

Prejudice is explained and illustrated with examples deriving from culture and treatment of African Americans and how society perceives them to be. The definition of Prejudice is, “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason”(Dictionary.com) The majority of humans tend to judge individuals by appearance rather than personality. Prejudice and appearance are prevalent in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein as well as today’s culture which has consequences regarding race, age, religion, etc.

     Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein does indeed do a lot more than simply tell story, and in this case, horrify and frighten the reader. Through her careful and deliberate construction of characters as representations of certain dominant beliefs, Shelley supports a value system and way of life that challenges those that prevailed in the late eighteenth century during the ‘Age of Reason’. Thus the novel can be said to be challenging prevailant ideologies, of which the dominant society was constructed, and endorsing many of the alternative views and thoughts of the society. Shelley can be said to be influenced by her mothers early feminist views, her father’s

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has many main ideas, whether it's about injustice, feminism, parental responsibility, the danger of too much knowledge, the cost of revenge, the relationship between man and God, etc., they all serve a certain purpose. Out of all of those main ideas, the one that sticks out the most is injustice. Injustice comes from the Latin phrase that represents “not right”, and it is the practice of being unjust or unfair (Injustice - Dictionary Definition). Throughout the book, Mary Shelley wanted to show that injustice is caused due to the fear of what is different (“Shelley, Mary - Justice and Injustice”). Many characters in this story all have different characteristics, whether it is due to their look, personality, childhood, current situations, and more. A lot of the characteristics that differ from each other have led to many injustice situations. Even though injustice might not always be bad, many examples of unnecessary injustice are shown throughout “Frankenstein” due to undeserving punishment, violating the rights of others, and unfair treatment.

 "What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?" This question, posed by Captain Robert Walton on page 22 of Mary Shelley's immortal Frankenstein, lies susceptible to interpretation to mean the ambition of man in one sense, but in another, the collective persecution and prejudice inherent in mankind.

    The creature's ambiguous humanity has long puzzled readers of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In this essay I will focus on how Frankenstein can be used to explore two philosophical topics, social contract theory, and gender roles, in light of ideas from Shelley's two philosophical parents, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Shelly uses The Creatures ugliness as a tool to isolate him. Indeed he has all the physical parts of a human such as a beating heart and cognitive brain, but he is repulsive and appalling to behold. The people choose not to stop and question him, but place judgment and hate before him due his appearance. In reality his wants and needs are no different from our own, in accordance his thoughts and emotions are central to him, just as they are to every other feeling, cognitive individual. But the real difference is that they are all that he holds dear; because no one allows him belong to anything else.

The fight for domination amongst the sexes is a battle as old as civilization, where the ideas of gender hierarchies first began. These conflicts often manifest themselves unwittingly through literature, showing subtle signs of deeper tension that has ensued for centuries. The struggle between masculine and feminine becomes apparent through Frankenstein, a battle that results in the death of the potentially most powerful figure in the book. Frankenstein yields characters motivated by complicated thinking, specifically the title character, Victor Frankenstein. Victor is a brilliant 19th century Swiss scientist who succeeds in generating life with electricity, creating a creature that

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.