Recurring Motif # 1 : Passive Women

In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster commits a number of immoral acts out of rage. These actions are directly related to the monsters creation and upbringing. The burden of fault for the monsters actions rests on Victor Frankenstein’s shoulders alone.

The family housekeeper, Justine, is the main suspect when William is killed by strangulation. She is framed because William’s locket was found in her pocket. At Justine’s trial, she is utterly powerless. William’s family believes in her innocence, but the jury ultimately does not. Throughout her defense, she speaks between tears, “‘God knows…How entirely I am innocent’” (Shelley 65). Justine is powerless against the court of law. Although the evidence was planted on her, she has no way of proving her innocence.

The book Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, is a unique novel in that it switches between three different narrators throughout the story. When Robert Walton is narrating, the tone is meditative and the mood is enthralled; when Frankenstein narrates the tone is horrified and the mood is suspenseful, and when the Creature is narrating, the tone is reflective and the mood is sympathetic.

Ultimately, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is responsible for the creatures acts of destruction due to the certitude the creature came into existence in the mindset of a child or newborn. In the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley, the themes of monstrosity and isolation are apparent with the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his monster. Dr. Frankenstein fled at the sight of his horrific, figurative son, abandoned him and never taught him how to deal with actions and consequences as a parent should. Abandoned by the one person with any sort of emotional connection or relationship with, the monster cannot be held accountable for his actions as he lacked the intellectual capability. This holds Victor responsible for the creatures acts since he

In Mary Ann Shelly’s novel, “Frankenstein” young Victor Frankenstein a scientist from Geneva dives into the unthinkable of creating life by “Collecting bones from charnel houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame”(32). After realizing just how revolting his creation is, Victor abandons his creation only to have the monster murder victor’s family members one by one. Thus, a continuous debate surrounds who is to blame for the monster’s actions, is it the reckless scientist? Or the wicked monster who not only took the life of a child as a revenge statement but also Victor’s wife and father?

Female characters such as Justine, Elizabeth, and Agatha are used for the teaching or control of a man. Justine is a passive lady and does not think much about herself. When she is framed for murder she becomes very passive as if she does not care. She take full responsibility but she even says she full well knows she did not do any hasteful act she believes that she must accept this wrong oppression because society has told her that is what she must do. Elizabeth in Frankenstein was one of the helpers for Viktor and the whole entire Frankenstein family. Throughout the story she wants to see much of Viktor’s attention. This means she is basically waiting for the attention of a man, Viktor, which is not very uncommon during this time period. All though this may be common it lead to many other women feeling like they needed a man to do anything in their lives which made them passive. Agatha herself is a little girl that does not have much to offer but what she does offer is compassion to the monster. This shows that without her putting herself out there and doing something good for what other people may like or find important that she may have been a useless thing in

In the gothic novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley creates a story about a man named Victor Frankenstein who decides to recreate life without knowing the possible consequences it can have in the future. Throughout the novel the author incorporates a variety of literary elements to develop a clear view as to what the theme is. In Frankenstein, the writing depicts a theme of family and how being isolated from family or society can lead to despair and tragedies. To begin, the qualities of the characters presents them in a way that demonstrates the theme of this novel. For instance, in chapter twelve the creature states, “At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am,

The creation of Frankenstein’s monster was certainly the impetus for the tragedy that would ensue. If not for this, the lives of William, Justine, Henry, and Elizabeth would have been saved. One may think, however, that the creation of the monster ended Frankenstein’s quest for knowledge because he became more determined to protect his secret from society and destroy his savage creation. The guilt

In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the reader feels great sympathy for the female characters in the novel. The characters Caroline Beaufort, Elizabeth Lavenza and Justine are characterized as good hearted and upright woman, but nevertheless face an injustice death. In Frankenstein, women in the text are being destructed through an inevitable miserable fate to get the idea of the passive woman that devotes herself to the benefactor and her lack of agency across, in which is demonstrated in the passivity of Caroline, Elizabeth and Justine’s role that leads to their misery.

“deep dark deathlike solitude,” (pg. 61 Shelley). This shows that the death of Justine truly inflicted horror

Mauricio Zamora Ms. Joyner English 4 16 December, 2015 “Frankenstein view on women” Women were looked at as a lower class person in society during the 1800s when the novel Frankenstein was taking place in. The three women characters in the novel were brutally killed and were treated badly by the men character. Victor treated Elizabeth as if she was a trophy and she eventually accepted it.

How does Mary Shelley use language and sentence structures to create tension, and describe how horrible the creature is? One of the ways in which Mary Shelley creates tension is with the adjectives she uses when describing the creature, “I had selected his features as beautiful.” This shows how the person describing the creature is scared however, also marvelling at its rareness and beauty. “Beautiful!

     Frankenstein, an epistolary novel by Mary Shelley, deals with epistemology, is divided into three volumes, each taking place at a distinct time. Volume I highlights the correspondence in letters between Robert Walton, an Arctic seafarer, and his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton's letters to Margaret basically explain his expedition at sea and introduce Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist of the novel. Volume II is essentially Frankenstein's narrative, told in his point of view, with much action, death, and many more characters. There are a few chapters within this volume in which the monster narrates his adventures while alone. Volume III displays Victor's

From the beginning of stanza sixty-three, Shelley continues the story of the Witch’s travels on her boat by contrasting the Witch’s graceful journey with the humanity of spontaneous, uncontrolled dreams. He compares these nightly adventures to navigating a “wide lake” full of dangers, and notes that humans are