“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly and “Dracula” by Bram Stoker are two gothic novels that censure the Romantic and Victorian eras with supernatural elements in orderly societies. Both of the authors yearn to criticize the standardized expectations for males and females; ultimately, they alter those expectations with fictitious forces that can be able to cause conflicts with the norms. The Creature in “Frankenstein” is reckoned as a filthy and vile fiend in Victor Frankenstein’s eyes; hence, it becomes an exile in the real world. In another perspective, the readers can significantly comprehend the vast experience that the Creature acquires in a cruel society. Count Dracula, unlike the Creature, retains a historical family line in the past, but he …show more content…
Because of their tremendous desire for perceptibility and freedom, their actions are heinously influenced. While both the Creature and Count Dracula are reckoned as deviations of within a socially ordered society, they exemplify an ideology of social morality that would alter the standardized perception in their era.
Based on his experience of encountering the cottagers, the Creature somehow represents a holistic approach of gaining morality through observation and experience. Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious man who has a strong desire to obtain knowledge from science, devotedly creates a monster out of body’s parts. However, the moment that the monster comes alive, Victor loses his humanity by abandoning his grotesque creation. This aspect constitutes the turning point for the Creature to survive in the spiteful world. In Chapter 5, Victor states, “but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep” (Shelley 59). The scene
Like most horror stories, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has a wretched monster who terrorizes and kills his victims with ease. However, the story is not as simple as it seems. One increasingly popular view of the true nature of the creature is one of understanding. This sympathetic view is often strengthened by looking at the upbringing of the creature in the harsh world in which he matures much as a child would. With no friends or even a true father, the creature can be said to be a product of society and its negative views and constant rejections of him. Although this popular view serves to lessen the severity of his crimes in most people’s eyes, the fact remains that the creature is in fact a cold-hearted wretch whose vindictive nature
Easily one of the most notable themes in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the role of nature versus nurture in developing children, recurs throughout the novel with the two main characters, Frankenstein and his creature, believing in opposite sides of this theme. Favoring nature, Frankenstein maintains that the creature was always evil from the moment of creation, regardless of the creature’s experiences. However, the creature, in his narrative to Frankenstein, argues that “[he] was benevolent and good; misery made [him] a fiend” (106). In adherence with John Locke’s concept of tabula rasa, the creature was born with a blank slate, and only through his experiences does he gain knowledge and personality. Struggling to persevere in the human world, Frankenstein’s creature merely wants humans to welcome him as one of them. The change of the creature from looking “upon crime as a distant evil” because “benevolence and generosity were ever present” in him to seeking revenge on Frankenstein results from a culmination of horrible experiences (103). While it may be hard to see the creature as a trustworthy narrator because of how he has acted and his ulterior motives, he does present physical evidence to support his tale. Facing rejection in different forms, he becomes truly evil, giving up hope of companionship as a result of his trials and lessons. From the moment of his creation, the creature encounters abandonment, violence, isolation, and rejection everywhere he turns.
Are there still connections between Bram Stokers famous novel Dracula and modern day society? In Dracula, Stoker expands on many themes that indeed exist today. Not only does he touch on the most obvious theme, sex. He expands on gender division and good versus evil. Some say since times have changed the themes I introduced have changed as well, leaving connections between then and now irrelevant. However, I feel that although times have changed they still have roots from the time of the novel to now. In this essay I will expand on the themes of this novel while connecting them to modern day society, the critical texts I have chosen and will mention later on in the essay are a good representation of the commonalities between the chill, dark Victorian days in which the era that Dracula was written in and modern day.
During this time Victor also begins to realize the amount of time he spent creating and obsessing over this obamanation was now a mass amount of time lost. The horror which Victor portrays is the first external sign that he does not, and will not see his creation as human. Although, one could point out that Victor had subconsciously never considered the creature as a human being to begin. It could been seen within the beginning narration of the events which occur the night the creature came to life
In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is portrayed as a grotesque abomination. However, as Hopkins states in Contending Forces, the cultural and geographical situations, or lack thereof, in which one matures in play a crucial role in the proper development of one’s mind and brain. The monster is simply a product of circumstance. The lack of social interactions alongside geographical isolation propelled the daemon to be alienated from society, ultimately resulting in a lack of morals and an underdeveloped psyche. By being a culmination of his surroundings and experiences it is revealed that the true monstrous entities are the factors that leave the daemon predisposed to fail in a modern society. Arguably, Victor created a being, while the circumstances that said being was placed in “created” a monster. Shelley purposefully terrorizes the monster with such intensity to provoke and justify the overarching theme in this novel which states that people should not be judged on their physical appearance.
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,
In the story of “Frankenstein”, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature. When the creature awakens Victor is so disgusted in his creation, he runs away and becomes severely depressed.. The creature searches for Victor, but ends up finding a little boy who turns out to be Victor's little brother, William. The creature kills William, and Victor comes home for the funeral. This is how the creature finds him. While reading the book you notice that all the Creature ever wanted was for Victor to love him. He kind of saw him as a god, and as his creator he must have to love him. The Creature soon realizes that Victor despises him. So he proposes a deal, Victor creates a wife for him and he’ll leave. In the process of creating his wife victor stops, he tears all the pieces apart. The creature slowly ruins Victor's life. When Victor is on his deathbed the Creature comes to him and cries. The Creature ends up killing himself shortly after. Throughout the book we learn to understand why the creature did what he did. He hurt Victor because Victor hurt him. He just wanted to be accepted by Victor, above anything else. We see the story through Victors and The creatures perspectives. Victor hated that he created the creature and he thought that he was his biggest mistake, and the creature just wanted to be
Many scenes in ‘Frankenstein’ are pastoral, thus creating a non-threatening atmosphere, however, it is circumstances and ignorance which result in the creature becoming despised and hunted which in return change his nature and character when he seeks revenge for the injustices done against him. Dracula, from the beginning, is the embodiment of evil - he plots and schemes. One could make excuses for him and say he needs blood or he becomes extinct and it is a form of self-preservation. This is so, however, throughout the novel we are faced time and again with examples of gratuitous malevolence he makes no distinction between man or woman, child or baby. Many scenes in ‘Dracula’ are set in the dark and ominous Castle Dracula, this results in a pervading atmosphere of apprehension.
In contrast, there is a fear of becoming the “Other.” In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the charismatic figure seems benevolent; however, his deceiving appearance turns out to be a creature that corrupts mankind – his attractiveness acts as a lure to display vice in people. Dracula targets virgins to become his lamias – so that innocent women
A multitude of signs illustrates similarities between the Frankenstein’s creature and Mary Shelley. These indications show that the novel may be an autobiography. However, the novel shows a lot of the characteristics of science fiction. The novel can be a real description or fiction narrative, but not both. An informed opinion about this controversy requires the evaluation of relevant critics. Sherry Ginn uses “Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein: Science, Science Fiction, or Autobiography?” to adequately argue that the novel Frankenstein is based on Shelley’s experiences and fears, that it is not an autobiography, and that it has all the characteristics of a science fiction narrative.
Throughout the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, the creature is subjected to countless acts of violence and rejection. For a monster to develop, one must have been formerly exploited either by an individual or their society. The creature is not only a physical product of science, but his atrocious behavior is also an explicit result of Victor’s actions toward him. The creature was not born a monster, but slowly morphed into one as he experiences violence and rejection from his society.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a story that narrates the association between a woman and a small group of men led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing that counteracts with Count Dracula. The Count Dracula travels from Transylvania to England to change human beings into something they refer to as, “foul things of the night like him, without heart or conscience, preying on the bodies and the souls of these (they) love best” (p. 223). The author utilizes the epistolary format in the short story (Cranny-Francis 38). Today, Dracula is the most loved epistolary works written in the nineteenth century but representing the current situations in the society. Literary the term epistolary stories represent novels written from various sources documents such as newspaper clippings, letters, and journals (McNally 18). Bram Stoker achieves the effects of using the epistolary style in conveying the characters inner states through different story setups and broad descriptions that develop the conscious self and the context (Cranny-Francis 64). The paper analyzes the gender roles as depicted in the short story by Bram Stoker.
Frankenstein and Edward Scissorhand are both about two different creators creating their own kind of creatures, and the journey through the whole process and the life after creation. In both the novel and film we are able to compare different aspects of both the novel and film. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and Tim Burton’s film Edward Scissorhands have many similarities and differences starting from the desire of wanting to feel love, to the cause of all the violence. A few of the similarities and differences visible throughout the novel and film are: quest for knowledge, companionship, and their creators.
Dracula is one of the first famous vampire books. Although it is famous for its time, modern day vampire stories have produced some of the bestselling TV shows, books, and movies. Dracula laid the foundation down for these modern day stories to rise to popularity. If you have read Dracula and seen one of these new stories, then you can see a lot of similarities in both stories. These modern day stories share many traits as the book Dracula, but most of the stories have their differences. This means that the inspiration for most of these new stories are from the book Dracula. You can tell when you see or read these new shows there is one main difference between them and Dracula. The authors wanted to target an audience of people. They targeted teenagers and young adults. All of the new shows did this, and the authors knew doing this would make the stories more popular and make them more money. They did this by making the vampires young, pretty or handsome, and stylish. This is just one of the things that makes these new shows different from Dracula.
When Victor Frankenstein was a young child he was loved unconditionally by both his parents. They adored him and provided him opportunities and stability to develop into a well-rounded person. Victor becomes a scientist and is intelligent and loves research. As a young man Victor was not overly social. He isolated himself from others and did not form friendships easily. At one point in his life, Victor became obsessed with creating life. He knew he had the skills to do it and he wanted to have the same power as God. Victor eventually is able to create a monster. He makes the monster come to life. Victor is horrified by his monster because of the way it looks. Instead of relishing in the joy of his accomplishment he runs away from it. The monster is left alone to fend for itself and doesn’t have the right skills to take care of his basic needs. He cannot speak, he cannot read and he doesn’t have anyone to teach him these fundamental human skills. The monster escapes to the woods afraid and alone, not sure where he is going or what he is going to do. Nearby is a village full of people and he sets forward to observe them. At first, he tries to be visible and friendly but people turn from him in fright and run away. The monster is hurt and because he cannot make physical contact with anyone he decides to observe people secretly. During his observation, he watches human interaction and observes what is socially acceptable and what is not. The monster was abandoned and