The Importance Of Physical Appearance 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

Common rules create common fools. A society where everyone acted the same, abiding identically by some universal principles seems immediately enticing. It would be a world of no crime, where every individual acted in exactly the way that maximized pleasure for every other individual. In short, it would be a perfect utilitarian state. Yet, such a society would be rigid and boring, lacking all the qualities of unbounded life. Beauty comes from tragedy. Meaning is derived from misfortune. Some argue that happiness itself cannot truly exist without its counterpart, misery. Without uniquely acting individuals, life is meaningless. Mary Shelley would certainly have agreed with this statement. Indeed, in her novel Frankenstein, Shelley recognizes

"A Hermit is simply a person to whom society has failed to adjust itself." (Will Cuppy). In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we follow the life of Victor Frankenstein in 18th century Germany. Shelley displays a recurring theme of isolation and how it drives once good people to do terrible things. If civilization does not adjust itself to a creature of any kind they will be forced into isolation and ultimately self destruction.

Every work is a product of its time. Indeed, we see that in Frankenstein, like in the world which produced its author, race, or the outward appearances on which that construct is based, determines much of the treatment received by those at all levels of its hierarchy. Within the work, Mary Shelley, its author, not only presents a racialized view of its characters, but further establishes and enforces the racial hierarchy present and known to her in her own world. For the few non-European characters, their appearance, and thus their standing in its related hierarchy, defines their entrances into the narrative. For the Creature, this occurs on the ices of the Artic, when, “atop a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile;” Walton and his men perceived, “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.” (Shelley 13) Shelley clarifies, even this early in her novel, the race of its principal Other as soon after the intrepid adventurers rescue its namesake, Victor Frankenstein, who, Shelley clarifies, “was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but an European.” (Shelley 14) Later, closer examination of the Creature reveals a visage and figure of near unimaginable disfigurement, with a “shrivelled complexion,” and yellow skin which “scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath.” (Shelley 35) This could be contrasted directly

monster avoid pain again and how he is able to sit and think about how

  One of the main themes in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the importance of appearance and acceptance in modern society. In today's society, and also in the society of Frankenstein, people judge one often solely on their looks. Social prejudice is often based on looks, whether it be the color of someone's skin, the clothes that a person wears, the facial features that one has and even the way one stands. People make snap judgments based on these and other considerations and they affect the way that they present themselves to one, and also the way that the treat the judged person. In Frankenstein the society of that time is much like our own today. It is an appearance

As I struggled to grab on to a thesis for this essay, it finally occurred to me that my empathy for the monster really was fundamental in my reading of this text. In further examining why I would feel this way, and by comments made in class on this subject, I soon realized that I had a parallel to the monster’s experience right in front of me – literally. My brother, borne with a severe cleft pallet and lip he has endured twenty-three years of surgeries and therapies to repair the structure of his face. The first surgeries focused primarily on function of his basic needs: eating, breathing, speaking etc. without emphasis on how he looked. However, these past few years, as he approached his early twenties, the surgeries have focused primarily on his appearance. Like the monster, he experiences many prejudices based on his appearance. He is frequently looked upon suspiciously in stores while shopping and has been approached by security on occasion. Strangers tend to shy away from him and often look away and do not respond if he directly address’ them. He

The first incident when the reader witnesses a passage of judgment that is based on one’s appearance is when the Frankenstein family adopts Elizabeth Lavenza. Elizabeth is found living in the streets with a poor Italian family and Caroline Frankenstein adopts Elizabeth because she is a very pretty girl. Elizabeth’s beauty allowed people to judge her as pure and worthy so, despite all the other children in the streets, Elizabeth is given a great education, a wealthy family, and a beautiful home. On the contrary, when Victor creates his creature, Victor is so horrified by his ugliness that he flees his apartment. When Victor later returns and finds that the creature is gone, Victor has the audacity to celebrate and call the creature his “enemy”. It is true that in nature, the creature would be a great predator. The creature is great in stature, incredibly fast, incredibly strong, and exceedingly intelligent. Weaker animals would be smart to run from this animal. However, Frankenstein’s creature is not an animal. The creature was comprised of the most perfect human limbs, organs, and bones that Victor

Frankenstein is to be “sometimes considered one of the first science fiction novels” (Fox,stacy ”Romantic and Gothic Representation in Frankenstein”). Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. In this novel the main characters where Victor Frankenstein, his creation the monster, Robert Walton, Elizabeth Lavenza, Alphonse Frankenstein, and Henry Clerval. Frankenstein starts out with a normal boy named Victor Frankenstein who discovers an early interest in science. Victor later goes off to college to study science and ends up creating a monster. Throughout the novel the monster is stereotyped by his looks and is traumatized and goes for revenge against his creator when Victor refuses to make him a

Pearl was always a strong child and has the ability to do what she wanted without fail. From the moment she was born, she has always recognized from her point of view that "I am Mother's child... and my name is Pearl" (106). Pearl’s resilience and assertive nature is a result of her sticking to her individuality and not letting anything else get in the way. She is clearly sticking to her identity and even honoring her name and place of origin. Despite society’s attempt to control individuality, Pearl does not listen to rules and even “After putting her fingers in her mouth, with many ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilson's question”, she still does not listen to anyone (108).

It is an emblem of luck. It will bring prosperity. It is a window into a life of higher status and more achievement. It is the “pearl of the world.” In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino, an impoverished pearl diver, finds the pearl of legend, an enormous, shining jewel plucked from the mouth of an oyster. Hoping to sell the pearl and rid themselves of poverty and ignorance, Kino, Juana, his devoted wife, and Coyotito, their infant son, travel to the pearl buyers’ offices, where they intend to make a profit by exchanging their incredible discovery for a large sum of money. Kino, unsatisfied with the inadequate prices he is offered, summons his family, and they embark on a long and treacherous journey to the capital in search of a deal for the pearl and a way to escape the growing evils colluding against them. Along the way, the family faces many threatening obstacles, and Kino must make difficult decisions for the good of the family, rather than to please his increasingly greedy nature. Before Kino retrieves the pearl, he does everything he can to care for the family in their humble existence. Innocently living without awareness of the corruption of humanity, Kino protects what little the family possesses, even as he faces rejection and humiliation at the hands of those wealthier than him. He is stubborn, yet loyal to what he believes, qualities that endear him to his community. However, after Kino discovers the pearl, he changes to become an aggressive man.

At first glance high school seems to be a fun and relaxed time. A time that you get to hang out with friends and participate in extracurricular activities. Some of your most treasured memories will be made in high school. However, high school is a cruel and unforgiving place. In high school individuals get judged by their appearance, the way they act, and who they hang out with.

In today’s society, people are constantly being judged based on their physical appearance; lacking aesthetics in any way may lead to rejection. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley created characters that experienced what was going on in society during her day and what is still present in society today. One of the characters’s in Frankenstein was abandoned and left with no one due to his undesirable physical appearance. In today’s society, this is similar to what people with deformities often experience. Due to the inferior mentality, race, and class in society in which Mary Shelley lived, the creature’s unappealing physical appearance played an immense role in the abandonment he experienced; to this day, physical appearance still plays a huge role in society.

A dream is all it would take for one person to make story that has been able to become one of the greatest contribution in horror novels. In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, Victor Frankenstein would create a humanoid that he would soon go on to regret. This story has become an inspiration to be turned into various plays and films that are directly or loosely based on Frankenstein and his creation. However, one director took the challenge to reverse the story from having originally the creator and its creation as a man to making them instead into women. Lucky Mckee took the story of Frankenstein and changed it into his film, May, so that we can see what it is like from a female’s perspective.

A reader's subconscious often disables their ability to notice moral foundations that the author develops through the text; thus, making it difficult for an individual to recognize the value the text holds and its importance. In the article “Why Study Literature?” the author explains that “literature teaches us better courses of action and more effective responses to situations”; essentially he or she says that literature has the ability to shape one’s morals; as it can teach us what do in certain situations and how we should act. Similarly, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the author builds morality in readers by stressing the wrongs of using one’s visual appearance to determine their inner nature. At birth the monster is abandoned for his hideousness, the monster is “endowed with perceptions and passions” (Shelley, Chapter 16) after which he is “cast[ed] as an object for the scorn and horror of mankind” (Shelley, Chapter 16). For example, the monster chases for love when he assists the poor De Lacey family in collecting their lumber, however he is driven out by their horror upon seeing the face of their secret patron for the first time. Looking at this from an aesthetic stance, Shelley appears to be examining our natural tendency to judge a book by its cover. The author manifests the importance of inner beauty rather than one’s outer beauty, for it speaks more sincerely of their qualities as an individual. Had the protagonist realized the creature’s nobility from the