The Importance Of The Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The tragic figure in Mary Shelley’s horror novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, is truly an instrument of suffering for his loved ones in his life. Frankenstein’s Creature horrifies Frankenstein and sets off a series of events that corrode his relationships and harm his family and friends; furthermore, Frankenstein’s actions cause the innocent characters to suffer the most, which contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells the tale of a man whose entire life turns to misery after creating what he calls a monster, a demon and a fiend. However, the real monster in this story is pride and the feeling of superiority. This is evident in the novel with Robert Walton’s view of himself and his expedition, Victor Frankenstein’s attitude towards himself in comparison with the creature, and mankind’s perception of the creature and their ignorance towards him.

Frankenstein follows Victor Frankenstein’s triumph as he reanimates a dead body, and then details his guilt for creating such a thing. When the creation realizes how he came to be, and is rejected by mankind, he seeks revenge on his creator’s loved ones. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley portrays Victor Frankenstein as the true monster of the story through the use of literary devices revealing the characteristics that Frankensteins and monsters share, and shows how Frankenstein’s irresponsibility leads to his monstrous labeling.

The monster notices that humans are afraid of him because of his appearance, he feels embarrassed of himself, as humans do when they don’t seem to be accepted. He admires the De Lacey Family that lives in the cottage, he also learns from them, and hopes to have companion as they do. The monster is like humans, as mentioned, in the way that he wants someone to listen and care about him. He is discovering the world and his capacities, he seeks knowledge and understand plenty aspects of life by learning how to speak and read. “The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me; when they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathized in their joys” (Shelley 47). The monster developed feelings and emotions as humans. The creature is different from humans also, since he never got to grow up as a normal human, and

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

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

Frankenstein is a classic horror novel, but with a twist of many other genres. Written by Mary Shelley, it was a novel which mixed many exciting elements, such as horror, drama and romance. The story follows a young doctor named Victor Frankenstein, who has an obsession to reincarnate the dead, but his attempts at this fail horribly, and Victor finds himself in deep peril, as the monster stalks him throughout the world. I aim to investigate the issue, however, of who is the true monster in Frankenstein. The monster or Frankenstein himself?

Throughout the novel, “Frankenstein,” the “monster” was seen as hideous. As a result, many including the creator himself did not give the “monster” a chance and portrayed him as evil. Rather than looking at his personality, they looked at his outward appearance, which scared them off and made them assume he was a “monster.” When readers, including myself, read this story, we feel disappointed about how during this time everything revolved based upon looks and not on what really mattered like charisma. Overall he is portrayed as an evil, scary creature. When Victor describes him he is so harsh and cruel it makes him seem to be a monster. “He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks,” (Shelley 59) this phrase proves how when Victor describes the monster he did not care to think about what the monster was trying to say because he was too scared of his horrible looks.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” If not one would answer, “Always read a book cover to cover before you make judgments.” Frankenstein is one such book. While Frankenstein is a book about a monster terrifying a city it is also about compassion, love and friendship. After reading the book you would discover Frankenstein, the monster, is a loving creature with feelings and wants to become a part of society.

The Frankenstein monster is often portrayed in the movies as unemotional and violent: a barely functioning behemoth. However, these depictions are far from the canon storyline. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, the creator of what shall be called the Creature, was actually rivaled in empathy and joie de vivre by his wretch. Throughout the story, the Creature showed more compassion and emotion than Frankenstein, but committed multiple monstrous things after facing neglect and trauma.

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

Personal tragedies and the way people are raised from the beginning effect what kind of person they become. Frankenstein is a gothic fiction tragedy written by Mary Shelley in 1818. Victor Frankenstein is a scientist who dedicated his life to creating a new species. Victor does achieve this dream of his. However, Victor creates what he thinks is an evil monster. The monster is the most evolved character because he develops humanlike emotions, gains valuable knowledge, and revengeful to those around him.

In Frankenstein, the monster undergoes a wide variety of emotional experiences and insightful thoughts from reading Paradise Lost, Plutarch’s Lives, and Sorrows of Werter while temporarily residing at the De Laceys’ cottage. These thoughts and emotions had carried on to the monster himself, influencing his perspectives on both human nature and his own identity, and eventually leading to his evil actions and downfall. Had the monster read other works, his actions and intellectual experiences would have been shaped accordingly, in turn benefiting his courses of action and his general disposition towards himself and towards humanity. Namely, Crime and Punishment, 1984, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin would all serve as catalysts for change in the monster’s

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” acts as an epitome for the Christian values that dominated the time period. But what of the science that was practiced in order to bring the monster to life?

Discuss the significance of Mary Shelley’s decision to give the monster in Frankenstein an articulate voice.