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The Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Essay

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The Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein There are many ideas as to who the monster really is in Frankenstein and in this essay I will explore who the monster is in the novel. The three main ideas are whether it is Victor, society itself or indeed the monster who is truly evil. Although Victor's creation is known as the Monster, by reading the novel it is clear that this isn't the full story. The beginning of chapter 5 is very important in the novel, as this is the chapter in which the Monster is brought to life, and we learn a lot about what the Monster is really like. We see from the word 'dreary' in the first sentence and 'dismally' a few lines down that misery is to come once the …show more content…

He also says 'how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form'. This quote is useful for two reasons. Firstly it shows his character as a scientist, when he uses the word 'delineate'. This means explain and is used in science. The other reason is that he says 'with infinite pains and care' and this reinforces the point that he has worked very hard on this, and he is now repulsed by it. In the next paragraph he writes 'I had deprived myself of rest and health' which again demonstrates that he has worked incredibly hard, and also acts as a parallel to Captain Walton. In this chapter he sees the beauty of his creation turn into a catastrophe. This point is proven when he says that the 'beauty of the dream vanished'. He also adds 'breathless horror and disgust filled my heart'. This shows that he is scared and ashamed of what he has done. He describes the Monster as something that 'even Dante could not have conceived'. Dante is the author of the Divine Comedy, in which he describes Hell. By this Victor means the Monster is so bad, he is worse than anything from Hell itself. Chapter 16, and page 130 before it is a turning point because the Monster does nothing wrong, but Felix judges him by his appearance and attacks him. This is what turns the Monster evil. He calls the

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