The Real Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

In this essay I will be discussing who really is portrayed as the monster in her gothic horror novel, Frankenstein or “The Modern Prometheus”. Frankenstein was written in 1816, (thought by many to be the first real science fiction novel) during the age of Romanticism and it tells the story of a selfish man, Victor Frankenstein, whose ambition conducts him to seek for supernatural powers and leads him to death. He is a young scientist, eager to discover something new, the key to life, help to make scientific advances and let other scientists get a better idea of how the body works and who after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of like, leading him to create a monster that becomes

The monster starts off attempting to save a little girl from drowning but is falsely accused that he is trying to kill her instead so he is shot in the shoulder. This is the first step to the monsters rage and anger. He then goes off and kills Henry, Frankenstein’s best friend, after Frankenstein refuses to make a female monster. He then kills William, Frankenstein's younger brother, which at this point in the story seems to be the time where all innocence is lost and the monster has all of the power and cannot be stopped by anyone. The monster then kills the most important or influential to Frankenstein, Elizabeth his wife who was an orphan and adopted by the family at a young age. Elizabeth and Frankenstein go to a hotel for their honeymoon, the monster breaks into their room and strangles her. “She left me, and I continued some time walking up and down the passages of the house and inspecting every corner that might afford a retreat to my adversary. when suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream.” He is overcome with grief and vows to return to Geneva to make sure his family is

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

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

He believed that his Creature murdered his brother and framed Justine, the Frankenstein’s maid, in order to achieve vengeance for Victor abandoning him, but according to Levine, Victor is the cause for this evil, “...evil is a consequence of maltreatment or injustice,” (Levine 31). Victor’s internal flaws and shortcomings prevent him from revealing the truth about his Creation and therefore he is unable to disclose details of Williams death to save Justine. Victor cowers and stands by as the town unjustly convicts and “executes” Justine, (Shelley 117). The cowardly act committed by Victor shows that he does not possess a strong enough moral compass to do the justified act.

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?

In Mary Shelley´s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster once claimed, “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” Frankenstein, since the 1910 film adaptation, has known a series of several adaptations that changed drastically, not only the plot but one of the main characters, the Monster, from stealing its creator´s name to being portrayed as a cold villain. Though, in the original storyline, the biggest threat to society is the creator itself, the one pretending to play as God, Victor Frankenstein. This essay will discuss the nature of the main characters of the novel and conclude who is the “real monster” in the end.

There is a myth that every creature on this planet is one half of a whole and must be completed by another half. Sometimes it takes that other half coming into their life to make them realize the truth about themselves and to see hidden parts of their unconscious minds that they otherwise would not have noticed themselves. Mary Shelley, an accomplished writer during the Romantic Era of English Literature, is the author of Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein is a young man with a hunger and passion for knowledge and science. He wants to do what no one has ever done before- create human life all on his own. Victor creates an eight foot tall, grotesquely terrifying monster that after continuous rejection from society, decides to take revenge on the man that gave him life. Shelley shows throughout this novel how two mortal enemies can be surprisingly similar and even act as mirrors of each other.

Frankenstein uses his aggression to demonstrate his masculinity when threatening the much larger and stronger monster. Frankenstein responds with aggression when he feels like his masculinity is threatened, similarly to how his monster acts in violence as way to deal with his problems. In search of a friend, the monster travels the streets of Geneva until he finds a young boy. After learning that the child, William, hails from the Frankenstein family, the monster “grasps [William’s] throat to silence him” until “he lay dead at [his] feet” (100). Filled with anger and sadness due to his creator abandoning him, the monster aggressively attacks the young William Frankenstein. Masculine men typically act impulsively and aggressively instead of dealing with their feelings, as seen when the monster kills a young child because of his personal issues with his family. Lastly, Felix’s reaction to seeing the monster in the cottage further supports the idea that masculine men respond aggressively and in turn cause more chaos. When he perceives his family to be in danger, “Felix dart[s] forward, and with supernatural force [tears the monster] from his father”

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

Who is the real monster?” acts as the dominant question throughout the novel “Frankenstein” written by Mary Shelly as the reader explores the protagonist Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creation. As the novel progresses, the reader notices how the relationship between the two characters goes far beyond a neglectful creature and resentful creation, for the two influence the thoughts, actions and emotions of each other. Furthermore, the creature’s physical appearance acts as his purpose throughout the novel as well as a mirror of Victor Frankenstein’s true identity. Additionally, the creature’s lack of identity begins to initiate Frankenstein’s shame towards his own identity, revealing the flawed character of Frankenstein and determining the resolution to the question “Who is the true monster? Who is the true catalyst of destruction?” During the novel, the reader is able to identify the creature as the most effective foil for Victor Frankenstein because the creature causes: Frankenstein to view the action of the creature as his own work, the shift between pride and shame in Frankenstein, and his physical appearance demonstrates his purpose to reveal the true character of Victor Frankenstein.

Discrimination is treating someone differently, often unfairly, because he/she is a part of a specific group, class or category of people. For instance, a girl named Wu Qing in China was discriminated against and could not find a job because how her body was a bit chubby and the scars in her face from an accident in her early childhood. Even though she was kind and used to be straight-A student, she had no friends. Now, she is looking for selling her kidney in order to pay the plastic surgery fee. Discrimination can change a person from innocent to evil is an important theme in the novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley. Even though

Few days later Frankenstein's younger brother is found dead. Frankenstein knows right away that properly the monster has murder his brother. So he goes to look for him. When he finds him, he noticed that the monster is now able to talk. The creature tells him that he learned to talk when he watched one family, but when he comes closer to the family and want to be their friend they chase him away. And so does everybody. He feels so lonesome and alone, that he wants Frankenstein to create a girlfriend for him so he is no lonely anymore. As a result he may have then somebody to talk to. In return the monster would turn his back to the human race. Consequently Frankenstein creates a female mate for the monster, but when he is almost through the work he is suddenly overwhelmed with fear that the monster and his mate will spawn more monsters and destroy the human race. So he destroys the female. Thereupon the creature murders Frankenstein's fiancée.

Mary Shelley uses Justine, one of her female characters, to channel action for the male characters in Frankenstein. This female is a very submissive, rarely vocal character in the novel. She 's tossed back and forth between her own family and the Frankenstein family, that is, until she 's framed for the murder of William Frankenstein. This is where the action comes to play. Justine challenges the expectations of one accused of assassination, remaining calm and peaceful. In her own words, she states, "God knows how entirely I am innocent. But I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me; I rest my innocence on a plain and simple explanation of the facts which have been adduced against me" (Shelley 92). So not only does her speech and

He caught sight of his creation and realised that it was responsible for his brother's murder but let his family friend, Justine, carry the blame and was ridden with guilt when she was hanged for the murder. He left his house and went searching the Alpine valleys for his creation. When Frankenstein found the monster it told him of what had happened after it had left Frankenstein's laboratory. He had gone to the village where frightened villagers attacked him.