Who Is 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

Historical Context of Frankenstein Frankenstein is more than just a horror novel. Like any work of literature, it is a window into the times in which it was written. When an individual has enough skill regarding close reading for evidence, they can gather a plethora of information from in between the lines of text. The story of Frankenstein reveals a lot of the thoughts and fears of people during the early 1800’s. When you read between the lines and analyze the characters of Frankenstein and his tragic Monster, you can learn a lot about the mindset of the author, Mary Shelly.

Frankenstein, a novel first published in the year 1818, stands as the most talked about work of Mary Shelley’s literary career. She was just nineteen years old when she penned this novel, and throughout her lifetime she could not produce any other work that surpasses this novel in terms of creativity and vision. In this novel, Shelley found an outlet for her own intense sense of victimization, and her desperate struggle for love. Traumatized by her failed childbirth incidents, troubled childhood, and scandalous courtship, many of Shelley’s life experiences can be seen reflected in the novel. When discussing the character and development of the monster, Shelley launches an extensive discussion on the

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is ‘one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction’, and is also a frightening story that speaks to the ‘mysterious fears of our nature’. Mary Shelley mocks the idea of “playing God”, the idea that came from the Greek myth of Prometheus, of the Greek titan who stole Zeus’ gift of life. Both the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus reveal the dark side of human nature and the dangerous effects of creating artificial life. Frankenstein reveals the shocking reality of the consequences to prejudging someone. The creature’s first-person narration reveals to us his humanity, and his want to be accepted by others even though he is different. We are shown that this ‘monster’ is a ‘creature’ and more of a human

Mary Shelley was a writer, novelist, and biographer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein. She had already written many stories and short novels, and even edited and promoted the works of her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley . But Frankenstein; the Modern Prometheus was her first work to achieve popularity and great success, despite the initial bad reviews, claiming the novel to be ''a tissue of horrible and disgusting absurdity''. Frankenstein recalls the events of the fictional Victor Frankenstein and of his becoming an unholy creator of life. When the novel was written, science was highly debated; and Frankenstein was the first novel to give the impression that one day, science will destroy mankind. The subtle mixture of the

What differentiates Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein from the majority of horror novels are the very real and timeless themes it explores.  The overriding theme of the novel - scientific investigation without consideration of morality and responsibility is still an important topic in today’s world.  “Perhaps the reality of cloning and genetic engineering makes this theme more relevant today than when Frankenstein was first published”(Patterson). This theme, along with the more subtle themes of revenge, the inability to accept those who are different, and the inability to control one's destiny are all themes which separate Frankenstein from other novels in the genre.

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.

Science fiction is a wonderful and imaginative world full of people and beings that are on the edge of the truth. Such things as aliens, Big Foot, and Yeti all fall under this category, and are brilliantly thought up an sought after in the modern-day. There is, however, one monster who is not sought after in the literal sense today, though in a strange way it is in medical technologies. Marry Shelly was just a young woman when she sat down and wrote the story of Frankenstein. In this story, a scientist finds the secret to life and creates a monster but neglects it to society’s harsh criticism and rejection. Frankenstein should be seen as a hero for three reasons: his selfishness, his seclusion of his creation, and his inability to give

     Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein does indeed do a lot more than simply tell story, and in this case, horrify and frighten the reader. Through her careful and deliberate construction of characters as representations of certain dominant beliefs, Shelley supports a value system and way of life that challenges those that prevailed in the late eighteenth century during the ‘Age of Reason’. Thus the novel can be said to be challenging prevailant ideologies, of which the dominant society was constructed, and endorsing many of the alternative views and thoughts of the society. Shelley can be said to be influenced by her mothers early feminist views, her father’s

Over the years, the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has become universally portrayed in one way: a tall, green-skinned, dumb brute with no language or reasoning abilities. Society has turned the story of Frankenstein into a mere horror story, dehumanizing the monster more than was intended in Shelley’s novel. However, the message of Frankenstein is a far cry from the freak show displayed by the media. While many people may only see Frankenstein as a grotesque story meant to thrill its audience, its purpose goes much deeper as it advocates for the equal rights of women in society.

The novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, was a piece written in 1817 during a time when women weren’t considered to be adequate authors. Shelley’s work is both intriguing as it is thought provoking. She brings to light the true nature of society and life altogether when tested. She factors in how the outside world can influence our choices in writing. George Levine from “The Ambiguous Heritage of Frankenstein” and Benjamin Truitt from “Frankenstein Critical Analysis and Literary Criticism” both share their opinions about Shelley’s piece of written work.

Description: Has trouble dealing with his emotions- Falls into depression and sadness several times throughout the story.

The horror classic novel Frankenstein has gathered a great deal of critical and commercial attention since first being introduced in 1818, and naturally there has been many academics who have analyzed many of the novel’s biggest themes, symbols, and motifs. This also includes in analyzing the author herself, Mary Shelley. Marcia Aldrich, who has her Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington, is one of the academics to underline the role of being a female writer in the 19th century and what importance this plays on the novel Frankenstein. In her article, co-written by Richard Isomaki, “The Woman Writer as Frankenstein” analyzes the significance of Mary Shelley being the daughter of a writer and how this contributed to her writing Frankenstein, which they speculate as her, Mary Shelley, envisioning herself as the Monster. Aldrich and Isomaki’s “The Woman Writer as Frankenstein” makes valid and persuasive points, which effectively argues that the novel is semi-autobiographical in the sense that Mary Shelley pictured her as the Frankenstein Monster, for many of the concerns that the authors bring up in their article highlight the insecurities, doubts, and inexorable frustrations of a young woman writing in the 19th century.

Sometimes considered one of the first science fiction novels of supernatural terror, Frankenstein proved itself an instant success when released anonymously in 1818. The mad scientist Victor Frankenstein and his creation provoke readers with the fear of the unknown and the power of natures forces. A deeper look into the character of Victor Frankenstein, the role of scientific experimentation and the intricate settings of nature in which the story evolves, prove Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein , a worthy example of both Romantic and Gothic representation in nineteenth century British Literature.

In most people’s minds as of today, there is no question to who the monster is in Mary Shelley’s book, Frankenstein. It is the creature that Viktor Frankenstein created, that murders innocent people. However, when looking beyond the appearance of the creature, it is evident that he did not begin as a monster. Mary Shelley analyzes fundamental and crucial issues in her novel in terms of being able to use science and knowledge for the good of people and not for the satisfaction of personal ambitions without even being able to take responsibility for that. It is also the novel of social rejection based on external looks and inability to accept. It was the extreme misconceptions of humans that resulted in the extreme isolation of Frankenstein’s