The Novel Frankenstein of Mary Shelley - Essay Example

I. Introduction The novel Frankenstein of Mary Shelley had been adopted by countless medium be it in the movie or performing theatre due to the genius of its plot and timelessness of its themes. It is full of allegory that explores the dark side of nature how wretched it can get when devoid of affection and humanity. The novel can also be seen as an illustration of the pathway to monstrosity as shown by the transformation of Victor’s creation to a bewildered creature that is unaware of its nature to a vindictive and murderous monster which Victor himself become. II. Themes a) Feminism Considering the familial background of Frankenstein’s author Mary Shelley, being the daughter of the feminist movement leader Mary Wollstonecraft, one would readily assume that feminism would be very obvious in the novel; that the hero or heroine of the novel would be assiduously champion women’s right. But it is quite the contrary. In fact, the female characters in Shelley’s novel Frankenstein typified the typical female in Genevian society in the 1800s. Timid, meek, passive, needing and cannot stand on her own. This was present in almost all female characters of the novel in the person of Justine and Elizabeth. Justine was sentenced to death for a murder she was accused and did not commit and unable to defend herself in the process. Elizabeth meanwhile, Victor’s bride, died waiting for Victor for her to be saved from the onslaught of the monster. If one can notice, Shelley killed the typical female of a Genevian society before the end of her novel as an exposition that the idea of femininity in Geneva society renders a woman weak and helpless that led to her death and thus, undesirable. The characterization of the female protagonists in Frankenstein was in fact a social commentary, a sort of protest of Shelley against the Genevian social structure. Victor’s lack of affection to his own creation that led to its monstrous transformation is also a demonstration what society will become if devoid of the emotional affection from women of which the paternal Genevian society is disdainful to relegate them to be weak. b. Man breaking his bond with nature Man’s breaking his bond with nature came about when Victor decided to play god and deprived nature of its natural prerogative to create life. Victor wanted to separate himself from the rest of nature by validating to himself that he can be god through the creation of another life which is a validation of God’s omnipotence. This was evident in Shelley’s novel that Victor is not contented to be a mere genius but above it, thus he “had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived"(43). When Victor came to life, he became the personification of man’s desire to be god which the product of such attempt attests how vile the idea is. The monster, being an assortment of parts of men, is an unhappy product of man’s inexorable nature and its heart is “a collection of the emotions that he has to be bear throughout his strange life” (Kessler 87). It has no “center” or a soul because it failed to grasp the breadth of human experience that includes joy, happiness, ecstasy, that makes one a truly human being. The monster had only a glimpse of hope of what it is like to be compassionate when the family cottagers took him in. “Nothing could exceed the love and respect which the younger cottagers exhibited towards their venerable companion. They performed towards him every little office of affection and duty with gentleness, and he rewarded them by his benevolent smiles” (Shelley 82). But even that hazy idea of hope and compassion was immediately extinguished when the same family who took him in drove him away. One can only imagine what the monster felt when the only positive experience he had was taken away from him leaving him hanging and in pain. c) The Sins of the father Victor’s creation, the monster, was the most vilified character in Shelley’s novel. It was as if it embodied all things that are ugly, wretched, vindictive, hateful and murderous. But putting the story in proper perspective, the creature was not evil when it first gained consciousness. In fact, the monster only suffered the sins of his father, Victor, who out of his hubris decided to break his bond with nature and played god by creating him. Further still, Victor did not know show any care or affection to the creature whom it could reciprocate. Instead, he made it feel like a wretched when he abandoned the monster exposing it the cold and cruel side of humanity the moment he saw it brought to life. The creature was persecuted, driven away, shunned and feeling all the punishment of this world whose sin was only being a creation. If there was one thing ought to be punished in the novel, it should be Victor who played god. But he did not. Instead it was the creature who suffered. Victor Frankenstein’s monster can only utter his despair to him of how he has made him “cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. . . when night came I quitted my retreat and wandered in the wood; and now, no longer restrained by the fear of discovery, I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings” (Shelley 103). All this pain was not of the monster’s doing but the sin of its father which is Victor. d. All men hate the wretched (appearance)  It is the nature of men to despise wretched appearance that even Victor, the creator of the monster was not able to contain its horror when he saw that his experiment came to life. He himself abandoned and disavowed his experiment seeing the wretched appearance of his creation being an assemblage of parts. The creature did not understand this fright and was still unaware what he is and wandered through the woods until he found the DeLaceys whom he felt affinity as a family. But when he showed himself up, the rest of the family were terrified by the mere sight of him and it was only the blind father who bore with him because he cannot see his wretched appearance. Still, he made an effort to become accepted by others and rescued a girl from a river. But instead of being shown gratitude, he was instead shot in the shoulder because of how monstrous he looks ignoring the good deed that he has done. From then one, vindictiveness and hatred consumed the monster for bringing him in this world only to suffer. The creature’s yielding is a resignation and acceptance to human nature’s natural aversion to monstrosity of which he already abandoned any hope of being accepted because of his wretched appearance and will instead exact revenge on his creator. In the larger world, it only conveys that men judge each other by appearance and that people can be impressionable. The creature could have been kind and gentle if they gave it a chance and taught to be. The way they treated him because of its looks became a self-fulfilling prophesy. e. Romanticism  Romanticism is the beginning of the tragedy of both protagonists in Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. First, the tragedy was precipitated when Victor frustrated the monster when it broke its promise to make his creature a female partner, for him to regain his sense of humanity and to be able to feel and not become desolate. The creature was hopeful that indeed Victor will make his creature a partner but only frustrated him. Instead, Victor Frankenstein added insult to the injury of his creature when he decided to throw away the parts of the female creature he created. Victor’s creature was devastated; so devastated that it transformed him to become a monster, hateful, vindictive and murderous. Soon enough, the monster caught up with Victor and made him feel how it felt like to have a love that has been lost to murder. Worst, Elizabeth was murdered on their wedding night that the pain of losing his wife also transformed to a monster he created and disdained, and became equally hatefully obsessed and consumed with revenge. f. Obsession  Obsession in the novel is not the type of obsession to be with somebody due to excessive affection. It is an obsession that drives people to commit crime, which is the obsession for hatred to be vindictive and commit murder. g. What is innocence?  Innocence is the lack of ill motive, guile and sophistication and is characteristic of purity of intention. This was the characteristic and state of the creature’s consciousness when Victor first created it. It was still devoid of ill feelings such as vindictiveness, hatred and murder until Victor inadvertently taught it to the monster himself. The creature did not even the concept of shame and only took clothes to protect him from the cold. When the creature felt desolate, it asked Victor in earnest saying "Oh! My creator, make me happy; let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit! Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing; do not deny me my request"(131) free from the machination of a cunning. When Victor abandoned the creature and did not show an iota of care and affection, the creature was exposed to the cruelty of the world being chased, beaten and turned away. Until finally, the ultimate loss of the creature’s innocence that transformed it to a monster was Victor deprived it of a partner and instead threw its remains in the sea. Victor himself showed some shade of innocence despite of his sophistication being a man of science. First was when his father died doubting himself and showing signs of vulnerability quipping "what then became of me? I know not; I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressed upon me"(182). Until finally also Victor lost his innocence and became the monster he loathed when the creature whom Victor himself made into a monster killed Elizabeth whose transformation was best captured in this line "now that virtue has become to me a shadow, and that happiness and affection are turned into bitter and loathing despair, in what should I seek for sympathy?"(203). Other characters also showed signs of losing their innocence. When Justine was blamed for the murder of William and was charged and convicted for it, Elizabeth was aghast in anger because she believed Justine was innocent and aired her sentiment as thus “How shall I ever again believe in human goodness? Justine, whom I loved and esteemed as my sister, how could she put on those smiles of innocence only to betray?"(70). h. Man as God The monster’s predicament also tells us that “being like us” or what constitute “us” does not necessarily mean that one will be “of us” (Brown 86). Victor Frankenstein attempted to create life but instead made a monster both in his creation and of himself. An entity might be created into being by the assortment of parts but it does not necessarily mean that one will become a human being. For being a human requires acceptance and a soul which the monsters in Shelley’s Frankenstein did not have. Thus they were reduced to being monsters, driven by the feeling of desolation and revenge, and were monsters not only in terms of physical form, but also in action. As a man creating another, “perfection is unattainable” (Kessler 147) and what Victor Frankenstein gave the monster is not life but just the experience of being created (Kessler 85). The experience that Victor Frankenstein provided the monster was not factors that can be considered as a human experience because it is devoid of human connection and filled with misery, desolation and alienation. There was no other way that his monster could turn out to be, but a monster, a flawed creation of a flawed creator playing as god. III. Conclusion Despite the title and motif of characters that attracts interest due to the peculiar nature of how the creature was brought to life, the genius of the novel is not really on the novelty of Frankenstein’s creation from different parts of human being, but rather, on the circumstances that could transform a man to become a monster. More than the external appearance of Frankenstein, what is interesting really is Shelley’s exploration on the dark nature of man, its pathway to darkness, on how the absence and loss of love could drive a creature or man into hatred. Works Cited Kessler, Jeremy. “Creating Frankenstein”. New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology & Society, 25(2009):82-89. Shelley, Mary. “Frankenstein. The Pennsylvania State University Electronic Classic Series. 1818. http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/fr~stein/frank~in.pdf [Accessed March 21, 2012) Read More