Analysis of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Literature review Example

Lecturer Essay # Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Frankenstein is the most famous work by Mary Shelley, an English and dramatist. Shelley’s father, William Godwin, was a philosopher and historian while her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft was a philosopher and feminist. Although her mother died when she was less than two weeks old, Shelley was raised by his father who later married a neighbor Jane Clairmont (Pastore, ed., 10). Shelley was thus exposed to philosophers, historians and other great people at an early age. Shelley’s growth in the world of literature blossomed when she got married to Percy Bysshe, a poet (Pastore, ed., 11). Shelley and Percy traveled across several countries in Europe including France and Germany. Throughout this period, Shelley was freely writing. She also helped in editing and promoting the poems written by her husband. Through this, Shelley’s skills in writing developed greatly. When she was just 18, Shelley began writing the novel Frankenstein, and it was published two years later. This has remained to be one of her most popular works. She passed away in 1853 aged 53 (Pastore, ed., 14). The novel mainly centers on a scientist named Victor Frankenstein, who creates a being like man, but more powerful. By reading the novel, it is evident that the idea of the Gothic novel and the Romantic Movement are infused. There are a number of similarities between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he made. This essay explores some of these similarities and differences. A deeper reading of this novel reveals that both Victor Frankenstein and his creature have similar characteristics and personalities. First, both are self-centered people whose main aim is to pursue happiness and fulfill their dreams. Victor’s desire to create life is a personal wish he fulfills with total disregard of the people around him. . In fact, Victor says that “One of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention was the structure of the human frame” (Shelley, 50). This was his main desire. It was at this point that he decided to make a “to make the being of a gigantic stature” (Shelley, 50).He does not take time to look at the consequences of what he is about to do. In the end, his creation ends up affecting everybody. When Victor enters Ingolstadt University, he studies chemistry and philosophy. It is while still at the university that he is consumed by a strong desire to understand the secret of life. He is later convinced that he has found the secret of life. He then spends months making his creature from body parts and chemicals. Clearly, this illustrates the self-centered nature of Victor, whose main aim is to fulfill his dreams without any regard for the people around him. In the end, the monster creates havoc, killing people in the process. Similarly, Victor’s creation can be seen as a self centered being. When Victor abandons this creature, it attempts to integrate into the society and live with other humans. Unfortunately, the creature realizes that he is different and takes revenge by hurting people. Just like Victor, the creature is mainly concerned about pursuing its own happiness, and in the process, hurting others. His emotions and instincts lead him to hurt others, including murdering of Victor’s brother and friend. Both Victor and the monster have a strong liking for literature and the hunger to obtain knowledge. While Victor uses literature to understand scientific facts, the monster uses literature to learn and understand people. For instance, in his attempt to understand human nature and the human body, Victor spent days and nights reading and researching about this phenomenon. As noted in the novel, after many days and nights of hard labor, Victor “succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life” (Shelley, 52). Victor had spent many years as a young Swiss boy reading the works of famous alchemists in Geneva. This was his background that gave him the chance to join University at Ingolstadt and also the knowledge he wanted to understand human nature and anatomy. While at the University, Victor’s desire for knowledge and his liking for literature make him grasp all what his professors teach him. Victor chose to ignore his family and social life in order to get a chance to acquire the knowledge he had desired; “Two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries” (Shelley, 50). Similarly, the monster has a string desire for knowledge, and uses literature to understand people and integrate into the society. For example, while living with the cottagers, the monster takes time to learn the language of the cottagers, together with a woman named Safie. The monster notes that “My days were spent in close attention, that I might more speedily master the language” (Shelley, 139). This illustrates his hunger for knowledge in his attempt to integrate into the society. Both the monster and Victor have a strong desire to create family bonds. Although Victor spent most of the time studying and working on his creature, he still has a strong desire to have a family. This desire is well brought out when members of his family die. He begins to deteriorate, feeling that without his family, his life is pointless. For example, Victor shows very strong emotions and loving thoughts about Henry Clerval, his childhood friend. He says that “…I united myself in the bonds of the closest friendship” (Shelley, 32). In addition, he expresses loving thoughts about Elizabeth. When Henry dies, Victor says that “[he] gasped for breath; and; throwing myself on the body” (Shelley, 216). Victor had a very happy childhood, and this made him develop strong bonds with his family. His life at the university made him feel lonely, and after making the monster, he realized the need to go back to his family. When Victor lost his father, brother and wife, his desire to live vanished. Similarly, the monster is shown to be a being in need of family love. When Victor abandons him, he becomes sad and bitter. To the monster, Victor was his father because he had crated him. The monster’s desire for a family drives him to seek refuge in De Lacey household. The monster did everything he could to live among the cottagers, although these efforts bore no fruits. At some point, the monster asked Victor to make him a wife, further emphasizing his desire to have a companion and family. “‘Shall each man,’ cried he, ‘find a wife for his bosom and each beast have his mate, and I be alone” (Shelley, 205). Although there are clear similarities between Victor and the monster, there are notable differences as well. Whereas Victor is delicate and polite, the monster is more brutal and forceful. Victor was raised as a humble and loving man, and this strong family background made grow into a polite person. For instance, in the opening chapter of the novel, Victor acknowledges that “every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control” (Shelley, 27). The monster, on the other hand, lacks this gentleness and patience. He is portrayed as a forceful and brutal creature. For instance, while at the cottage observing the young girl and the old man through the crevice from his dwelling, the monster was filled with “sensations of a peculiar and overpowering nature; they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced” (Shelley, 126). This illustrates how the monster, unlike Victor, is governed my emotions and lacks self control. This explains why the monster ended up killing and causing harm. Victor on the other hand was raised to be patient and tolerant and has the ability to control his emotions. Unlike Victor, the monster never had the opportunity to access education and lacked the support of close family members. The De Lacey family was the monster’s only hope of getting knowledge, whereas Victor had a solid background that allowed him to join university. At one point, the monster told Victor that “I learned, from the views of social life which it developed, to admire their virtues and to deprecate the vices of mankind” (Sheeley, 151). It can be argued that Victor’s family was an important source of knowledge for him. He had sold backing from his parents. On the contrary, the monster’s only source of such backing was the De Lacey family, which never appreciated him anyway. In conclusion, the monster and Victor are very similar, although some differences are notable. Both are portrayed to have a self-centered approach to life where they will do anything to achieve maximum happiness. Like Victor, the monster has a strong desire for knowledge and education. He uses the De Lacey family as his school to learn about human nature. Victor, having had the opportunity to study in university, uses his quest for knowledge to understand human beings and human anatomy. However, the monster is shown to be guided by emotions and natural instincts and lacks self control. Victor on the other hand is gentle and polite. Works Cited Pastore, Michael (Ed.). Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus (1831edition) by Mary Shelley. Zobra Press, 2002. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Planet eBook.com. Web < http://www.planetebook.com/ebooks/frankenstein.pdf >. 25 Feb. 2015 Read More