...Throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, the theme of loneliness and isolation can be seen through the characters Victor Frankenstein and the Monster as well as some smaller role characters Robert Walton, Elizabeth and Safie through each of their experiences in life. A key character in the book, Victor Frankenstein is depicted multiple times as suffering through loneliness and isolation in his young life, his career and from the aftermath of his decisions. The Monster as well is depicted going through the struggle of loneliness as soon as his creation, all the way to his death. Robert Walton can be seen suffering loneliness on his journey to the north while Elizabeth and Safie can be seen suffering through loneliness in their lives. Through these characters the theme of loneliness and isolation is seen in each of their stories. A key character in the book Victor Frankenstein can be seen suffering through the constant theme of loneliness brought on by others but many times him. The first time in the book where Victor feels the suffering of loneliness is when his mother dies before he sets off to school in Ingolstadt. When hearing the news of his mother’s death he is quite shocked and come to a tough realization, “I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions...was now alone. In the university...I must form my own friends and be my own protector” (34). Victor had always been cared for by his parents and now with his mother gone and him moving to a new place made him feel...
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...Frankenstein exhibits the negative effects of what isolation can do to a person or character. There is three characters who contribute to Frankenstein’s overall theme of depression and isolation. More specifically, the three characters who appear as narrator's experience the greatest distress and isolation. Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankenstein’s creation. Each of the three characters experience their heartache in different ways and for differing reasons, but they can all relate because of the problems they go through in the novel. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, three of the main characters experience isolation, which causes them emotional instability and depression that leads to their awful and distressful lives. Frankenstein’s...
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...Name: Course: Tutor: Date: The theme of alienation in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein Frankenstein, as a book, is one that is rich with ideas on how mankind can be able to utilize knowledge for evil and good intentions. The book also brings out how some individual, those without knowledge or ‘defected’, are treated by society at large. In another instance, the book helps to illustrate how mankind views and is affected by technology. One of the main characters of the story is Victor Frankenstein. Victor is a young scientist obsessed with finding the unknown secret of life. To this end, he manages to create a creature out of dead organs; in his laboratory. At first, the monster is gentle, but mankind negative attitude and fear towards it manages to change that. To this end, the monster seeks revenge towards its creator; it manages to do so by killing close relatives of its creator. The book clearly illustrates the theme of alienation and the innocent bystanders that are directly affected by it. Frankenstein and his character are presented as one complete thing; with one being a complement of the other. This paper aims to explore and support the theme of alienation in Mary’s book. The book starts with a clear illustration of alienation in the form of the scientist; victor. Victor has faced alienation almost his entire life. The alienation is seen from his childhood, work, and the society at large. The life of victor is that of science; his mission and goal being that of trying...
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...Name: Course: Tutor: Date: The theme of alienation in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein Frankenstein, as a book, is one that is rich with ideas on how mankind can be able to utilize knowledge for evil and good intentions. The book also brings out how some individual, those without knowledge or ‘defected’, are treated by society at large. In another instance, the book helps to illustrate how mankind views and is affected by technology. One of the main characters of the story is Victor Frankenstein. Victor is a young scientist obsessed with finding the unknown secret of life. To this end, he manages to create a creature out of dead organs; in his laboratory. At first, the monster is gentle, but mankind negative attitude and fear towards it manages to change that. To this end, the monster seeks revenge towards its creator; it manages to do so by killing close relatives of its creator. The book clearly illustrates the theme of alienation and the innocent bystanders that are directly affected by it. Frankenstein and his character are presented as one complete thing; with one being a complement of the other. This paper aims to explore and support the theme of alienation in Mary’s book. The book starts with a clear illustration of alienation in the form of the scientist; victor. Victor has faced alienation almost his entire life. The alienation is seen from his childhood, work, and the society at large. The life of victor is that of science; his mission and goal being that of trying...
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...observing Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” it is apparent that her writing style gives off a very gloomy and gothic vibe. Mary Shelley incorporates many themes within the story of “Frankenstein,” that incorporate isolation, self-discovery, and death throughout the whole novel. Isolation is a key role player when it comes to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” because it defines many different things for both the reader and writer. We see it first occurring when Victor creates a creature that he eventually becomes afraid of. Victor runs away and never wants to encounter this creature again. Although at the same time, if we read Mary Wollstonecraft’s biography, we learn that she felt unwanted from her family as well. Wollstonecraft says, “Now I look back, I cannot help attributing the greater part of my...
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...Frankenstein is a story of a creature and its creator. Victor Frankenstein, as a young boy , saw lightning strike a tree and was inspired to study the theory of Galvanism. Once as a teenager, he went to college to further his education and studies to try and reanimate a corpse by using the ideals of Galvanism. One night Victor creates his greatest creation but is horrified and disgusted by it and drove his creation into isolation. Victor failed to fulfill the responsibilities a creator has over his creation. The theme of Frankenstein is family, society, and isolation and how it affects a person and their loved ones. After Victor created the monster, he felt that the monster would go and cause harm to his family so he made sure to send the creature away. Robert Walton shows...
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...management. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one certain character attempts to avoid his responsibility caused by his genuine desire and determinism for knowledge and fame, which eventually brings a catastrophic tragedy for the novel as a whole. Mary Shelley incorporates themes such as nature of man, curiosity, dangers of knowledge, expectations versus reality, the pursuit of fame and popularity to achieve and depict the character’s actions and reactions. In Shelley’s novel, Victor Frankenstein is depicted as a character that creates the creature and is the primary...
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...“Chapter Four Is The Most Gothic Chapter of Frankenstein” How Do You Respond To This View? To try to judge the extent of a single chapter’s gothic values and then measure it outside of the context of the entire work is an absurd notion. One chapter cannot be more gothic than another. Yet, if forced to select a chapter that contains the most gothic elements, chapter 4 most definitely does, not only having all the major gothic elements of Frankenstein like horror, transgressive desires, extremes of emotions and other generic gothic features but also depth regarding these elements other chapters lack. This depth is shown in the common theme common to Frankenstein of transgressive desires, firstly legally transgressive. In order to create his ‘creature’ Victor had to use the body parts of corpses, this meant he had to dig them up, known in the time as bodysnatching and was illegal. Yet these actions are also socially and philosophically transgressive, Victor felt he ‘must observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body’. Contextually this was a current issue at the time Shelly wrote the novel but also the idea of watching bodies decay is unnatural as socially one should respect the dead and this subverts that completely. To Victor ‘a churchyard to [him] was merely a reciprocal of bodies’, this complete lack of any religious morals is contextually and contemporarily shocking and taboo. Not only does it imply the absence of God and actively disrespects his land...
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...Only the Lonely Frankenstein is Mary Shelley's most notable piece of work, written when she was only eighteen years old. The novel explores the theme of loneliness and rejection. The monster created by Victor Frankenstein is rejected by human society because of his appearance. Mary Shelley explores the feelings of how the creature is utterly ignored and abused by the society. I believe the novel became a reflection of the inner state of Mary Shelly. It reflects sufferings and loses that occurred in the own authors life. As notes Anthony Badalamenti in his article Why did Mary Shelley Write Frankenstein: “She was also the product of her own past, suffering three successive losses in her early life that reveal why themes of being alone and abandoned run through the novel”(Badalamenti, 431). All these sad events and constant feeling of loneliness helped Mary to create a very deep and powerful character. Victor does not think about possible results of his experiments. He does not think what will happen when he finally succeeds and created a living creature. He is severely punished by his attitude when the creature created by him turns into a monster. Shelley illustrates that the guilt for murders can not be put only on Frankenstein's creation. Society and social norms finally result in the feeling of loneliness and estrangement. “The monster complains that his maker and mankind are moving his nature from goodness and benevolence to wrath and violence. He attempts the company of...
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...How is the abuse of power shown in two works that you have studied? The works I have studied and will be exploring in this essay are Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ and Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. In ‘Frankenstein’ the abuse of power is most clearly exhibited by the protagonist of the story Frankenstein himself, his abuse of power results in his isolation and could serve as a warning to people, telling them not to play with forces that they can not control. In ‘Heart of Darkness’, Conrad abuses his power as the author to distance himself from the novella and in a sense absolve himself from any racist criticism the book may induce. The abuse of power is also a key theme in the novella itself. Firstly there is a sense of hypocrisy in the novella where the abuse of power is concerned, Marlow seems to have a slight reluctance to abuse his power over the natives, however he abuses his power before he even gets to the Congo, when he attains the job unfairly through the position held by his aunt in the company. Secondly the idea that the white western men have a superior culture and feel the need to impose their civility on the outrageous and almost in-human savages inhabiting the Congo is the most obvious abuse of power implicated in the short story. Overall the abuse of power in both novels is shown to end badly for the party involved. Marlow sees the abuse of power leave people without their minds, and Shelly’s novel also demonstrates this to some degree, but highlights...
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...humans. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, many themes are explored but one is highlighted through out the book. The strongest of all the themes explored is isolation and the impact it has when humanity is lacking in ones life. This major idea of isolation and the absence of humanity is demonstrated through out the book. Victor isolates himself from his family and fellow students, as well as his friends. The monster is isolated and treated cruelly from beginning to end. Victor is one of the characters who isolates himself from the other characters in the book. This is shown due to his hunger in the pursuit of knowledge, and the immense amount of time in which he spends in carrying out his scientific experiments. Although the whole time Victor blames the monster for his isolation, he in fact chooses this path for himself. Mary Shelly writes, “From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry,… became nearly my sole occupation.” (pg 45) By never visiting his family or corresponding to them he shows that this is his choice alone. Shelly exhibits this also, “Two years passed in this manner in which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries, which I hoped to make.” (pg 45) Most of victor’s life struggles and problems stem from his isolation towards his family unit. The creation of the monster and the fact that he kept it a secret ends up to be his demise. The monster also reflects the theme of alienation in the novel...
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...Frankenstein Science AO2 Unrestrained scientific desire: ‘they penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding places’ • ‘they ascend into the heavens’ ‘new and almost unlimited powers’ ‘penetrate’ ‘command’ ‘mimic’ • ‘with fervour’ • ‘performed miracles’ • ‘unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation’ • ‘secret’ ‘hidden laws’ • How dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge’ Power: ‘as if my soul were grappling with a powerful enemy’ • ‘like a hurricane’ ‘pour a torrent of light’ • ‘pursued’ ‘unremitting ardour’ ‘clung’ ‘dedicated myself’ ‘secret toil’ ‘tremble’ ‘tortured’ • ‘one pursuit’ • ‘tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man’ • ‘I preferred glory’ • ‘until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me- a light so brilliant and wondrous’ Lack of Morality: Transgression against God he mocks the power of the creator ‘torrents of light’ ‘a new species would bless me as its creator and source’ ‘many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me’ • ‘eyes insensible to the charms of nature’ • ‘Labours’ scientist in being able to mimic and usurp traditional creation methods; existence of an immortal soul? • Responsibility for creation image reinforced ‘inarticulate sounds’ Pursuit: ‘deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge’ • ‘Pursuit for discovery and wonder’ attracted to the tree of knowledge ‘eternal light’ back to biblical times, tree of knowledge...
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...As Max Cady stated in Cape Fear: “Now you will learn about loss! Loss of freedom! Loss of humanity! Now you and I will truly be the same…” words which are so incredibly applicable to the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and the film Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott. Both these texts raise questions about humanity, particularly its loss due to advancements of science and technology, in an effort to challenge views of their respective societies. However, whilst Shelley created her novel in the 1800s, a revolutionary time of the Romantics responding to the Enlightenment, Scott created his film during the 1980s, a time of war, commercialism and commoditisation of lifestyle, thus each text automatically privileges different perspectives whilst exploring this common theme. By examining the texts side-by-side we, like Cady, learn about loss in general, and loss of humanity in particular, as we explore the strong connections between two texts created in diverse contexts. Both texts question the ‘humanity’ of the creators, with, in Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein reflecting on the Romantic emphasis of the hero within the individual, yet the portrayal of this protagonist seems to query society’s very values. Being one of the first “gothic romantic” novels, the creation of a new being for self-centered purposes, due to his perception that “A new species would bless me as its creator”, confronts the 1800’s context about the motives of individuals. This focus on self glorification...
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...In the novel , “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley, it is composed by the theme of family, society, and isolation. With this in mind, tragedy, murder, and despair occur simply because of lack of connection. People ask why the monster seeks revenge on his creator. At first it is nothing but joy and happiness because Victor creates a monster brining him from the dead. However, the monster begins to feel emotions and begins to have desires of his own. With this in mind, the novel's theme of how revenge can affect someone and his or her family creates and paints a picture of drama and suspense. The novel includes Family, Society, and Isolation. As a result, the monster victor has created demolished Visitor’s family. Victor had denied the creatures desires of having a woman monster to live with. The monster became really upset and he threatened Victor by telling him,”It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night..” (Shelley 74). Victor became really frightened and decided to flee away in a boat. Once he arrived to town they gave him the news that Justine, Clerval, and William had been murdered. Furthermore, Victor was put in jail two months later where...
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...sympathy? The theme of sympathy is used throughout the novel ‘Frankenstein’. Mary Shelley has used it in order for us as the reader to feel sorrow for both Victor Frankenstein and the monster. A reason why Mary Shelley used sympathy repeatedly could be connected to the fact that she had such a tough life, she had been surrounded by death and sadness; her mum died giving birth to her, 3 of her 4 children died, her half sister committed suicide and her sons first wife drowned herself. This pain and suffering that she has gone through her whole life is very similar to what Victor Frankenstein went through, and Shelley could have related parts of it about her. This is seen when she emphasizes the pain Victor feels for Elizabeth and William, when they are murdered by the monster. When the monster first comes to life, Frankenstein says “but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and the breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” this is the first point, where the reader sympathise for the monster because his creator, his “father” detests him, and neglects him, he receives no instruction or assistance at helping himself blend into a normal society. Later on in chapter 5, Victor meets up with his old friend Henry Clerval for the first time in ages, Henry comments on his health saying “I did not before remark how very ill you appear so thin and pale; and look as if you had been watching several nights” this makes us feel sympathy for Frankenstein because he is...
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