An Analysis of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay Example for Free

An Analysis of bloody shame Shelleys Frankenstein Essaybloody shame Wollstonecraft Shelley was born(p) in London in 1797 to radical philosopher, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Wollstonecraft died 11 years afterwards giving birth, and young Mary was educated in the intellectual circles of her fathers contemporaries. In 1814, at the duration of seventeen, Mary met and fell in love with poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. She ran away with him to France and they were married in 1816 after Shelleys wife act suicide.Percy Shelley was a prominent poet of the Romantic Movement along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and Shelleys friend, Lord Byron. As his wife and attach to, Mary Shelley was unresolved to the same influences as her husband, and this Romanticism influenced her work. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein after Byron introduced a challenge to discern whom among the three writers Percy Shelley, Mary Shell ey, and Byron himself could write the best ghost story.The tumultuous French Revolution, which began before her birth, solely had far-reaching echoes in society and literature, as well as the Industrial Revolution of England in the 18th Century, were influences on Mary Shelleys life and work. The push-d birth storage performance and dehumanization of the Industrial Revolution posed a threat to the Romantic ideals of the importance of the individual, the truelove of nature, and the emotional and free spirit. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, can be seen as a protest once against this scientific revolution.Scientific progress was a large vocalisation of this century of discovery. Darwin, a leading scientific count with his theories of evolution, was a personal friend of Shelleys husband, so science was not an ignored topic in her life. Advances in medicine and the need for cadavers also figured into the time in which Mary Shelley lived. At this time in London grave robbin g was a normal occurrence because men dubbed the resurrection men would sell the stolen bodies to teaching hospitals so that medical students could dissect and study them. This knowledge makes the idea of winner Frankensteins underminenging graveyards for parts seem less shocking.Frankenstein addresses common Romantic themes of isolation and the beauty of nature, however when it also deals with loss, which Mary Shelley knew a great deal somewhat. festering up aimless, Mary also lost her sister to suicide, as well as losing three of her own children to miscarriage and early childhood deaths. In 1822 her husband drowned in the Gulf of Spezzia, and she was left, twenty-five years old, with just one remaining son. She remained unmarried and died in London in 1851.Although she wrote several other books, including Valperga (1823), The Last piece of music (1826), Lodore (1835), and Falkner (1837), Frankenstein is her most well known work. The critics greeted Mary Shelleys novel wi th a combination of praise and disdain (Moss and Wilson). The maverick studies of Frankenstein were shocking to critics, but despite the critical attacks, Frankenstein caused a literary sensation in London. The novel convulsion smoothly into the popular gothic genre (Moss and Wilson). But more than just a popular farming novel, Frankenstein has lasted over time. The novel became one of the triumphs of the Romantic movement due to its themes of alienation and isolation and its warning ab unwrap the destructive power that can result when human creativity is unfettered by moral and societal concerns (Moss and Wilson)Mary Wolstonecraft ShelleyPLOTFrankenstein, set in Europe in the 1790s, begins with the earn of Captain Robert Walton to his sister. These earn physique the framework for the story in which Walton tells his sister the story of maestro Frankenstein and his nut as Frankenstein told it to him.Walton set turn up to explore the North covering fire. The ship got conf ine in frozen water and the crew, watching around them, apothegm a giant man in the distance on a sleigh. Hours later they found Frankenstein and his dogsled near theship, so they brought the sick man aboard. As he recovered, Frankenstein told Walton his story so that Walton would learn the charge of pursuing glory at any cost.Frankenstein grew up in a perfectly lovable and piano Swiss family with an especially close tie to his adopted cousin, Elizabeth, and his dear friend Henry Clerval. As a young boy, Frankenstein became obsessed with studying outdated theories about what gives humans their life spark. In college at Ingolstadt, he created his own perfect human from scavenged ashes parts, but once it lived, the creature was hideous. Frankenstein was disgusted by its ugliness, so he ran away from it.Henry Clerval came to Ingolstadt to study with Frankenstein, but ended up nursing him after his tucker out and secret efforts to create a perfect human life. While Frankenstein r ecovered from his illness over numerous months and then studied languages with Clerval at the college, the demon wandered around come outing for friendship. After several harsh encounters with humans, the dickens became afraid of them and spent a long time living near a cottage and detect the family who lived there. Through these observations he became educated and realized that he was very different from the humans he watched. unwrap of loneliness, the the Tempter sought the friendship of this family, but they were afraid of him, and this rejection made him seek vengeance against his creator.He went to geneva and met a little boy in the woodlands. The behemoth hoped to kidnap him and keep him as a companion, but the boy was Frankensteins younger brother, so the fiend killed him to get hazard at his creator. Then the monster deep-rooted the necklace he removed from the childs body on a beautiful girl who was later executed for the crime.When Frankenstein wise(p) of his brothers death, he went back to Geneva to be with his family. In the woods where his young brother was remove, Frankenstein saw the monster and knew that he was Williams murderer. Frankenstein was ravaged by his sorrow and guilt for creating the monster who wreaked so much destruction, and he went into the mountains totally to check peace. Instead of peace, Frankenstein was approached by the monster who then demanded that he create a female monster to be the monsters companion.Frankenstein, fearing for his family, agreed to and went to England to do his work. Clerval accompanied Frankenstein, but they separated in Scotland and Frankenstein began his work. When he was almost finished, he changed his mind because he didnt want to be responsible for the carnage another monster could create, so he destroyed the project. The monster vowed revenge on Frankensteins upcoming wedding night. Before Frankenstein could return home, the monster murdered Clerval.Once home, Frankenstein marri ed his cousin Elizabeth right away and prepared for his death, but the monster killed Elizabeth instead and the grief of her death killed Frankensteins father. After that, Frankenstein vowed to pursue the monster and destroy him. Thats how Frankenstein ended up near the North Pole where Waltons ship was trapped. A few days after Frankenstein finished his story, Walton and his crew decided to turn back and go home. Before they left, Frankenstein died and the monster appeared in his room. Walton heard the monsters explanation for his vengeance as well as his remorse before he left the ship and traveled toward the Pole to destroy himself so that no(prenominal) would ever know of his existence.CHARACTERSMajor CharactersRobert Walton Indirect narrator of the story, he tells succeeder Frankensteins story through letters to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton is a self-educated man who set out to reach and explore the North Pole and risk an Arctic passage to connect the Atlantic and Pa cific Oceans. While his ship is locked in ice, his crew sees Frankensteins monster pass by on a dog sled and Frankenstein himself, exhausted and weakened, not far behind. They bear away Frankenstein aboard and Walton nurses him and talks with him because he has been longing for a friend. In seeing Waltons raw intake to explore the North Pole at all costs, Frankenstein is prompted to tell the story of his destruction that a similar ambition brought upon him. After Frankensteins death and just before the ship heads back to England, Walton is also the last to see the monster before he goes north to kill himself. superior Frankenstein Frankenstein is the eldest son of a wealthy, Genevese man, Alphonse, and his young wife, Carolean. original grows up in the perfect family with a happy childhood and a unending and devoted companion in his adopted cousin, Elizabeth. He is sensitive, intelligent, and passionate about his interests and becomes absorbed in the quest to find out what crea tes life. While away at college in Ingolstadt, winner creates a being from scavenged corpse parts and gives it life, but is repulsed by its hideousness once it lives. The monster, in retaliation for achievers negligence, destroys his life by killing glum those maestro loves. lord chases him to the far reaches of the Arctic planning to destroy him and then die to escape his misery and remorse at his creation, but he dies aboard Waltons ship before he can catch the monster.The Monster Created by overlord Frankenstein in Ingolstadt, the monster is a conglomeration of human parts with inhuman strength. He is so hideous that Victor, his own creator, cannot stand to look upon him. He is loving and gentle at the beginning of his life, puerile in his curiosity and experiences, but after several harsh encounters with humans, he becomes bitter. He seeks revenge on his creator for making him so hideous and rendering him permanently lonely because of his ugliness. He offers Frankenstein peace in exchange for a companion of like origin, but when Frankenstein does not comply, he vows to destroy him and begins killing off Frankensteins friends and family those figures he most envies because he does not have them. After finding Frankenstein dead aboard Waltons ship, the monster goes further north with plans to destroy himself and end the suffering that Frankenstein began when he created him.Elizabeth Lavenza Adopted cousin of Victor Frankenstein. Elizabeth was a beautiful orphan being raised by an Italian peasant family when Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein adopted her. She became Victors constant companion and he watched over her as if she were his own possession from their meeting when he was 5 years old. Her beauty and kindness made her adored almost reverently by all who knew her, and it was taken for given that she and Victor would marry. She is the gentling influence and the comforter for themales of the Frankenstein family when Caroline dies, and her beauty and goodness are constant throughout her life. She and Victor are married, but on their wedding night, the monster strangles Elizabeth to punish Victor for not creating for him a companion creature.Henry Clerval Life-long friend of Victor Frankenstein, Henry was poetic, sensitive and caring, and their friendship was a strong one. When Victor was in Ingolstadt so long without sending word to his family, Henry relocated there to study and to look after Victor. Henry nursed him through a long period of illness before Victor returned to Geneva. Later they traveled together to England and Scotland, but while they were there, the monster strangled Henry to punish Victor. Victor was accused of the murder, but was acquitted.Justine Moritz Servant in the Frankenstein household, Justine was another beautiful, gentle, and kind addition to the Frankenstein family whom Caroline took in to do by for and educate. When Caroline got scarlet fever, Justine nursed her, and after Caroline died, Justine r eturned to her own mother. Her mother too became ill and died, so Justine returned to the Frankenstein home to help raise the two sons Caroline had left when she died. Justine was a grateful and faithful part of their household, but she was accused of 5-year-old William Frankensteins murder when a locket he had been wearing was found in her dress. Although she had been framed by the monster and was innocent, she was executed and Victor considered her death his fault because he created the monster who framed her.Alphonse Frankenstein Victor Frankensteins father, Alphonse was a wealthy and benevolent man who loved his wife and his children very dearly. He rescued Caroline Beaufort, missy of his close friend, from poverty after her fathers death. He was a doting husband and father bent by the grief of loss after loss until he dies from accumulated sorrow and shock.Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein Wife of Alphonse and mother of Victor, Ernest, and William, Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein was the daughter of a once-wealthy friend of Alphonse. Planning to aid his friend, Alphonse foundhis home and went there only to find Caroline weeping over his coffin. Alphonse took her into his home and married her two years later. They had a loving relationship and cared for their children very much. She was a good, beautiful, and gentle woman adored by all her family until she died from the scarlet fever she contracted nursing Elizabeth back to health.Minor CharactersMrs. Margaret Saville Sister of Robert Walton, ship captain, Mrs. Saville is significant only because she is the recipient of the letters describing Frankensteins story. Walton writes to her of the progress of his journey and his acquaintance with Frankenstein.Beaufort Friend of Alphonse Frankenstein and Carolines father, Beaufort lost his wealth and relocated to escape the humiliation of his poverty. Caroline nursed him as his health declined and was weeping over his coffin when Alphonse found her and took her back to Geneva.M. Waldman Chemistry professor at Ingolstadt. His lectures revive Victors interest in discovering the spark of life and creation.Ernest Frankenstein Victors brother. Ernest is 7 years younger than Victor and is only mentioned a few times, the longest reference in a letter to Victor from Elizabeth. She mentions that Ernest wants to gather the Swiss military.William Frankenstein Victors youngest brother, William is sweet, happy, greatly adored by his family. William is strangled in the woods while the family was out for a walk. His is the initiatory of the monsters victims, and Justine is framed for the murder.De Lacey Family Felix, Agatha, and their blind father. This is the family of cottagers near where the monster lives. They are French exiles living in Germany because Felix helped an unjustly imprisoned Turk escape. He watches them and over time learns to speak and read from observing them. The monsterbecomes attached to them and chops wood for them as well as other small services without revealing himself to them. He craves their acceptance and gist and educates himself further to win them over. When he seeks their affection, however, they are afraid of him and their scorn sends him away. This rejection sends him on a quest to find Victor, his creator, and seek vengeance.Muhammadan Turk Felix aided and for whom the De Lacey family was exiled to Germany. Muhammadan was unjustly condemned for reasons of religion and wealth, and Felix helped him escape, falling in love with Muhammadans daughter, Safie, along the way. Muhammadan promises to allow them to marry, but plans secretly to take Safie back to bomb calorimeter with him.Safie Daughter of Muhammadan and Arabian Christian woman. Safie falls in love with Felix and doesnt want to return to the oppressive country of her birth. When her father leaves for Turkey with the expectation that she will follow soon after with all of his possessions, she seeks out Felix and lives with him and his family in Germany.M. Kirwin Irish magistrate who cares for Victor when he falls ill after being accused of Henrys murder. Kirwin is sympathetic and believes Victor is innocent, so he has a doctor care for Victor while he is imprisoned and also sends for Alphonse.SETTINGSGeneva Geneva, Switzerland. sign of the zodiac of the Frankenstein family where Victor grew up and to which he returned after college and the creation of the monster. The murders of William and Justine were located in the area around Geneva.Ingolstadt Ingolstadt, Germany. Victor went to college in Ingolstadt and created the monster in his laboratory there. This was the city of the monsters awakening.Mont Blanc A mountain near Geneva. This mountain is referred to again and again in descriptions of scenery throughout the novel. It carries weight as a mark of Romanticism because it is the bow of a storied poem by William Wordsworth, one of Mary Shelleys contemporaries.Orkney Islands Orkney Islands, Scotland. Victor stays i n a hut on one of the sparsely populated Orkney Islands to create a second creature to be a companion to the monster.North Pole Destination of Robert Walton and his ship as well as the monster and Victor. Walton is bound for the North Pole to explore in the hopes of uncovering secrets of the earth and gaining glory for his discovery. Victor is adjacent the monster to the North Pole to destroy him or die trying, and they meet while Waltons ship is trapped in ice. Walton and Victor never make it to the North Pole because Waltons men want to turn back for England and Victor dies. The monster, however, is last seen on his way to the furthest point north to destroy himself so that none will know of his hideous existence.Chamounix Frankenstein traveled to Chamounix to escape his guilt and depression, but while he was in Chamounix, the monster approached him about creating a female monster companion for him. The monster lived in an ice cave not far from Chamounix.INTRODUCTIONMary Shelley was born in 1779 in London, England. At the age of sixteen, she met the famous British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she later married.The idea of a man who creates life-in the form of a horrible and grotesque monster-came to Mary in a vivid, waking dream. With her husbands encouragement, she used this idea as the basis for FRANKENSTEIN. It was written when she was only nineteen years old. After Percys death, May Shelley continued to write but produced nothing to equal the success of this unequivocal tale of horror.THE HISTORY OF FRANKENSTEIN1816 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, daughter of one of the worlds first prominent feminists, writes the novel Frankenstein based n a waking dream.1823 Richard Brinsley Peakes Presumption, or the Fate of Frankenstein, the first stage adaptation of the novel, is performed in London.1887 The Vampires Victim, a melodic comedy featuring Fred Leslie as the creature, is presented as a Christmas show and includes dancing bears, two vampires and a femal e Dr. Frankenstein.1910 The first movie version of Frankenstein, a 16-minute dramatization, is produced by Thomas Edisons film company. It stars Charles Ogle as the monster.1928 Hamilton Deane produces an adaptation of Frankenstein, which tours British provinces. Dean himself plays the creature.1930 Frankenstein makes its West End premiere in London.19311957 A script written for a Broadway production is sued as the basis for the screenplay of the Universal Pictures film featuring Boris Karloff. Karloffs performance steals the film.Hammer films produces The Curse of Frankenstein, the first Frankenstein film in color. remote earlier versions, it portrayed Victor Frankenstein as the outright villain of the story.1972 An illustrated version of the story published by Marvel Comics is the first to be told from the monsters point of view. The creature is portrayed as victim, not victimizer.1973 A two-part telecasting movie is produced and released as Frankenstein, the True Story in Ameri ca and Dr. Frankenstein in the United Kingdom. In this story, Victor Frankenstein attempts to save a dying friend by replacing his brain in the reanimated body of a recently dead man.1974 Young Frankenstein, written by and starring Gene Wilder, spoofs the Universal films of the mid-thirties with song and dance numbers. Its the only Frankenstein film with a happy ending.1978 Berni Wrightson publishes a lavishly illustrated adaptation of Frankenstein that visually portrays the creature as originally described by Shelly.1981 Elaborate effects cannot compensate for a sorry script when an ill-conceived stage version of Frankenstein is mounted on Broadway. It starred John Carradine and closed after only one performance.1994 The feminist undertones of the original novel are developed in Mary Shellys Frankenstein, a film starring Tom Hulce and Helena Bonham Carter.