The creature in Frankenstein plays an important role in the novel. Mary Shelly writes good and bad aspects of the creature, that makes the audience sympathise for it. The monster was at first described ugly by the creator himself Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 5 “How can I describe my emotions of catastrophe” and where Victor describes the horrid complexion of each part of the creature. In the novel, Victor also describes the creature in parts, making it sound inhuman. Victor then goes on saying “His jaws open”. The word “jaws” refers to animals such as Dogs, and it shows that the creature is an “it” and not mentioned as a human. Victor Frankenstein’s past was tragic as he had felt great pain and grief of loosing close friends and family members. After his mother passing away, Victor had motivations and intensions of making it so that people did not have to feel the pain of loosing the close ones, and so he wanted to make life to prove that science can revive and cure people. He done this by making the creature, and Victors emotions of disgust is shown in chapter 5. The creature is shown in a different perspective where kindness is portrayed when he helps the exiled family. Sympathy is drawn to the creature “… and I have no relation or friends upon earth” “I am full of fears”. This shows that the monster has emotions as he is lonely and scared. Moreover, the creature shows qualities of itself “my life has been hitherto harmless and in some degree beneficial, but a fatal prejudice clouds their eyes.” The monster in this chapter is described differently as this part of the story is through the creature’s point of view, and the audience sympathises towards the creature as it shows that there is kindness in him and that people should not judge him by the way he looks, but the way he reacts towards other people. There is a twist of feelings towards this creature as it has been abundant again and it feels angry that people will not accept him in the society. He wants to seek for revenge on the creator (Victor) and seeks to kill Victor’s friends and family. The creature shows both good and bad aspects of itself, however the readers sympathise for it because people from that time and era did not accept him in that society, just as they did not accept science and its advancement in that time of era.
Frankenstein was set in the year 1794 where scientists were exploring and discovering parts of the world where civilisation had first stepped foot on untouched lands. 1794 is an important time in history, as this is where science advancement took place, where Scientists first discovered new forms of energy and learnt how to revive lives with the “electric shock”. The early 19th century saw an increasing conflict with religious beliefs and how science and using scientific methods to revive and cure people was “playing God”. The clash between science and religion was mainly introduced at this point of time. The idea of the novel “Frankenstein” shows this conflict and it relates to how the knowledge of science and using it in the wrong way had an impact on the society of the early 19th century. It reveals that Victor Frankenstein created a creature to prove to everyone that science can create, revive and cure lives; however the advancement of science introduced fear to the general religious public as they could not accept the fact that this was “playing God”. Science and its advancement was introduced early in time, which created a mixture of feeling of fear, dread and wonder to the religious public that created a clash between Science and religion.
The time and era reflects on the science advancement. Science advancement and technologies such as vaccination to prevent illnesses were introduced early in time, creating clashes with science and religion.