Romanticism is also evident in chapter five in the extract of Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner”. This extract almost perfectly describes Victor’s situation. Victor feels that the “frightful fiend” treads close behind him, and he also feels as if he’s on a “lonesome road”. I feel that Mary Shelley is trying to say that Victor and the Ancient Mariner are both defying God through their actions; they’re disturbing the natural order of the world. I think that with this extract Mary Shelley is trying to say that nobody’s perfect and what little faith she has in perfection-whether it’s the perfection of a monster or the perfection of a man. Victor is therefore no better than the monster. This poetry extract is linked with the extract that Mary Shelley included from Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” in chapter eighteen. This is another typical Romantic extract. It reflects Victor’s thoughts and feelings on seeing Henry Clerval again. Just like in the poem, Victor is feeling replenished, and even sees the gloomiest things in like as, “An appetite, a feeling, and a love”. It also reflects Victor’s love for nature, which is often what romanticism is about.
Chapter five is also particularly significant because it gives us a deeper insight into the character of Victor Frankenstein. We see his inability to describe emotions and also his inability to describe his thoughts. He says, “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe?” Victor doesn’t seem to have a sufficient vocabulary to describe what’s going on around him, but I think it’s more than that. What’s going on around him is so terrifying and unreal that words can’t describe them. We see this again in chapter ten when Victor sees the Monster coming towards him after departing Geneva. Here, he’s so horrified he’s again unable to speak, and this leads to him being unable to cope.
We see how much ambition Victor has in chapter five. Victor had a huge thirst for knowledge, and wanted to know everything. We first see this in chapter two where he says, “It was the secrets of heaven that I desired to learn”. Here we see the extremities of his ambition; he yearns to know what nobody else does. Chapter five sees the result of this ambition: The Monster. Victor has now done something that seemingly nobody has done before-he’s created a monster. Here we see the danger of ambition; just because Victor’s achieved his original goal, it doesn’t mean that he’s any better off. His ambition later leads to the death of his loved ones and himself towards the end of the novel, after all.
Victor can’t seem to face up to what he’s done; he can’t take responsibility for the beast that he’s created. He sees himself as the victim in the situation, describing the Monster’s awakening as, “the tumult I had before endured”. Later on when the Monster has left, whilst talking to Henry Clerval, Victor describes himself as “length free”. This also shows his inability to face up to the consequences of his actions. This continues throughout the novel. Even though Victor states in chapter nine that he began with, “benevolent intentions”, he doesn’t seem to continue these. He also says that he was, “seized by remorse and the sense of guilt”. Although we see here that Victor’s realised and accepted what he’s done and feels sympathy for Justine, we wonder why he didn’t do anything to act on this feeling. We also see how Victor attempts to run away in an attempt to conquer his emotions. His way of coping is not to return to his own apartment. This makes things worse for him-if he doesn’t think about his experiences and blocks them from memory, how’s he going to move on? This again shows his lack of responsibility. As a result of Victor’s behaviour in chapter five, many other people are hurt throughout the novel. Because Victor abandoned the Monster, William died, Justine was sent to prison and Elizabeth and Clerval were murdered. Victor’s father too died of grief. Victor still doesn’t take responsibility, though; he doesn’t seem to be able to comprehend that ultimately it’s entirely his fault.
We also see a lot of how unstable Victor is in chapter five. We see this when he says that he, “jumped over the chairs, clapped my hands and laughed aloud” at the presence of Henry Clerval, his “cold shivering” when he fears the Monster and the dream that he has where Elizabeth turns into his dead mother-a “daemonical corpse”. This shows how much the arrival of the Monster has affected Victor and how it’s changed him. We go on to see his instability throughout the novel. In chapter six, Victor says that he felt that, “the sight of a chemical instrument would renew all of the agony of my nervous symptoms” which confirms his original instability. In chapter eight, we actually see the Monster within Victor as he, “gnashed my teeth and ground them together, uttering a groan that came from my inmost soul”. This isn’t the ordinary actions of a sane man. Victor later goes on to say that he “wandered like an evil spirit”. This is all as a result of the events of chapter five; if the Monster had never come to life, Victor’s mental health would have remained stable.
Chapter five is extremely significant because it’s in chapter five that the Monster actually comes to life. The Monster is introduced to us as being extremely frightful, and the atmosphere (“rain pattered dismally against the panes”) adds to this image. The Monster transforms from a, “lifeless thing” to a monster with a, “dull yellow eye” that opens slowly. He breathes hard, has, “straight black lips” and his skin, “scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath”. It’s as a result of the Monster’s nightmarish appearance that Victor rejects him in chapter five. If the Monster had looked like an ordinary human being, Victor may have embraced him and possibly made more like him. Because of his appearance, the Monster is constantly rejected throughout the novel. When Felix, Safie, Agatha and the old man first see the Monster in chapter sixteen, they are terrified of him. Agatha faints and Safie rushes out of the cottage. Felix then pushes the Monster to the ground and begins beating him vigorously with a stick. This is all because of the way he looks; the Monster hadn’t even spoken. This reveals that at the start of the 19th century, people weren’t supposed to be different. The general public was scared of difference and what they weren’t used to. If somebody was different, they were instantly rejected and pushed aside. To be accepted, you had to fit in.
The monster’s character is explored in this chapter. We see how the Monster first approaches Victor. When he does, his eyes were fixed on Victor, a grin, “wrinkled his cheeks”, he attempted to speak and he stretched out his hand. Victor assumes that the Monster does this to detain him. We as the reader assume this, too, because of the frightening way that Victor describes him. As the novel goes on, though, we realise that this may not be the case. His attempted words could have been a greeting. His grin could have been a friendly grin as opposed to an evil one. His outstretched arm could have been the Monster stretching out for Victor to attempt to help him, or even for Victor to shake his hand. We only feel discontent for the Monster (especially at the beginning of the novel) though, because of the way that Victor describes him. For one, Victor describes him as, “the Monster” instead of naming him. This immediately puts across a negative image of him. Throughout the novel, Victor continues to describe the monster in a menacing way: in chapter five it’s, “daemonical corpse”; in chapter ten he’s described as, “superhuman”; and in chapter six we see Victor’s view on the Monster’s creation described as, “the fatal night, the end of my labours, the beginning of my misfortunes”. This gives us as the reader an incredibly negative view of the Monster. In his fourth letter, Walton says that he only referred to the monster as “daemon” because Victor did. If Victor had given the Monster a fair chance and described him in a more benevolent way in chapter five, we would feel totally different about him over the rest of the novel.
The moon is symbolic throughout the novel, but it’s evident for the first time in chapter five. After Victor awakes from his dream and beholds the Monster, he witnesses the Monster force his way through the window shutters by the, “dim yellow light of the moon”. This is the first of many references linking the Monster and the moon. Throughout the novel the moon is apparent to create tension as we expect the Monster to arrive. For example, in chapter twenty-four, when Victor is seeking revenge on the Monster, he says, “suddenly the broad disk of the moon arose and shone full upon his ghastly and distorted shape”. At this point, the Monster flees. I also think that the moon may have been related to the Monster’s first description. The first description of the Monster was his, “dull yellow eye” and the moon’s first description was, “the dim and yellow light of the moon”. I think that this proves that Mary Shelley wanted the Monster and the moon to be linked in the novel.
We see Victor’s dreams play a vital part in chapter five. We firstly see Victor’s living dreams-what he strives for. In chapter two we’d seen that Victor wanted to create the Monster for glory; he says, “What glory would attend the discovery if I could banish disease from the human frame!” Here we see that Victor was driven by glory and ambition; he longed for recognition. Just after the Monster comes to life in chapter five, however, everything changes as Victor realises that he wouldn’t achieve what he’d originally hoped. Victor says that, “The beauty of the dream had vanished, and the breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”. Here we see that Victor’s dream now has in fact turned into a nightmare. The dream has come up against reality, and reality has won. We see more of how Victor’s dream has turned bitter when Victor attempted to sleep, “endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness”. In his dreams he sees Elizabeth, he embraces and kisses her, but she then turns into the corpse of his dead mother. As Victor wakes up, terrified, he sees the Monster. Here we see that Victor’s dreams are actually a premonition of what will eventually happen. When Victor describes his dream, the language he uses is grave and gothic. Many of the words and phrases he uses are linked with death. “Grave worms” and, “shroud”, and, “livid with the hue of death” are examples of this. This gives the reader an insight into how awful Victor’s dreams really are. After the events of chapter five, we see other examples of Victor’s dreams versus Victor’s reality. In chapter twenty-four, we see how Victor uses his dreams as a way of escaping from his real-life nightmare. In his dreams, he saw his friends, his wife, his father, his country and his youth. Victor says, “During the day I was sustained and inspired by the hope of night”. Here we see how Victor’s changed. He used to be able to strive for his ambitious dreams and what he aimed to achieve and look forward to his unrealistic dreams in his sleep that in reality would never happen. Now, he has to rely on his dreams at night to get any sort of self-satisfaction.
In chapter five there are themes that are again evident throughout the novel. As I mentioned previously, we see in chapter five that Victor creates the Monster to obtain glory. This glory disappears as Victor realises what he’s done. Here we see the danger of what a thirst for ambition can lead to. Similarly, in Walton’s first letter we see that Walton too will risk everything for glory-he says, “I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path”. He the goes on to say that he’s prepared to risk everything for success. Walton later had to turn back his ship, because he knew where to stop and didn’t want to put other peoples’ lives in danger. Victor, however, didn’t know where to stop, and his original ambition led to the deaths of many people.
The theme of responsibility is seen in chapter five and later throughout the novel. We see Victor’s complete lack of responsibility for the first time in chapter five. Victor abandons the Monster, and says that he “did not dare return to the apartment which I inhabited”-he’s running away. When Clerval arrives, Victor tells him that he’s better now that he’s, “length free”. He’s trying to forget about it, and therefore can’t face up to it, move on or even begin to take responsibility. We see this again in chapter eight. Here, Victor talks about his feelings of guilt when Justine is sent to prison, but does nothing about it. In chapter twenty Victor begins to take responsibility when he describes the Monster’s creation as “selfish”. After Elizabeth’s death, however, Victor continues to blame anyone for himself for her death, and talks about how the events had been a “take of horrors”. What he doesn’t seem to realise that he’s brought all of these horrors on himself-after all, it was him who made the Monster. I think that this theme running through the novel is Mary Shelley’s way of saying that until you accept your mistakes and take responsibility for them, you can’t move on. Therefore, not taking responsibility can have disastrous consequences, which is seen in this novel.
Mary Shelley also shows us the importance of friends and family in chapter five. When the Monster first comes to life, Victor is obviously quite unstable and depressed. When Henry Clerval arrives, Victor says that, “Nothing could equal my delight on seeing Clerval”. He then goes on to say that Clerval brought back thoughts of his home and family, and that he now felt, “calm and serene joy”. As Victor recovers, he says that his father, “knew that I could not have a more kind and attentive nurse than himself” regarding Clerval. I think that this shows that it was Henry who helped Victor recover, and without him Victor would probably have remained ill and mentally unstable. This was Mary Shelley’s way of showing what the effect of a good friend can be. We also see the themes of family and friendship throughout the novel. In chapter one, Victor talks about how his first recollections were his father’s smile and benevolent pleasure. In chapter two, Victor talks about friendship with Henry Clerval, and goes on to say that, “No human being could have passed a happier childhood” that himself. His friends and family were the reason for this. Victor’s friends and family were always there for him when he needed it most; when Victor is held in Ireland, his father travels to see him. Victor says that, “Nothing could have given me greater pleasure” than his arrival. However, when the Monster needed Victor the most, Victor abandoned him completely. This has devastating effects. When the Monster sees the De Laceys smiling with, “such kindness and affection” at each other, he’s unable to cope. He withdraws to the window, “unable to bear these emotions”. The Monster goes on to commit atrocious crimes as a result of this abandonment. I think that this is Mary Shelley’s way of saying how important friends and family really are. In chapter fifteen, De Lacey says that, “to be friendless is indeed to be unfortunate”. I think that Mary Shelley is trying to put this across throughout the novel. Without friends and family, a person won’t be able to get through the hard times in their life with sanity. This is what happened when the Monster took away Victor’s family and friends. Victor had nothing left.
Finally, the theme of knowledge is evident in chapter five and then throughout “Frankenstein”. In chapter five, Henry Clerval talks about his father’s view on knowledge. Henry viewed knowledge as good, but he talks about how his father had a “dislike” of learning. Henry goes on to say that his father believed learning stopped at bookkeeping, and therefore university and excessive knowledge was unnecessary. Henry and Victor, however, view knowledge as a good thing. Henry describes the quest for knowledge as a, “voyage of discovery” and Victor often talks about his thirst for knowledge. Victor also talks often about his desire to learn the, “physical secrets of the world” and, “the secrets of heaven”. Similarly, the Monster also has a desire to learn. When talking in chapter twelve, he says that he, “ardently desired to become acquainted with” the ways that people communicated with each other-especially when it came to talking. This shows how similar he was to Victor himself. I think that Mary Shelley had similar views on knowledge to Henry Clerval’s father, and that she tries to get them across to readers in chapter five and then throughout the rest of the novel. After all, it was ultimately Frankenstein’s thirst for knowledge that led to him creating the Monster, and as a result of his lack of responsibility that the Monster killed so many people. Therefore, I think Mary Shelley is trying to say that knowing everything is anything but good and that we need to be aware of that.
I think that there were many hidden meanings in the novel “Frankenstein”, and that many of these seem to be apparent in chapter five. “Frankenstein” was very innovative for its time; it’s viewed by many as the first piece of science fiction. It shocked people when it was published because at the time very few people spoke out about society in the way that Mary Shelley did. There were many scientific advances at the time the novel was written. People had begun to realise the potential of electricity. In 1802, scientist Galvani ran a current through a frog’s leg and made it move, and in 1803 scientist Aldani attached a battery to a corpse and claimed that it had moved. This caused some scientists to believe that eventually, with the power of electricity, man could be able to live forever. I think that Mary Shelley is trying to get this point across in”Frankenstein”. She was trying to say that humans should not attempt to “play God”-who is, after all, the only thing that has the right to give or take life. I think that she is trying to say that as soon as man begins to give or take life, there could be disastrous consequences and it therefore should not be experimented with.
Mary Shelley is also considered one of the first feminists. By putting across the point that only God can create life, she may also be trying to say that only women can give life. Men don’t have that ability, and should not try to change that.
Whilst she was writing “Frankenstein”, Mary Shelley was reading a book called Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He argued that when they were born, all men are harmless but it is in fact society that makes them evil. It was as a result of Victor’s initial rejection of the Monster in chapter five and other peoples’ rejection of him throughout the rest of the novel that the Monster turned evil-and that was all because of his appearance. I think that Mary Shelley was trying to say how wrong this was. Victor himself was extremely prejudiced towards the Monster in his narrative. Right from after his creation, Victor referred to the Monster as “the Monster” and “daemon” as opposed to even just giving it a name. He rejected it because of the way it looked, and the rest of society went on to do the same. It was this prejudice that began in chapter five that Mary Shelley was trying to say was wrong throughout the rest of the novel.
