Frankenstein Essay

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“Look at the significance of chapter five to the novel as a whole. Focus on the relevance and effect of writer’s use of language to describe setting, character and what it shows about social and historical influences.”This essay will probe into techniques which Mary Shelley (1797-1851) has incorporated in her novel Frankenstein, especially in Chapter 5, to achieve different atmospheres and to provide a clear sense of character which can help the reader to shape their personal thoughts of what is happening by ambiguous use of language. Frankenstein, also known as ‘The Modern Prometheus’, was written during the early 18th century (1816-1817), when Shelley was at the young age of 18. Mary Shelley was nurtured in a political-free thinking; radical family and her mother was a feminist. She died 10 days after giving birth to her. Shelley’s own daughter also died within two weeks of her birth. Her half-sister, Fanny, died committing suicide. She was surrounded by death; this biographical information insights readers as to where Shelley’s eccentric original ideas and fascinations of creating life, which condemned societal thoughts and morality at that period, had arisen from. Frankenstein is written in two contrasting genres; Gothic and Romance. Shelley fuses these two genres together in Frankenstein to create a dramatic effect which will linger, indulging bittersweet emotion into readers, until the final pages where the tragedy, and fatality of this mix, is uncovered.Chapter 5 builds on themes surrounding the Gothic-Romance genre. The themes which Chapter 5 explore and shapes for the novel as a whole are: Loneliness and solitude, and how they differ; the difference between general and obsessive science; prejudice, especially via superficiality; fate of different characters and how they are unconsciously doomed for merely knowing Victor; morality: the effects of arrogance and self-righteousness; and the effects of psychological mentality on one’s actions. All of these themes are dominant and will be linked and explored to
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demonstrate ways in which they render atmosphere and thought by the reader by foreshadowing later twists of the novel.Victor’s creation feels loneliness. He yearns for someone that would resemble him, someone that would at-least accept him and look past his appearance. Whilst, on the other hand, Victor takes pleasure in his solitude, taking others’ concerns for granted. If a grotesque countenance occurs, he knows someone would be there to help. Family concerns for Victor’s welfare is emphasised by the constant letters to and from Elizabeth for him; one of which clearly demonstrates this is at the beginning of Chapter 6. ...

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