Frankenstein first published in 1818 was written by Mary Shelley. She wrote this book because she was staying in a house on lake Geneva, in Switzerland
Frankenstein
Frankenstein first published in 1818 was written by Mary Shelley. She wrote this book because she was staying in a house on lake Geneva, in Switzerland with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, lord Byron and Polidori, a doctor. One night they decided to have a horror story contest, they all came up with a story except Mary who couldn't. That night when Mary went to sleep she dreamt that there was a scientist who had created a monster and then the scientist realised it was a mistake. Mary wondered if she could make up a story that would terrify readers as much as her dream had terrified her, then it came to her, she would write a story like her dream. This is why Frankenstein was written and why it is still read all over the world today.
Around the time Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein many scientists were trying to bring dead tissue back to life and searching for the elixir of life. Scientists such as Erasmus Darwin, Grandfather of Charles Darwin, Humphrey Davy and Luigi Galvani were trying to improve and pro-long life. One doctor made it look like he had brought dead tissue back to life by letting electricity flow through it causing it to twitch.
Today a monster is thought of as a dragon or any other fairy tale like creatures. Monsters today are read about in books being slayed by brave fearless knights in shining armour. Today they are also thought of as myths and legends. In contrast in the period this book was written a monster was thought of as someone who didn't fit in or looked a bit different to everyone else. Monsters were thought of as weird people who looked funny or even thought of as witches, when they walked down the street crowds of people probably would of chased them out of the town or in the case they thought they were witches they would have been burnt at the stake.
When Frankenstein decided to make the creature, he had visions of greatness, good looks and a person who would be better than everyone else in every single way. Frankenstein was devoted to making the perfect being in mind, body and soul.
"I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit."
This shows Frankenstein had let his obsession take over his life and was very close to regenerating life into parts of dead bodies. Frankenstein describes the creature as "a being like myself" this shows that Frankenstein was very passionate and wanted the creature to be like a son to him. The words heart and soul suggests that Frankenstein was really passionate and would do anything to succeed and he wouldn't stop until his creation was complete.
However when he had actually given life to the creature ...
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"I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit."
This shows Frankenstein had let his obsession take over his life and was very close to regenerating life into parts of dead bodies. Frankenstein describes the creature as "a being like myself" this shows that Frankenstein was very passionate and wanted the creature to be like a son to him. The words heart and soul suggests that Frankenstein was really passionate and would do anything to succeed and he wouldn't stop until his creation was complete.
However when he had actually given life to the creature his views changed dramatically. He goes from having views of the creature being completely superior to all of the human race, to being terrified about what he has done. Frankenstein calls the creature "a monster", "a wretch" and even "a mistake". He thought he was going to change science and anatomy forever as the first person to give life to a dead body. Furthermore Frankenstein says "I had selected his features as beautiful", but this is found to be wrong because the creature is ugly on the outside but is kind on the inside, despite some of his actions throughout the book.
When the creature was able to walk around he goes to Frankenstein, to see if he would welcome him as a son. Frankenstein thinks he is going to attack him so he runs off into the night. This shows that Frankenstein thinks the creature was a monster, which is pure evil, who wants to kill him. Because of this some of the readers may think Frankenstein is a monster because he doesn't even give the creature time to show whether he is good or bad.
After chapter 10 the readers may start to feel sorry for the creature because he hasn't had chance to show himself for what he is really like. However some readers may think of the creature as a monster because of all the descriptions given by Frankenstein. Moreover Frankenstein just runs off because he is scared of something he has created without even teaching it to walk or talk. Therefore at this point of the story many readers may also think Frankenstein is the monster.
According to the creature himself, after Frankenstein had ran off and left him in his lab, the creature fled and took some of Frankenstein's clothes. Frankenstein doesn't give the creature a change to show what he's really like, he judges a book by it's cover. The creature walks around looking for somewhere to stay, but when he arrives at a village he is driven away by angry villagers who think he is going to harm them. The creature wonders why he is is not accepted anywhere he goes and why he is beaten away. Then soon after he looks at his reflection in a pond and finds that he looks ugly and realises why people do not welcome him.
Furthermore he also learns the good and bad things about fire and how it can keep you warm and cook food but also how it can seriously harm you. He teaches himself to speak and read when he lives in a barn of a blind man and a brother and sister, who get a visit from Felix, who is the daughter of one of the blind man's friend. Felix doesn't speak English so is taught by the brother and sister, whilst they are teaching Felix, the creature is observing them and teaching himself. This shows that the creature is quite intelligent because he is able to teach himself things that are usually taught by parents. The fact that the creature can do all of this shows his human characteristics and if he can do this he will probably have feelings, so it is wrong for Frankenstein to treat him like a monster. The creature spends all his time observing the family and decides to approach the blind man because he will be unable to see his ugly characteristics. This works until a man the family owe money to comes around and starts beating the old man, the creature kills the man, but the brother and sister hear the cries of the man and run back to see what is going on. When they return they beat the creature away, and they leave the house. The creature is pushed over the edge by this and sets fire to the house and sets off to Geneva to get his revenge on Frankenstein, because Frankenstein made him ugly nobody will talk to him, he blames Frankenstein for creating him as he did so that he is shunned by society.
When the creature arrives in Geneva he meets William, Frankenstein's younger brother, he tries to talk to him but William runs and the creature strangles him. "I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet".
Although this shows the dark side of the creature there are some extreme reasons why he would be driven to the point of killing someone. These extreme reasons are, he is rejected as a son by Frankenstein and beaten away by all the angry villagers and the family in the cottage because of his ugly features.
However Frankenstein feels completely differently about these events and goes in search of the creature, still not telling anyone why, after Justine has wrongly accused and hung for the murder of William. Frankenstein follows the creature into an ice cave, he tries to kill the creature but is over powered by the much stronger creature.
When Frankenstein meets the creature he feels sympathetic towards him, after he has heard his side of the story. "I compassionated him, and sometimes felt a wish to console him."
This suggests that Frankenstein has realised he was wrong to leave the creature in his lab, because the creature has feelings, and Frankenstein hurt them when he rejected him as a son.
The creature asks Frankenstein to create him a female mate, so that he can love rather than rage. To start off Frankenstein agrees to make another creature, because he feels sorry for the creature. However when he has almost finished making the new creature, his anger and hatred comes back and he decides not to finish the the new creature. This makes the creature mad and he vows to be there on Frankenstein's wedding night. True to his word the creature is there on Frankenstein's wedding night and strangles Elizabeth, Frankenstein runs and the creature follows, then it goes back to the first section of the book where Frankenstein is on the boat with Robert Walton.
Throughout the book Frankenstein does many things which would make the reader think he is the real monster in the Frankenstein story. These range from creating the creature in the first place to abandoning it before had a chance to show it's true colours. Moreover the main reason the craeture was portrayed as a monster was that Frankenstein never told anyone about his creation, but if he had it could have stopped Justine being hung and William being murdered, Elizabeth being so worried about him and then Elizabeth being strangled. These are all the reasons why Frankenstein could be considered a monster.
In conclusion I feel although the creature kills three people and frames Justine as well as burning down a cottage, Frankenstein is the real monster because he forces the creature to face the world by himself. If Frankenstein had just let the creature learn off him how to talk, walk and be human then he would have learnt the diffenece between good and bad. Basically it was Frankenstein's fault for the death of four people, two of which were his own family and oned his family's close friend.
The story of Frankenstein is similar to modern society, today people are having plastic surgery to slow down the natural aging process, which is what many scientists were trying to find by searching for the elixir of life which would also stop the aging process. The fact that Frankenstein made a creature in the story is the same as scientists today trying to clone from cells which eventually means they could clone humans.
Stuart Hardy B10C