Frankenstein - How does Mary Shelleys description of the setting and her use of language in chapter 5 represent the social and historical context of Victorian England?

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How does Mary Shelley’s description of the setting and her use of language in chapter 5 represent the social and historical context of Victorian England?

 In Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ it is set on a ‘a dreary night in November’ Victor spends most of his time dedicated to science, he soon discovers the secret of life and decides to make ‘wretch’, victor describes this ‘monster’ as ‘beautiful great god’ showing his fears, but it all goes terribly wrong and he finds his self mentally drained, After receiving a letter explaining that his brother had been murdered; He is convinced that the monster committed this murder; Victor was dumb-struck that something that he created committed this ghastly murder. Later on in the novel the monster admits to the murder and begs for forgiveness and claimed that he was lonely. ‘Frankenstein’ then starts to make a female, he then realises that this one may go terribly wrong too and decides to destroy it. This makes the monster angry and frustrated and tells victor he will get his revenge. Victors best friend Henry was later on discovered strangled. Victor was accused of this murder ‘the miserable monster whom I had created’ but shortly was released. Victor meets a man called Doctor Walton, who rescues him but victor dies soon afterwards. The ‘monster’ is devastated with what he had done and goes north to die on ice. The Victorians when reading ‘Frankenstein’ would have been frightened but fascinated, because they have been brought up to believe that a human could only be conceived through birth, but within this novel the monster was created through science, which would have made the Victorians fascinated but confused. Mary Shelly wanted to write a story about a man creating a ‘wretch’ because she had a baby of her own who died and family reasons and because this novel is true to her. This relates to Shelly and her achievements over winning the scariest chapter, with her husband whose ex wife was suicidal and had to be jump started by electricity, just like the when the monster was created. Many people still find this novel interesting even though we are not Victorians. Victor’s actions may seem to be autobiographical to a reader who knows about Shelley’s life.

Chapter five is important in the novel because the monster comes alive and a tragic murder happens, chapter five emphasizes the scientific novel and explains the gothic side of life. It is important that the events of chapter five happens near the start of the story because then it makes the reader want to read on to find more as it is a tragic moment. They also set chapter five near the start because then Mary Shelley had the rest of the novel to emphasize the tragedy of the monster and murder. Frankenstein creates this monster; this is the culmination of his dream, and the start of a nightmare. Shelley uses gothic features to attract the reader such as a ‘dreary night of November’ one am in the morning. Chapter five is effective and is appealing to readers both Victorian and modern in chapter five they emphasize that, both Victorian and modern people, enjoy this novel and they all find it appealing and interesting. Mary uses gothic features in the novel to attract the readers some of these are candles, rain, instruments, and a monster. ‘I trembled. One subject! What could it be?’ This leaves you feeling anxious and intrigued, to want to continue reading.

Mary Shelley deliberately creates a setting to create atmosphere ‘on a dreary night of November’ This shows that this novel is almost like a horror film set in the Victorian days, its dark and gory and they have set it on a dark and grey night so that it’s a thriller and menacing.  Shelley creates excitement and tension for the reader ‘breathless horror and disgust filled my heart’ by emphasising the gothic side and the breathtaking side of the story. Shelley set chapter five in the winter months and at night, menacing things happen on dark nights like. It is typically gothic for Shelley to write this novel in the winter and on a dark night because everything dies in the winter like the plants and the trees which makes a thriller and makes it fit in with the setting, this would leave the audience to expect cold and grey miserable times. Shelley set this chapter in a old room and a old house because old cricked houses are gory and show gothic, they also are creepy and dark and dull which intermingles with the setting. This gives an effect on the reader by building up tension and creepiness, bringing back the gothic feeling.                              

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Mary Shelley creates tension and excitement ‘my teeth chattered’ shows tension by feeling the coldness. ‘Spark of being into the lifeless thing’ this shows excitement and enjoyment by feeling powerful. Shelley’s use of language is deliberate and clever, because she wants you to feel scared frightened and emotional. She also leaves chapter five on a cliff hanger so that it makes people want to read onto fervour chapters. She uses dark and detailed features which would have an effect on the Victorian readers, because in the Victorian days everything was dark and dull. I think Shelley’s idea of using ...

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