The novel is based on Victor Frankenstein creating a monster. This monster is abominable. Victor is in from Geneva and in his early childhood, his step sister (and lover later in the novel), Elizabeth, came to stay with his family. In his late teens, his mother passed away and he went to university in Ingolstadt, whilst there he creates a monster. He never tells anyone about it, but spends long days and nights working on his creation. After, the monster comes alive Victor abandons it, and becomes very ill. His friend, Henry, nurses worked hard to Victor back to health. Victor gets better and returns home to Geneva, but before returning home he receives a letter from his father stating that his brother, William, has been murdered. Victor is distraught as returns home as quickly as he can. Whilst at home, he goes to the mountains, there he meets the monster and the monster admits that he committed the murder and begs Victor for a companion. Victor makes a female monster, but later dumps it in the river. In the morning when he arrives at the river bank, he is arrested for murder. Victor then recognises the body; it is Henry. Again, Victor falls ill, but he is kept in prison until he recovers, he then marries Elizabeth, but he is worried that the monster will kill her so, on his wedding night he sends Elizabeth away to a hideaway to await his return. Victor hears a scream, and rushes to the hideaway, Elizabeth is dead. Victor goes searching for the monster but he falls ill and eventually dies, and the Captain of the ship finds the monster sobbing over Victor. The monster says that now his creator is dead he will have to die. The monster then departs to the Mountain to die.
Chapter 5 describes how, on one stormy night, in the privacy of his apartment, Victor completes his creation. But when it is brought to life, its appearance horrifies him. Victor then goes to the next room and tries to sleep, but is awoken by a dreadful dream about his late mother and Elizabeth. He wakes up to find the monster towering above his bed, Victor rushes out of the house and spend the night in the courtyard below. He then goes in to town and meets Henry. They go to his apartment, but victor is surprised the monster is gone. Victor is weakened by the energy he has spent on creating the monster and falls ill. His illness lasts for several months, but with the help of Henry he soon gets better, Henry then passes him a letter from Elizabeth.
Shelley used a careful choice of lexical choices, alliteration and many more effects to create the dark atmosphere that the paragraph suggests. In the beginning of the paragraph, the word ‘dreary,’ beheld and ‘toils’ adds emotional tension to the narrative, creating a sense of what is really happening. In the phrase ‘with an anxiety’ the word ‘anxiety’ describes the way Victor feels about his creation, also ‘amounted to agony’ highlights this feeling. The line ‘I collected the instruments of life around me’ suggests that victor is consumed in his work and that he is marshalling his forces, before the push into the unknown. ‘Spark of……light’ this phrase introduces the only illumination in the paragraph, creating a variation atmosphere from the rest of the paragraph. The sentences ‘the rain pattered dismally against the pains’, ‘candle was nearly burnt out’ and ‘the half extinguished light’ mirror the dark setting that was introduced in the beginning of chapter 5.
The physical features of the monster are described as un-natural, this is originally shown to us through imagery in the text the quote ‘dull yellow eye’ suggests that the body is an abnormal and that it is also breaking the laws of God. The first description of the monster is very dramatic. The negative vocabulary adds to the tension that the first paragraph created. The first of the negative words is ‘catastrophe’ this exemplifies that the birth is negative. The picture created in our minds of the creature is initially created for us through descriptive vocabulary. The words wretch ’, ‘creature and ‘monster’ implies that we should have pity for the creature as its features are bizarre. Victor is both horrified and shocked toward his creation. Victor is callous because he never showed a loving feeling towards the monster because of its abnormality. Victor also repeats the word ‘beautiful’ this shows that he was striving for an ideal beauty in his creation because he chose the best and most beautiful body parts for his creation. Victor also asks for help and shouts ‘Great God’ this implies that he is turning to God even though he has betrayed him by breaking the laws of God.
Victor’s reaction to his creation initiates an unforgettable theme that persists throughout the whole novel. This theme creates the impression that the monster in inescapable from his ugliness, and that it is liable to appear at any moment. Victor initially states that the mix of the most perfect body parts, doesn’t make a beautiful body overall. Frankenstein implies to us that he thinks the monster is a hideous creature, but he bases his thoughts on the overall appearance of the creature and not its personality. Victor had a negative reaction to the monster when it was born, and he resents the monster and is only thinking about his own feelings. This is shown throughout the chapter. The phrase ‘unable to compose my mind to sleep’ suggests that Victor is envying the monster once again, even though it has not been alive for long and has done nothing wrong. The monster feels abandoned and ashamed that he cannot be loved by his creator because of his appearance.
Moving on, there are many hints that there will be terrible consequences concerning the monster and Victor’s family. Victor fears the monster, because it is liable to turn up at any time and wreck something special, he has no gentle emotions for the creature. The creation of suspense and the main hint that something tragic is about to happen is the dream that he has about his late mother and his lover, Elizabeth. He has a dream that he is holding Elizabeth in his arms and then she turns into his late mothers’ corpse, he then awakens to find the monster towering above his bed. This shows that the novel is leading up to a mystery involving these people. Victor suddenly falls ill after creating the monster; he gets better and then gets a letter from his father stating that his brother, William had been murdered. The monster has murdered him due to victor abandoning him. The dark atmosphere in the chapter also shows something is going to happen which keeps the audience thrilled. The phrase ‘the rain pattered dismally against the pains……my candle was nearly burnt out’ emphasise the dark setting which is continued in the rest of the novel. Victor’s illness also plays part in creating suspense.
There are many themes in the story of Frankenstein. Some of the themes are: Religion, Science, abandonment and revenge. The themes which inflate a lot of issues are Religion and science. The novel raises awareness of the dangers of scientific knowledge has been used incorrectly, which a lot of scholars will argue for their rights of religion. In the 21st century science is still trying to create life but in the bible there are quotes that are against playing God:
It is easy to see the day coming when designer humans could be created and perhaps another attempt at a super race. Adam and Eve were the first who attempted to gain the same knowledge that God possessed by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9, 16,17; 3:1-17).
The stories of the Tower of Babel show us how mankind attempted to build a brick tower, whereby they could reach the heavens to be like God. God destroyed the tower and caused each group of people to speak languages that the other groups didn't understand (Genesis 11:4-5).
Further on, Victor played god which broke the laws of god. Mary Shelley vigilantly uses many references to hell in this chapter including ‘demonical’, ‘Dante’, ‘frightful fiend’, and ‘hell’. These all suggest that the monster is created in hell or is associated with hell, also uses ‘Dante’ who was medieval artist who painted hell in his paintings could not of conceived him. These words and phrases are hints that only evil will come from what he has created.
Moreover, the creation entered the bedroom that Victor was resting in. Victor was scared by the monsters presence. Victor saw him in a negative way ironically in the beginning of the novel; Frankenstein used the monster’s descriptions in a positive manner as he thinks it is a good idea. The monster wanted someone to love him but victor thought that the creature was going to kill him Victor shows these feelings by stating what he felt, and is shown in great description, ’ I beheld the wretch’, and ‘miserable monster’ these phrases show that he is disgusted with the outcome of the creature. ‘His eyes…… were fixed on me. His jaw opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped.’ This extract from the paragraph shows that the monster wanted to contact him, but Victor tried everything to stop this it also shows Victor’s selfish side, as he sees the monster as a threat.
Victor keeps his creation a secret, he does not want to tell anyone as he is not yet sure of the outcome of the creature, but after the birth of the creation, he is ashamed of it, he believes that it is a product of hell and that the monster is beyond control and just decides to keep it to himself and lie to other people. This influences the readers’ attitude towards Victor in the rest of the novel because the readers may now believe that he cannot tell the truth and that the narration of the story may be biased. This relates to the theme of secrecy in the rest of the novel, for example; when he makes a companion for the monster, and also not telling anyone that he knew what killed someone of his family and friends.
The ending of the chapter is a contrast of the rest of the chapter, the start of the chapter most of the tension is built up. Things like the weather and the atmosphere create a disturbing setting. In the begging of the chapter the weather is dull, and gloomy. This is shown throughout the opening paragraph, the phrases such as ‘the rain pattered dismally against the pains,’ and ‘dreary’ suggest that the weather reflects on the dark atmosphere created by the near birth of the creature, it also suggests that something may happen later on in the chapter. Towards the end of the chapter, the atmosphere is completely different. The paragraphs show that there is change as it is now light. The quote ‘young buds were shooting forth from trees that shaded my window. It was a divine spring,’ shows that the darkness has subsided to make way for the light. Also, there was a new beginning for the natural processes, growing of buds etc. The word ‘divine’ is connected with heaven, Shelly uses juxtaposition, so everything is moving on from Victor’s deed. It is also to do with God, so it is a contrast between the thought of hell earlier on in the chapter.
To conclude, this chapter is very vital because there is always something going on. The chapter helps you to see how Victor really is conveyed and how he treats people in times of struggle. At the moment of the monster created we get the impression that Victor was excited, but then Victor was ashamed of the outcome. Mary Shelly uses gothic genre to explore deeper issues by the usage of negative language and bringing up scientific ideas and mixing it with religion. Making the chapter very tense at times keeping the audience griped to their seats.
