“I am an unfortunate and deserted creature, I look around and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These amiable people to whom I go have never seen me and know little of me. I am full of fears, for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever. “Creates sympathy for the creature as he is isolated and shunned from civilisation, he finds it hard to face and cannot come to terms to the true nature of his appearance. He is self critical which is another aspect of a gothic antagonist.
During the narrative the monster is seen as a villain, some one who seeks for evil and death. But in addition to this the creature can easily be viewed as a gothic antagonist. Sympathy is created by the author both by making the readers pity the
monster’s loathsome existence and by leading them to understand his
violent and cruel actions. We pity the creature because of the way he
is treated by mankind and we can identify with his feelings and
reactions and understand why he behaves as he does. The language
used when describing the physical appearance of the monster and his
feelings is very strong and evocative. The settings and images with
which the monster is associated are very dramatic and add to our
sympathy for his lonely existence. The monster’s use of rhetoric is
effective and his speech is eloquent, this is a strong technique by
which the reader is drawn in.
This pity rises yet further when the monster relates how he tried to help people, tried to be kind, tried to be normal, but his kindness was not recognised and when people met him, they would attack him in fear or would run away when they saw his hideous appearance. Whenever the monster tried to commit a good deed, it was thrown back into his face in such a way that the monster became bitter.
In chapters 11 and 12 the monster is portrayed as child-like and innocent. He doesn't know how to read or write and before he sees himself for the first time in the reflection of the water, he did not even know what he looked like. "But how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! ... I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification."
Seeing his hideous appearance, he knows why people looked at him with so much contempt. Upon seeing his reflection in the water he knows why people attack him or flee from him. Words like 'despondence' and 'mortification' stress the suffering of the monster.
Mary Shelley presents the monster as a gothic protagonists for example gothic protagonists are handsome and young but weirdly the monster is neither handsome whereas his age is completely unknown. A true gothic hero is one who is isolated – either voluntarily or involuntarily, the creature is isolated involuntarily but when he sees his own appearance he voluntarily isolates him self from all civilization. The monster falls from grace, and is shunned from society.
The monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a sympathetic protagonist. He has most of the characteristics and features needed to be one. Although at times he cannot be seen to be sympathized with because of the bad deeds that he does but he is not the epitome of evil. The points where he indeed the opposite, such as not being handsome and not finding a loved one evokes more sympathy for the monster.
