mary shellys frankenstein

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Prose Study Assignment: Frankenstein

‘Frankenstein’ was written in 1817 by Mary Shelley. Shelley was from a family of intellectuals and one of the most influential writers of the time and a big part of the Romantic movement. The book is about a man who strives to create the ultimate being, but creates something worse than he could have imagined.

Right from the start we see that our main character, Victor Frankenstein, has a keen interest for Natural Philosophy. This only adds to his curiosity when his University professor, Mr Waldman, shows him his plans to create life. This curiosity; along with the fact that his mother died when he was young; drives him to carry out Professor Waldman’s plans to create the ultimate being. The plans greatly help Victor in his venture to create life. They help him find out what he needs to do it. At this time in the scientific world, it was a time of progress and discovery. Scientists were only just starting to understand the concept of how the human body worked, so to transplant vital organs from one to another was a huge leap forward. Victor believes that if he creates life successfully his name will be put down in history and his memory will live on. By trying to create life, Victor was greatly challenging the accepted beliefs of the time. Organ transplants were unheard of, which is basically what Victor is doing.

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The scene I am writing about is at a crucial moment in the novel, as there are vast amounts of consequences to what Victor is doing. Because this scene is a vital part of the novel, Mary Shelley wants to crate a dramatic atmosphere. She accomplishes this through good use of language, detailed setting descriptions and in-depth descriptions of the characters’ actions.

To create a dramatic atmosphere, Mary Shelley gives us a vivid image of the setting as she describes it in such detail. For example, in the first paragraph it is described as ‘a dreary night in ...

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