‘Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.’ (p.133)
After learning how to read, write and talk fully, he steals Victor’s journal and studies it; what he reads in the journal makes him bitter, and he starts to feel hatred towards Victor for what he had done. He desperately tries to make a new family by undergoing kind acts for villagers hoping that they would be so grateful that they would accept his looks. However, his plans do not work and rage starts to build up inside him. This is the first point in which he wants revenge. His compassion surfaces once more when he saves the life of a young girl drowning but instead of being rewarded with companionship, he is rewarded with violence as the girl’s father shoots him. This makes him more angry and vengeful; he wants someone else to suffer for the pain that is being inflicted on him. He then, two months later, stumbles across a small boy, later found out to be William, brother of Frankenstein. He naively thinks that a young boy will become his companion and not be bias towards his looks but when the boy screams verbal abuse at him and reveals that he is a relation of Frankenstein, the simmering hatred emerges and with no remorse, strangles William to death. He takes the locket with a portrait of Victor’s mother inside, from the body, and when he comes across a young girl in a barn, where he was hoping to hide, he plants the necklace on her. He does not do this to clear himself of the murder but to get revenge, as he was attracted to her, which made him feel more isolated. His plan worked and the young girl who he place the locket on, Justine, was hanged for the crime of murder. The sexual feelings he had towards Justine were what made him want a female companion to love and to be loved by, so that he never felt alone again. Therefore, when he found Victor, instead of killing him, he told him his life story and asked him to ‘gratify’ his ‘burning passion’ (p.145-146), to create a “monster” for him, with the same looks, who would accept him as a husband and not cause him pain, as they looked the same. However, he did not just ask Victor to undergo this task, he threatened him into doing it, as he said that he must carry out his duties as a father and if Victor did not fulfil his responsibilities, he would kill all humanity.
At first, Victor refused to create a second “monster” even though the “monster” said that he would become evil and cause havoc to humanity. However, varying amounts of emotions were circulating his thoughts, which were causing him to feel sorry for the “monster”. In the end, he unhappily agreed to create a second “monster” for him.
Initially it was a mixture of fear, pity and a sense of duty that drove Victor back to the laboratory but as he came closer to creating another ugly being that could become just as disastrous to humankind as his first creation, he started to think about the consequences if he were to make another “monster”. He considered that the reasons the “monster” gave for wanting him to create another, were very fair. He had created him and therefore had an obligation to make him happy and give him a partner so that he was no longer alone; it was his loneliness that was making him malicious and if he had a partner, he would no longer have to kill; if he did not create another, he would be endangering humanity. However, he also had good reasons for not making a second “monster”. He wondered what would happen if the female refused the “monster”, would the “monster” become even angrier that a person of the same race turned him away, and would he start to cause havoc on the world again:
‘She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be alone again…’ (p.170)
What would happen if they reproduced and made more; they might become malicious and one “monster” had caused enough damage:
‘…a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth, who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror.’ (p.170-171)
What would happen if the “monster” did not like the way she looked; he did not appreciate the way he looked so why would he like it on a female form:
‘the creature who lived already loathed his deformity, and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes?’ (p.170)
He also realised that the female “monster” had not agreed to leave the town and live secluded with her male companion:
‘He had sworn to quit the neighbourhood of man, and hide himself in deserts; but she had not’ (p.170)
The fact that Victor asked all these questions means that he could not escape from his own doubts; this creates a mood of private claustrophobia. From continuously asking himself these questions, he concludes that it would be a mistake to finish the second creation and, in front of the “monster”, he destroys it. The howling and anguished “monster” threatens Victor, and leaves with the haunting words ‘I shall be with you on your wedding-night’ (p.173), but Victor still refused to finish the creation. After a lot of contemplating about what the monster said, he received a letter from Clerval inviting him to London. In his mind, he accepted the invitation but he knew he had to do one task before he left. Therefore, he packed away all his tools and took the body of the unfinished creation on a boat, with sails made from his clothes, out to sea and dropped the body into the ocean. He fell asleep and the strong winds blew him to Ireland where he was arrested and taken to court for the murder of his best friend Clerval. He later found out that it was the “monster” that killed him. After months in prison, he was found innocent and he travelled to Paris where he received a letter from Elizabeth in which she declared her love for him. He replied with the same declaration but also asked her to marry him. Elizabeth and Victor were married when he returned to Geneva; however, Elizabeth was killed by the “monster” on their wedding night in Evian. The fact that Victor interpreted the threat of the “monster” wrong reveals Victors deepening self-absorption. On his return to Geneva to inform everyone of the bad news, his father dies leaving him with no one. He decides to tell the magistrate what had happened and they said that they would punish the “monster” accordingly if he were found. However, this was not enough for Victor; he vowed to find the “monster” and kill it or die in his quest to do so:
‘Scoffing devil! Again do I vow vengeance; again do I devote thee, miserable fiend, to torture and death. Never will I give up my search, until he or I perish…’ (p.208)
This led him to North Pole, where he found Robert Walton’s ship and died, and thereby leading back to the start of the book.
The “monsters” last appearance in the novel shows that he is both upset and gleeful at the death of Victor, but that he is also ashamed of how he had become a murderer. His speech sums up the tragedy and the issues of the book. It shows the contrast between his early goodness and his evil revenge. It explains clearly that his rejection by his creator and the rest of humanity was an ‘injustice’.
There are many differences and comparisons between the two creation scenes in the novel. In both scenes, Victor works in isolation, away from all his family and friends and mostly any civilisation. In both cases, he detests his work; however, he detests the work of the second creation before finishing it. He remembers how his first creation became and concludes that he should not make another. Both creations occur at nighttime making him fearful and scared and both creations were made for selfish reasons as well as good reasons. The first creation he made, to be recognised and to help humankind by finding the ‘elixir of life’. The second creation he made to get the "monster" to leave him alone but also to keep the world safe from the "monster".
Mary Shelley also wrote the two creations scenes similarly and differently relating to the language she used, the myths she referred to and the structure in which she wrote them and the novel.
The structure in which Mary Shelley has written the novel is typical to the way in which most novels were written in the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. The events in ‘Frankenstein’ do not happen in chronological order. Instead, the novel begins after most of the action has already occurred. In order for the reader to understand the mystery of Robert Walton’s sighting of the "monster" and the decayed condition of Victor, which are shown in letters one to four at the beginning of the novel, Mary Shelley returns to the past by using flashbacks. A literary device used by writers when the narration jumps backward in time to an earlier point in the story. One effect of this technique is to show how much of an influence the past has on the present. It emphasises how the fate of Victor and the "monster" were inseparable, and shows that both the "monster" and Victor were feeling guilty by their past revelations.
Mary Shelley also uses another device in the structure of the novel, called chinese-box narration. This is when an author wraps a story, inside another story, inside another story, and so on. This literary device helps the reader to divulge deeper into the story and it shows that behind every story there is another story from somebody else’s perspective. Mary Shelley uses three narrators who tell their stories from their own point of view – Captain Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and the "monster". All of these views are limited and biased which means that the reader can make up their own mind about each character; however the readers feelings will vary throughout the novel about certain characters due to the biased way in which each narrative is written.
Mary Shelley has written the settings of both creations as ‘Gothic’. ‘Gothic’ is a literary genre that was extremely popular in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century – when Shelley was growing up and writing ‘Frankenstein’. The Gothic genre has many standard characteristics. The novel would normally consist of a genteel young woman, a threatening dark male villain who chases her, and is often pledged to the Devil and the grotesque. In the case of ‘Frankenstein’, the young woman is most likely Elizabeth, or it could be every woman who has a role in the novel. The threatening male is most likely Victor and the grotesque, the “monster”. However, it is possible that the threatening male is also the “monster”. Mary Shelley could have made both the “monster” and Victor the villainous male to show that the “monster” is a part of Victor’s inner self. Shelley could be using the “monster” as a symbol for Victor’s inner ugliness and although the “monster” appears to be the cause of fear and prejudice, he might stand for the ugly and violent reaction to something unknown and different. The setting would usually be in desolate environments and the weather would usually be gloomy. In the novel of ‘Frankenstein’, the location of where Victor creates both of the monsters is isolated, it is nighttime with the moon shining and the weather, ominous:
‘It was a dreary night of November’ (p.58)
‘…the sun had set, and the moon was just rising from the sea’ (p.170)
There would also typically be a mysterious and supernatural element, and something referring to life and death. Within the novel, both of these are brought in from the relationship between Victor and the “monster” and the creation of the “monster”. As well as this, there would be an illicit love affair, which in the novel could be between Victor and Elizabeth, who were brother and sister by adoption. There should also be symbolism featuring in the novel.
Symbolism plays an important part within the novel. The moon is strongly related to the presence of the “monster”; it appears when both the “monsters” are being created and mostly every time the "monster" appears:
‘When, by the dim and yellow light of the moon…’ (p.59)
‘I saw, by the light of the moon, the daemon at the casement.’ (p.171)
The moon was the first object in the novel to give the “monster” pleasure (p.106) and to make him feel calm. Mary Shelley could have used the moon as a symbol for many reasons. In ‘Romantic’ Literature, the moon is frequently used as a feminine symbol due to the cycle in which it changes, so adding it into the novel is Shelley’s way of representing her presence in the novel. Another reason for adding the moon could have been to protect the "monster"; acting like a mother figure to it. The “monster” has no one so adding the moon as a mother figure allows the “monster” to see the world safely with someone watching over him.
Another symbolism that Mary Shelley uses in the book is that she uses windows or frame-like structures as a barrier between characters, either side of the window. They could also symbolise the viewpoint onto reality.
Judges are additionally symbolic within the novel as the only professional characters other than scientists are judges. This highlights the theme of how people judge each other and how the reader judges the characters. As well as judges the moral theme of crime, justice and freedom are developed as the prison takes on a symbolic role. Victor’s imprisonment mirrors the monster’s lack of freedom in his hovel, and the mental barrier that Victor felt between himself and society becomes a shocking reality.
Shelley, in addition, uses the feminine race symbolically in the novel. Most female characters in the novel are life-givers whereas the male characters appear ambitious and destructive.
Within the book, Mary Shelley uses descriptive language, metaphors, similes, contrasts and rhetorical language in order to portray the narrators’ extreme passions.
She uses words which describe or are associated with feelings such as the “monsters” ‘tears and sorrow of delight’. She often uses adjectives and adverbs to intensify their feelings. This is known as descriptive language.
She also often compares her characters to other things. In the beginning Robert Walton sees Victor as a ‘gallant vessel’ who is ‘wrecked’ (p.32); and Victor famously compares his passion for science to a ‘mountain river’ which ‘swelling as it proceeded became a torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my [his] hopes and joys’ (p.40).
As well as this, she changes her narrators’ moods violently between joy and despair in the novel. An example of these contrasts can be found when comparing the creations of the “monsters”.
Finally, Mary Shelley uses repetition to build an emotional climax:
‘Filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose.’ (p.49)
She also uses different types of sentences to create different moods:
‘Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art!’ (p.102)
Mary Shelley eludes to many myths in the course of ‘Frankenstein’, firstly ‘Prometheus’. There are two versions of the Prometheus myth. In the Greek version, he is a rebel who steals fire from the ruler of the gods, Zeus, and a friend to humanity because he gives them ‘the gift of fire’, but is then eternally punished by Zeus. In the Latin version, Prometheus creates man from clay and water. Victor is a ‘Modern Prometheus’ because he rebels against the laws of nature by making an unnatural man because it would be of ‘benefit to mankind’ and he is punished for his efforts by his creation.
She additionally refers to ‘Faustus’. Dr Faustus is an academic who rejects normal pursuits for magic because he wants to know the secrets of the universe. He sells his soul to Satan in exchange for this knowledge but does not know what to do with his power. Tormented by the deal, he eventually perishes in hell. Similarly, Victor relinquishes his family for the pursuit of secret knowledge, and, working in isolation, creates a creature that he abandons. The monster revenges himself, like a devil, by destroying Victor’s family and friends.
As well as referring to these, she refers to ‘The Fall of Man’. Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis are forbidden by God to eat from the tree of knowledge. Tempted by Satan, they rebel. They become aware of there own sexuality, and are eventually banished from the Garden of Eden. Similarly, Victor’s childhood is like paradise but he is seduced by knowledge in adulthood. He rebels by creating an unnatural man. The monster also becomes aware of his own ‘fallen’ state when he sees his own reflections.
The last myth that she refers to is ‘Paradise Lost’. This is an epic poem written by John Milton in the 1660s. It tells the story of how Satan was banished from heaven by God for leading a rebellion. Satan, unable to accept his fall into hell, decides to revenge himself by seducing Adam and Eve into evil and disobedience. Both Victor and his creation could have been Satan or the “monster” could have been Adam and Victor, God. Modern critics say that Victor could have also been Eve, the Virgin father like Virgin Mary.
Mary Shelley has written the creation scenes with more comparisons than differences. The main difference between the two being that Victor thought about his consequences before going ahead with making the second creation, which in the end, he did not. Victor and the “monster” are one in the same person. In the “monster’s” eyes, Victor was like a father who had disowned him due to the way he looked and in Victor’s eyes; the "monster" was like a son who he could not accept because of his deformity.
They both needed each other but did not want to admit it. Instead, they wanted to prove to each other that they could live without one another, ending in the death of William, Justine, Clerval, Alphonse and Frankenstein and the eternal solitude of the “monster”.
The reader is captivated by the different emotions felt by each character, which is shown in each narrative, making the novel hard to put down.
‘Frankenstein’ written by Mary Shelley is not just a thrilling tale. It includes many themes that are relevant to society today and will still be in the future. It is not only a moral, Romantic and psychological tale; but also a social, political and philosophical tale; everything that an accomplished author could hope for in a novel.
