Frankenstein is disturbed and runs away to hide in his chamber. He says he is “unable to compose [his] mind to sleep”, yet he manages to sleep. However, he “was disturbed by the wildest dreams”. He described the dream as seeing Elizabeth (his fiancée), but as he “imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death.” Her shape then becomes the corpse of his dead mother, which is infected with grave worms. The way he describes Elizabeth’s death, makes us link the monster with death and horror, and also makes her death seem inevitable. The monster then reappears, to reinforce this. Frankenstein describes his actions, saying “he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks...one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me.” In this description, Victor uses the word “seemingly”. This shows he is discriminating against him, as he just presumes him to be evil and wanting to harm him. However, his facial expression tells us that he reached out in search of companionship. Frankenstein then runs away from the monster and hides. Frankenstein reacts in this way, as he is prejudiced against him. His opinion of him is generated purely based on the way the monster looks. We see this when he says: “the beauty of my dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” Frankenstein only sees beauty as the way you look, and bases his opinions on this. He then compares himself to Dante, who wrote ‘The Inferno’. From this, we can see that he sees the monster as being horrible, and he wishes he could die and go to hell. (as described in Dante’s novel) Despite the way in which Victor abandons the creature, we see him as being very hypocritical at this point, upon the arrival of his friend Henry Clerval. He says “nothing could equal my delight at seeing Clerval;” He feels same when he is in the presence of his friend, and so his rejection of the monster when he held out a hand for security, makes him a hypocrite. This is confirmed when Frankenstein “grasps his hand.” Whereas, he turned away from the monster rather than holding his hand like he does with Clerval.
The remainder of the chapter tells us about Victor’s illness and recovery, which is due to his mental state after the monster’s creation.
In this chapter, many key themes of the book are highlighted. We see examples of friendship and rejection; we see the ideas of parent/child relationships and the way victor rejects his responsibilities, purely based on his looks, and therefore, we are also presented with ideas about prejudice. We also have views about whether the creation of the monster was morally acceptable or not.
In chapter four, we see how Frankenstein rejects the responsibilities that he has over the creature which he has brought to life. We can see that he has no intention of looking after the creature when he says “I sincerely hope, that all these employments are now at an end, and...I’m at length free.” This tells us tat he was feeling restricted, almost imprisoned because of his creation, but he is now “free”, therefore he has no intentions of caring for his creation like a father should. The use of the word “employments” tells us he thinks of him as being a chore (like a job is) and so instead of loving him, he dreads and hates him in the same way you do a job. We can also see how victor has rejected him in the words he uses to describe him. He does not give him a name, which is a duty performed by all parents, instead he refers to him as “the dreaded spectre” and “hideous guest”. The use of the word “spectre”, refers to the way Frankenstein obviously wishes the creature would die, so he does not have any responsibilities. The idea of naming a human is to give it identity, so it can be recognised, however, Frankenstein’s refusal to do show, tells us he does not care about him and thinks that by ignoring him, and not giving him an identity, he will go away. In this respect, he is neglecting his parental responsibilities. We then see him running away from it when it tries to reach out to him for security and as a symbol of love. He currently has no warm feelings towards the monster, who we can only presume has run away, when he was rejected by his father. Throughout the rest of the novel, we see Frankenstein continually denying his presence, and only thinks of him at times when horrible events have taken place. He presumes him to be the murderer of his brother William, purely based on his deceptions which he gained from his appearances. In order to confirm this, he seeks him out to ask his story.
They then meet in the cold mountains in chapter 2 of the second volume. This is two years after his creation, in which the monster has learnt to talk and has also learnt many other skills any other human would have had. This is the only time Frankenstein shows any sentimentality towards his creation, and so he decides to listen to his story in order to discover what he has been doing. He says “I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creation were...i ought to render him happy.” Frankenstein has now acknowledged his status as a father and decides to let the monster tell his story to make him happy. He also seeks to find out who really did kill his brother, and if his suspicions can be proved. However, earlier in the chapter, he describes himself as “the miserable origin and author” The word “miserable” tells us he deems himself to be a ‘monster’, and the use of the same word also to describe the monster in chapter four also shows how he can draw a parallel between them both. The reasons for Frankenstein’s hatred of the monster, comes from his opinion that you have to be beautiful to be a decent person. He tried to make the monster like this, but when he realises the monster was ugly, he immediately presumes him to be evil and as something to fear. This discriminatory view is the reason why Frankenstein rejects the monster. He describes the work to create him as “the beauty of the dream.” As the reality of “the dream” is not so beautiful, Victor might see the monster as someone who has ruined his dreams and therefore, he hates him for that. However, his prejudicial views are what appear to make him hate the monster, although this might be a contributing factor.
Prejudice is another key idea Shelley presents to us in the novel. We can see Frankenstein discriminating against the monster when the creature first comes to life. When he first sees the monster, in chapter four he says, “Horror and disgust filled my heart” and “how can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe.” He describes the monster as a ‘catastrophe’ after only looking at it, and therefore bases his opinions on this. In chapter 2 (volume 2) he also presumes him to be the monster that murdered his brother, William, without any evidence. This is also based on the views he has deducted from the creatures appearance. He says “I had hitherto supposed him to be the murderer of my brother, and I eagerly sought a confirmation of this.” At this point he puts his prejudices aside in order to find the truth and not to rely on the conclusions he has drawn from the opinions which are based purely on his appearance. However, he still refers to the monster as “odious”, therefore showing he still brands him according to his looks. The monster is also prejudiced against by the De Lacy family. He fears approaching them at first, as he knows that they will react in a negative manner when they see him. He decides to approach the old man, who is blind in order to avoid this prejudice. However, when he does approach him, he is discovered by the family. They then react in the way that he first feared, and they throw him out of the house. This display of discrimination is the thing which Shelly appears to dislike, and therefore, its inclusion in the novel shows how she wants to make a comment on society.
The issue of prejudice which Shelley talks about in her novel is still a key issue today. Shelly may have been like Frankenstein in this respect, due to her involvement in the Romantic Movement. In today’s society, discrimination like this is seen as a form evil. The way Shelly approaches this issue is why the novel remains popular, as many can relate to the suffering the monster endures. By doing this, we can see how she uses the book to make a comment on society.
This also links in with the main theme of justice. The word justice means fairness and equality. A connotation of this word is the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”. In the novel, Shelley approaches justice mainly in chapter seven, during the trial of Justine. This relates to chapter four when we consider if Frankenstein’s creation of a human and his rejection of it is just. In chapter seven, Justine is condemned for the murder of Frankenstein’s brother. She is eventually convicted of the murder, after being forced into admitting to it by a priest. She says “I confessed a lie...that I might obtain absolution...my confessor besieged me...until I almost began to think that I was the monster he said I was.” This tells us of the injustice, as she is forced to admit to the crime. She was need deemed innocent until proven guilty, and so was discriminated against. The way she was treated relates to the way Frankenstein treated the monster. This is a way Shelly creates sympathy for the monster, as we can empathise with his. The monster says that humans “spurn and hate [him]” and Justine says “do you join my enemies to crush me?” Both these quotations show injustice, as neither character have done anything wrong, yet they are being condemned, hated and judged. We can sympathise with the monster, as there seems to be no justice in the way that he is being treated, and Justine’s trial reiterates this point. The way Justine is made to feel like a ‘monster’. The monster blames the killings on the way he has been treated by humans. We can see this when he says “I will keep no terms with my enemies.” This tells us that if humans must make him an enemy, then he shall do the same and punish them, or to “keeps no terms” with them. By saying “terms”, he is referring to justice, and how he feels he has none, and therefore how he owes them none.
The novel is a very good way of showing the points which I have just discussed. They obviously reflect Mary Shelley’s opinions and the way she sees the world. The way the novel uses these issues made it popular in 1818, and still popular today. Prejudice is a main issue in modern day society, with racism, sexism and ageism still problems in certain countries throughout the world. People who suffer at the hand of discrimination, may enjoy the book, as they can relate to the monster. This may be the reason of its success. In the novel, you are led to sympathise with the monster, when he tells his story. His story is a contrast to Frankenstein’s words, and we see a side to him that is not as miserable and horrible as Frankenstein thinks, and leads us to agree with. I feel great sympathy towards the monster, and ho he is made to feels that revenge is the only thing he can do. The actual genre of the novel, not only relates to the murders, but also to how the injustice and prejudice makes the creature feel. Mary Shelly used the novel to express her opinions. Her upbringing as a Romantic may have affected how Frankenstein believes the only beautiful things can be great. Romanticism is also linked to how nature inspired powerful feelings in people, and so this may also reflect on the way the characters feel in the novel. Although, she may have thought prejudice was wrong and so wrote about that in the novel. I think that Shelley wanted her novel to influence others, make others reject prejudice and bias and the neglect of a child. The novel does this well, and is still as influential today as Shelly had hoped.
