Frankenstein Essay

Authors Avatar

Frankenstein Essay

        In this essay, I am going to answer the question “Who or what, is the real monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?” I will explain how most people perceive the creature from films and dramas, and how most people remember the name Frankenstein. I will talk about how the narrative of the book is structured and how this builds up our expectation of the creature. I will talk about how the creature begins his story, the impression we get of his early days and how these contracts with our expectations of the murderer. I will explain the methods Shelley uses to ensure we sympathise with the monster, and talk about how the monster starts to hate himself and his creator. I will also talk about how Shelley swings the sympathy away from the monster when he talks about killing William. I will conclude by answering the above question with my opinion.

When most people hear the name Frankenstein, they automatically think of the creature. However, the name actually belongs to Victor Frankenstein, who is the creator. ‘Frankenstein’ has become a legend, as the creature is featured in many films and dramas. However, the creature is now known as Frankenstein, and in many of the films and dramas is made to be perceived as a cruel and heartless being. In these films and dramas, the story of why the creature is driven to kill people is not always explained, and so many people just assume that he is a naturally bad being. However, in this book, we are shown that the creature is driven to do these terrible things by his life of rejection, loneliness and hatred.

Join now!

In this novel Victor Frankenstein creates a creature. He does this because of his two ambitions, one arrogant and one noble. The arrogant ambition is to be remembered and respected for the creation of a whole new species. He shows us this ambition and arrogance in chapter 4, page 43, when he says “A new species would bless me as its creator and source”. However on the next page we are shown his noble ambition to be able to bring the dead back to life. “I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in ...

This is a preview of the whole essay