Shelley uses a high diction style of writing, which is littered with emotive adjectives to prevent it becoming stagnated and boring for the audience. The information is given to us little at a time to arouse our curiosity and make us read further into the book, where crescendos are commonly used after a more mundane part of the story, so the excitement peaks and falls throughout. An example of this is when the monster is first sighted in letter 4 where there is a dramatic climax before he disappears from view, leaving the audience in doubt of what will happen next.
A prominent theme in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ is one of an idealistic world. Victor idealises his family, like a fairytale, too good to be true in reality, which it seems he wants to escape as he knows his family are far from perfect, and a good example of this is portrayed in the quote;
“There was a considerable difference between ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them closer in the bonds of devoted affection.” (Ch1, pg33, line7)
Today we have the legacy of the ‘perfect’ family and Shelley plays on our emotions, preying on that we want this faultless family. Frankenstein has a drive to create a flawless society and so results in drawing into an unrealistic yet idealistic world. Mary Shelley gives Victor this drive to create perfect characters, as we feel the tremendous loss more fully as the family becomes disjointed and disrupted. Also we can relate to the ‘perfect’ friend of Victor, Henry Clerval, who almost appears to be too good to be true; always there with support and advice and ready and willing to help, as shown through this quote;
“Clerval? -Yet he might not have been so perfectly humane, so thoughtful in his generosity- so full of kindness amidst his adventurous exploit.” (Ch2, pg39, line15)
We are all judgemental over appearance; we like to assume that we don’t discriminate although we do. This is why the monster’s rejection by society due to his appearance strikes a chord in all of us, because we know we have been guilty of this at some point. It is not purely accidental therefore, that Shelley enables the blind man to be the only character to see the monster for who he is, to see through the physical barrier that is his appearance.
Shelley uses pathetic fallacy continuously throughout the novel to metaphorically reflect the emotions of the characters. As the story begins, isolation and mystery are major themes whilst the characters are situated in a very cold icy atmosphere, and as the story shifts to the warm, loving, ideal family of Victor Frankenstein, the environment mimics this through the heat in Geneva. After the death of Victor’s mother, the weather is automatically cold once more; the temperature fluctuating according to the fate of the characters. A modern audience can relate to this as we all react to the weather due to natural human instinct.
Love is what Shelley bases her novel ‘Frankenstein’ on. Us, as human beings understand the need for a loving relationship in life, and Victor Frankenstein reminisces about his first memories; which were ones of unconditional love from his family, shown in this quote;
“My mother’s tender caresses, and my fathers smile of benevolent pleasure while regarding me, are my first recollections. I was their plaything and their idol.” (Ch1, pg33, line37)
On the other hand, the monster that Victor creates is starved of this love; denied the very thing his creator lusts, purely because of his appearance. He is rejected at first sight and denied unconditional love, as he stumbles blindly after Victor, who runs scared. It is perhaps this lack of nurturing that enables a creation with the potential to be overwhelmingly good, almost angelic, to also have the qualities of the utmost evil; a killer. The product turns against its maker as commonly happens, and Victor results in repulsing his own creation. Also in ‘Frankenstein’, there is a theme of forbidden love between Victor and Elizabeth, a relationship of incest. Contempary audiences of ‘Frankenstein’ would have been repulsed at this idea, but audiences today are intrigued and have an instinct to be curious about the lives of other people and anything out of the ordinary. Frankenstein and Elizabeth have the subconscious battle between the beauty of their pure love and the acceptability of this in society at the time. This quote shows the lust and passion contained in their relationship;
“The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp… Her sympathy was ours, her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes.” (Ch2, pg38, line11)
The death of Victor’s mother was due to self-sacrifice whilst nursing Elizabeth with scarlet fever. This left Victor in a single- parented family; something that many families today are facing. Victor develops an un-natural obsession with his mother, often referred to as the ‘Oedipus Complex’, and he continues this worship even after she has died. This is perhaps when Victor’s obsessive behaviour, something we all fear today, starts, as he becomes entangled in a web of his possessive love for Elizabeth and his personal drive in his work. Victor is perhaps so possessive over Elizabeth because he sees her as his own belonging after she is presented to him by his mother, shown here;
“…Interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine- mine to protect, love and cherish.” (Ch1, pg36, line2)
We can relate to this through the role that the possession and belonging of items, or loved ones plays in our lives; we become jealous at the very thought of losing them.
Tragic irony plays a poignant but major role in the novel. Victor Frankenstein grows up surrounded by the death of his own family and those around him affected by the cholera epidemic. He feels the remorse and suffering caused by this natural event and consequently doesn’t want the ones he loves to feel the same pain that he has gone through. From this, he develops an obsession with creating an immortal being; a person composed of the finest ligaments, so that no one would ever have to suffer the pain of losing someone so dear again. Through doing this, he is believed to have cheated death and nature and subsequently results in killing the ones he was initially trying to save. We can relate to this today as we are enduring death everyday and can identify with the loss that Frankenstein feels.
An obvious notable factor in the book is the lack of family religion. Many people, not only at the time of publication, but also today think that if a family do not believe or have God in their lives then they will be punished, and they are seen as lesser people if they have no spirituality.
In the book, it is as if we are playing God; like Him, we have the ability to decide the fate of the people, like the courts of justice. If someone today commits a horrendous crime then we have the power to lock them, just like in the novel, where society and the monster are able to decide the fate of the characters, for example, when Justine is hung unfairly without trial after she is accused of murdering Willy, as she pleads guilty although innocent;
“I did confess; but I confessed a lie.” (Ch8, pg87, line7)
We are also like God today, and can relate to Victor Frankenstein in that he tries to create a faultless being. The modern audience are acquainted with genetic engineering and as we are always making scientific advances, like at the time of publication, the fear of the unknown is still very relevant today. Just like Frankenstein, who attempts to eliminate something that isn’t perfect, we today have the power to do this through abortion and also are able to ‘perfect’ a child before it is born, dismissing blemishes by choosing the colour of their eyes or skin. We are currently making mistakes in this area and will result in paying for this blasphemy and already are. The moral of the story is to accept life for what it is, if not we will create the ultimate evil, embodied by the monster.
Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ can therefore relate as much to a modern audience as a contempary audience at the time of publication, due to specific devices and themes that are used by the author to prevent it becoming stagnated and topics that hold an area of interest for the viewers.
