Once the creature has been given life, Frankenstein seems to get a metaphorical slap in the face and sees his creation in a new and terrifying light. Through a combination of prejudice against the physically repulsive and cruel intentions, Frankenstein’s creation becomes a social outcast and takes out his grief and anger on Frankenstein’s young brother, William. A family friend is implicated in the murder and is subsequently hung at the gallows. After Frankenstein refuses to create a female partner for his creation, it goes on to kill everyone Frankenstein holds dear; including his best friend Henry Clerval and the remainder of his family. The parts of the novel that comply with gothic fiction do so very inflexibly; “…tremendous and abhorred!”, “…the dashing waves were around, the cloudy sky above…” This is possibly as Mary Shelley deeply revered the Romantics – a tight circle of writers who enjoyed writing in the style of gothic horror – and wished to prove herself to them, so she felt the need to show a deep understanding of their techniques. Although some of the novel uses narrative, the main part of it makes use of and epistolary structure, “To Mrs Saville, England”. This is important in making us feel that we are almost part of the novel, having been entrusted with personal letters between main characters. The novel is written in the first person, “When I was about fifteen years old…” This is vital to render this novel convincing enough to hold a reader’s interest and to emphasise the reader’s sense of involvement whilst reading the novel.
When Victor Frankenstein is growing up in Geneva, he passes much of his time reading the published works of a wide variety of extremely outdated scientists. This is undoubtedly what sparks his enthusiasm for science but it does not do much to prepare him for his study of “natural philosophy” when he attends university at Inglestadt. When he first arrives at Inglestadt, he goes to visit one of his tutors, hoping to make a good first impression and appear eager and willing to learn, showing both his enthusiasm for the subject and respect for his future tutor. However he is met with a stout man with a “repulsive countenance” who informs Victor, upon hearing his list of previous reading, that “every instant that you have wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost.” This is a huge anticlimax for Victor and this immediately manipulates the sympathy of the reader in Victor’s favour. This is important as the sympathy for Victor must be strong enough for the reader not to feel utterly repulsed by his later transgression. It will also provide Victor with deniability, as he has been mistreated by his tutor and possibly feels the need to prove that the research carried out by his first inspirers was not in vain.
Victor has a very close relationship with his mother before her premature death; some interpreters may even go as far as to imply that he suffers from the Oedipus complex, and holds passionate feelings towards her. Whether this is deliberate, or simply a common misconception, it undoubtedly renders Victor more worthy of the sympathy of the reader.
Victor suffers almost constantly from what a modern reader might well describe as “mood swings”, but I believe that the original intention of Shelley was to condemn him as an un-confessed manic-depressive.
Shelley uses provocative language to good effect when manipulating the compassion of the reader towards Victor. This is shown when he finds the lifeless cadaver of his beloved Elizabeth on their wedding night and almost collapses whilst exclaiming “Great God! Why did I not then expire!” This technique is widely used in gothic fiction as it is very proficient in influencing the sympathy of the reader in any way the author wishes; in this case in Victor’s favour.
Frankenstein’s creation is shunned and persecuted from the very day of its re-resurrection up until the day of its bereavement. The absolute epitome of this discrimination is when its own creator, to whom the creation owes his very existence to, turns against it on the night of its animation and is horrified by what he has done “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?” Frankenstein’s creation was offered no choice of whether it was to be re-awakened or left to lie in peace where its components were originally laid to rest. This evokes sympathy in a reader as numerous people were brought up in poor homes and large families and can perhaps empathise with the creation’s sense of incompatibility in society.
When Frankenstein and his creation meet in chapter 10, many different literary techniques are used to established sympathy in favour of Frankenstein’s creation. One technique used is dramatic setting, “the surface is very uneven, rising like the waves of a troubled sea.” The words troubled sea carry connotations of formidable weather and a faint sense of woe. This sets the scene for a miserable and desperate confrontation between creator and creation, and I think the sympathy is at this point transferred to the creation, as he has had to cross the sea of ice without the help or comfort of any man-made aids, and probably with little sustenance of real nutritional value.
Another technique used during Frankenstein’s meeting with his creation is emotive language, for example “Devil, do you dare approach me?” This fierce greeting shows us just how anguished Frankenstein is but somehow renders his creation more worthy of the reader’s sympathy; this is possibly because he doesn’t really know that he has done anything wrong, he has just responded to the way people have treated him.
In inference, I think that Mary Shelley intended for the sympathy of the reader to be evoked in favour of Frankenstein rather than his creation, but for the issue to be largely open-ended. I believe that when the novel was written, Frankenstein’s creation would have been feared rather than disliked particularly; but in today’s superficial society, it would be almost unanimously hated just for being different.
