FRANKENSTEIN

Frankenstein

Themes

Mary Shelley discusses various topics like the shadow & light - orphans - loneliness - love and friendship - the eloquence - education - the injustice - the innocence - the enormity - the science and consciousness - the look and prejudice - the status of women - the scenery and moods - the risks and progress.

The analysis of the behavior of Frankenstein goes well beyond his individual case (Higgins 2008). All researchers are subject to this attitude that makes them fight tirelessly against the last obstacle before the absolute knowledge, without taking the time and perspective to realize that this last hurdle is just more and only results on problems in ever more complex and more numerous nor to realize that obstacles knocked open the door to the consequences each time without allowing even more harmful to solve the human misery that motivate the research. Ever, by making the monster, Frankenstein has a clear vision or even total of what he is doing(Bloom 2009). It is motivated by the horror he inspired the death of his mother, he wants to avoid horror to relive or see revived by discovering the secret of life. But only when it is too late and his work destroyed everything that mattered to him that he began dimly to realize its responsibility in the generation that sought to abolish.

Critical Evaluation

The novel's themes center on the social and cultural aspects of society during Shelley's lifetime, including the movement away from the intellectually confining Enlightenment. The characters in the novel reflect the struggle against societal control (Garrett 2003). The monster, in particular, is an outcast from society, and the reader is able to empathize with his subsequent rage at being ostracized. Nature and science, opposing forces during this time period, are important themes shaping the novel.

Early nineteenth century society's views of human standards were associated with the natural sciences. Some literary critics suggest that nature and physiology, specifically anatomy and reproduction, are linked in literature (Engelstein 2008). Irregularities in the human standard were therefore viewed as unacceptable by society, and through an innate reaction, these differences were rejected. Even though Frankenstein's monster develops language skills, emotion, and consciousness, he appears as a grotesque being and is spurned by society because he does not fit any ideal.

Shelley employs many stylistic techniques in Frankenstein. She uses explorer Robert Walton's epistolary communication with his sister as part of an outer frame structure that segues into a flashback of Victor Frankenstein's experiences leading up to and after the creation of the monster. First-person narrative is used in Walton's voice, while the core chapters offer Victor's personal narration (Bloom 2009). In addition, Shelley uses dialogue to provide the thoughts of other characters, such as the monster. Also evident are characteristics of gothic horror, including a foreboding setting, violent and mysterious events, and a decaying society.

Many themes in Frankenstein represent not only the social and political theories of Shelley's time but also those that ...