Letters On August 13th Literary Analysis
Mary Shelley’s massively influential novel, Frankenstein, uses many shrewd literary devices. Robert Walton’s letter to his sister on August 13th is but one example of Shelley’s keen writing style. Although Shelley tells the majority of the novel through Victor Frankenstein’s memories, she begins the novel with letters from Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville. These letters serve as an introduction to the main story, but they contain information just as important as that in the main story. In particular, the letter written on August 13th demonstrates her masterful use of tone and point of view. This letter also shows Shelley’s considerable ability to paint a character’s personality in a few lines of prose through descriptive language.
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The most obvious part of Frankenstein’s personality is his misery. In his August 13th letter, Robert Walton calls Frankenstein a “broken spirit” who appears “destroyed by misery” (23-24). Frankenstein’s expression is often “expressive of a calm settled grief” (24). Frankenstein himself tells Walton, “But I—I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew” (24). Shelley relentlessly reminds readers of Frankenstein’s utter hopelessness and despair. However, she also shows Frankenstein’s lighter side. He loves the wonders of the world deeply; Walton says that “no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature” (24). Indeed, Shelley makes it seem like Frankenstein’s love of the world around him transcends everything else in his life. She says about him, “Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures” (24-25). Shelley also stresses Frankenstein’s singularly keen mind. Walton tells his sister, Sometimes I have endeavoured to discover what quality it is which he possesses that elevates him so immeasurably above any other person I know. I believe it to be an intuitive discernment; a quick but never-failing power of judgement; a penetration into the causes of things, unequalled for clearness and precision
The most obvious part of Frankenstein’s personality is his misery. In his August 13th letter, Robert Walton calls Frankenstein a “broken spirit” who appears “destroyed by misery” (23-24). Frankenstein’s expression is often “expressive of a calm settled grief” (24). Frankenstein himself tells Walton, “But I—I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew” (24). Shelley relentlessly reminds readers of Frankenstein’s utter hopelessness and despair. However, she also shows Frankenstein’s lighter side. He loves the wonders of the world deeply; Walton says that “no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature” (24). Indeed, Shelley makes it seem like Frankenstein’s love of the world around him transcends everything else in his life. She says about him, “Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures” (24-25). Shelley also stresses Frankenstein’s singularly keen mind. Walton tells his sister, Sometimes I have endeavoured to discover what quality it is which he possesses that elevates him so immeasurably above any other person I know. I believe it to be an intuitive discernment; a quick but never-failing power of judgement; a penetration into the causes of things, unequalled for clearness and precision