Preview

What Is The Lack Of Familial Ties In Frankenstein

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1551 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The Lack Of Familial Ties In Frankenstein
Frankenstein’s Monster & The Lack of Familial Ties The Romantic Era inspired detailed expressions of internal feelings and an emphasis on the appreciation of nature. Romantic writers feared the disintegration of human emotion and the relationship between humans and nature. Once the Scientific revolution called for reason and the theorizing of the causes of life, it seemed as if people would become more mechanical and rational rather than sentimental and imaginative. There was in fact, a sweeping fear of dehumanization; nature was not something to fear anymore, and eventually, it was becoming an element that no longer received respect. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley embarks on the literary depictions of the most intense human emotions, both …show more content…
This pains the monster while also enraging him. When once the creature was loving, now he was vengeful and hateful, after a failed attempt at receiving the acceptance from the cottage family. The monster then planned to go after Victor who was to be blamed for his existence. The fact that the monster received his education from the cottage family, granted them the exception of his wrath, which is evident when he does not try to find them and injure them when they flee from the result of their encounter. However unsuccessful was his attempt at receiving their love and acceptance, he still feels a connection to them solely because he learned through them, and they count as parental figures to the …show more content…
Although he had little to no interaction, he could see the love they possessed for each other by their acts of kindness, which separated the cottagers and his creator in his mind. The cottagers were the angel-like humans who provided his indirect education while Victor, his creator, was the devil who deprived him of the love and joy he sought after, and not only created his miserable existence, but also despised him. However, now that the monster understood the difference between the good nature of the cottagers and the unrespectable nature of his creator, he fixes a plan for vengeance against Victor. The cottage family served the purpose of introducing knowledge to the creature and was consequently the same knowledge that became the demise of both, creator and creature. The knowledge that he was an unloved being with a life condemned to isolation, forces Victor’s monster to transition from a loving and sensible creature to a hateful and vengeful creature whose actions resembled his monstrous appearance. In retrospection, the cottage family, essentially, were the “tree of knowledge” to Victor’s monster, who acknowledges himself as “thy adam” who consequently falls into sin at the encounter of such

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The monster continually calls out for sensibility from the romantic. The monster has a desire for companionship, and implores of his creator to make him a being of his own species. The monster also desires to be accepted by mankind. The final way the monster displays sensibility is through his desire to learn. He displays his capabilities of learning at the beginning of his creation, and continues to grow throughout the novel. Victor Frankenstein shows the individualistic, mystic, and love of nature side of romanticism. He displays individualism through his desire to be his own creator. He also rejects the help from others, and strives on selfish ambition. Victor shows the mysticism, through gaining power of being his own god. Finally, he shows a love for nature, through taking the time to breathe and admire the beautiful countryside around him. Romanticism is concluded in the comparison of the two characters, and how similar their situations are. Victor Frankenstein and the monster both have a strong desire for love from others around them. They also show great passion for sympathy from others, which they do not necessarily receive. Their situations are unrealistic, and portray the case of non-neoclassicism. Both Frankenstein and the monster experience deep sorrow throughout the entire novel. This experience is heightened when the monster is denied a companion and Victor loses all of his loved ones. In the end, both Victor and the creature share their desire for friendship, which neither fully obtain, due to the circumstances of the rejection and bitterness. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, displays the aspects of Romanticism through Frankenstein and his creature; they display sensibility, individualism, love of nature, non-neoclassicism, and…

    • 1555 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Foil Essay: Frankenstien

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout the novel, The Monster is characterized as a sensitive being; he wants to be loved and resents the fact that he was rejected by Frankenstein. As he gains knowledge and begins to grow more intelligent, The Monster comes to the realization that Victor abandoned him, that he is unwanted. This frustrates him as he continually gets rejected by society. Although Victor seems to think very highly of himself, The Monster has a very low self-esteem, “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on” (pg #), which stems from his rejection by both Victor and society as a whole. This character trait of The Monster makes the sort of selfishness of Victor, as it shows that, in his search for fame and glory, he was uncaring of the consequences. In creating The Monster, Victor’s intentions were not what they should have been; instead of trying to create life in order to make the world better, he was doing is for the sole purpose of becoming a God-like person. His God-complex is apparent in other parts of the novel as well, when he meets The Monster in the mountains and they have a conversation about Victor’s want to destroy The…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The text finally uses the interaction between Victor and the Monster to display the similarities of their misfortunes, but then completely contrasts the two characters, leading readers to create a larger conclusion about the text. At the end of the Monster’s life story he demands a companion emphasizing Victor’s role in his misfortunes: “Instead of threatening, I am contest to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces, and triumph… and would not call it murder” (104). The texts ironically portrays the Monster as the responsible figure attempting to change his future contrasting him to the human who refuses to participate in a self-determined change of fate. Due to the fact that the Monster is dependent on a human creator, no decision he makes can ultimately change the fate of his misfortune. Victor on the other hand not only has the choice of the Monster’s happiness in his hands, but also his own fate. By displaying the Monsters inability to change his destiny, the text emphasizes the…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Contextual influences shape our values and way of life just as those of us living at that time challenge the values of that time. Shelley wrote Frankenstein during the Scientific Revolution not long after Galvani’s discovery of so-called ‘animal electricity’, sparking her idea of the possibilities of generating new human life. The power of the creative imagination was also a major influence on Shelley, a Romantic herself, and very influenced the renowned Romantic poets, husband Percy Shelley and friend Lord Byron. Shelley used the character of Victor Frankenstein in order to question the scientific and industrial revolutions wherein industrialists and scientists were increasingly focused on the thirst for knowledge at the expense of nature. In her text she has the obsessed Victor comment that he “did not watch the blossom of expanding leaves” and here…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Instead of standing up and taking the blame for creating the monster which ultimately led to the death of his brother, he lets the trial go on and lets Justine die for a crime she did not commit. Victor is more accountable for this death than Justine is because of everything he did to the monster to lead up to this moment. He created the creature and then left it all alone in the wild. The monster could obviously reason and wanted to harm his creator for his abandonment. As he was walking he heard that this man was related to Victor, killed him, and then planted evidence so that it looked like Justine had committed the crime. Victor refuses to take charge of his own actions and instead casts a gloomy fate on all of those close to him. His wife, Elizabeth, is killed later in the story right after they get married. Victor thought that the monster would kill him so he gets away from his wife. He then realizes the creature meant that he would kill his wife but he is too late and she has already been killed. He could have prevented Elizabeth from dying if he had informed her about his secret and given her knowledge that she could have protected herself…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He gathers wood, cleans snow and performs other tasks without requesting anything in exchange. When he realizes he has been stealing food from a poor family he feels guilt and stops from taking more. The creature is naturally good. The turning point of the creature's characteristics is when he discovers the journal of his creator, Victor. In the journal the gruesome details of his creation are written in great detail and the creature realizes, "everything is related in them which bears reference to my accursed origin; the whole detail of the series of disgusting circumstances which produced it is set in view; the minutest descriptions of my odious and loathsome person is given"(Shelley 118). The creature realizes that the person that should have loved him unconditionally is the one that abandoned him in disgust. However, his heart still carries shreds of hope and he tries one final time to join human society by seeking help from the elder De Lacey. This fails, unfortunately, as Felix enters the cottage and beats the creature away, thinking it was attacking his…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his attempts to make contact with people the monster first encounters the De Lacey family, he secretly examines the family and the way that they live. He learns how the family helps each other out when they are in need. Before encountering the De Lacey family, the monster had never witnessed hospitality and compassion since he was chased from everywhere else he had been. The monster realizes that the world is not as cruel of a place as he had previously assumed. Learning this new style of life, the monster obtains a motive to keep living. When confronting Mr. De Lacey he opens a conversation, not knowing his hideous appearance, other family members entered the house and were horrified. “Felix, Mr. De Lacey's son, dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick” (Chp. 7) Felix's impulsive reaction to the monster's presence corrupted the monster's friendly view on life, and once again saw the harsh and cruel actions that he previously experienced. Along with the savage beating that the monster had suffered, the De Lacey family had again twisted the monster's feelings, allowing it to crawl back to loneliness and misery. Having such a horrible experience the monster turns vengeful not because it’s evil, but because its isolation fills it with crushing hate and anger. And what is the monster’s vengeance? To make Victor as isolated as himself. The De Lacey family had an enormous impact on the monster's life. They taught him that people can be civil and hospitable creatures. The family had also proved that many people do not easily accept those that are different from them. Unfortunately, for the monster, he had to find out the hard way, with a beating and with…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Victor talks about how he thinks that the parents of someone have a large impact on how the rest of their life turns out and says “the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me.”(6) Victor lost his mother at an early age and it has impacted his life greatly. Victor's loss of his mother and abandonment has caused many of the issues in his life but, these actions cause the monster to suffer in the same way. The monster was abandoned so it had no mother or parent to show it the way. He needed his creator to guide him. The monster needed to be taught the ways of the world so that he could fit into society. The monster got pushed into the world all by himself with nobody to lead the way. Victor and his creation both needed a mother to help take care of them. Victor needed one when he became isolated and the monster needed someone to help it understand the world. Even Victor says how he believes that the parents have a huge part in how the life of their child will turn out. The fear and disgust that Victor felt from the monster kept him from being that person that the monster needed. Someone not letting the monster know right from wrong caused him to commit the murder of the boy because he did not know the proper way to interact with…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The “monster”, his creation, set his sights out on figuring out why his creator decided to abandon him. This again ties in the theme of acquiring knowledge. He began studying the actions and language outside a cottage of a nearby family, which enabled him to understand why humans shrieked at his appearance and ultimately why his creator disowned him,”accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even YOU turned from me in disgust?” (Shelley 119). With his understanding, the “monster” became enraged “I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge” (Shelley 120) In that moment the “monster” decided that he was going to take his anger out on his creator. Traveling near and far, the monster set out on a killing spree, which included the family members of Victor, his…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    he back domestic rapidly after receiving a letter from his soon to be wife, elisabeth. even though victor become still laid low with a few emotional misery, he became nonetheless able to go back home, not like the creature who had no one to love and couldn't be frequent with the aid of any ordinary human, hence having no manner of escaping his isolation. the creature's want for interest led him to the murders of the human beings closest to victor. he instructed victor that he "will revenge my accidents: if i can't encourage love, i can motive worry, and mainly towards you my archenemy, due to the fact my writer, do i swear inextinguishable hatred"(139) homicide became the creature's way of receiving interest. the more he killed victor's loved ones, the more interest the creature received from victor. in the end he had killed all people near victor and had received victor's complete attention, whilst victor vowed to do everything inside his "power to capture the monster."(a hundred ninety) now each victor and the creature had nobody to love, best one individual to are seeking for revenge…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most unique aspects of Romanticism is the way that nature portrays the emotions of the writer. Unlike the mimesis of nature employed by their Neoclassical and Humanist predecessors, Romantic writers used nature as a mirror of their emotions, and contorted their natural surroundings to describe their specific feelings. This is a central tenet of Romanticism and key in understanding the major mental and emotional shifts undergone by Viktor Frankenstein throughout the novel. The natural imagery in this passage is interesting because it shows the emotions and feelings of Frankenstein before and after his experimentations with the Creature. Before, the views of Montavert had "filled me with a sublime ecstacy that gave wings to the soul, and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy. The sight of the awful and majestic in nature had indeed always the effect of solemnizing my mind, and causing me to forget the passing cares in life" (958). The views of Montavert had before given…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The monster is both heart broken and lusting for love. To be sure, on page 69 the book states “ I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fined; make me happy, and I shall again be virtous. The monster was once good but this is his way of admitting that he’s evil now and the only way he will go back good is if he can be made happy again by his creator. The monster is heart broken because every one he tried to reach out to they treated him poorly. If they would have gotten to known him he wouldn’t be so evil. He’s telling victor he is willing to change his ways if victor is willing to listen to him and love him. To demonstrate, on page 69 it quotes “you, my creator,abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow- creatures, who owe me nothing?the spurn and hate me.” After nurmerous times the monster shows kindness to cottage dwellers they repaid him with hatred, is it due to the world he live in, as opposed to something natural, thayt caused him to commit these crimes. The monster was hopping the cottage dwellers would fall inl ove with him and he could possible find a family to love…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Written in 1818 by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein is widely considered to be among the novels that fully exemplify Romantic-era literary achievement. The Romantic movement is a general term used to denote the intellectual evolution in literature and the arts, primarily in 19th century Europe. Substantial facets of literary Romanticism include belief in the innate virtue of humans, the bounds of nature, as well as the polarity of human emotion, all of which are embodied in Shelley’s Frankenstein. Through reading Shelley’s novel, some of the fundamental ideals of Romanticism genuinely become obvious.…

    • 1511 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    One must also take into account that Mary Shelly’s husband was a romantic poet, and she often edited his works. At the time of Frankenstein’s publish, the roots of Romanticism had been laid. Among the characteristic romantic attitudes were: a deep appreciation of nature, a general preference of emotion over reason and senses over intellect, an introspective evaluation of human personality and its moods and mental processes, a fixation with the “genius”,…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, the new being is brought into the world unwillingly and full of factors that could go wrong. For example, Victor could have created the monster with many deformities in his organs, causing the new being to be helpless and in pain for the rest of its life. In addition, the creature should have equal chances of looking the same as the rest of society, but he could not control that factor. If the monster had equal opportunities of acquiring friends like the rest of society, then he could have lived justibly. Since the creature did not have equal possibilities, he knew that his life was unfair and knew that he would be rejected by society. The creature was observant enough to comprehend his role in the injustice being made in his life.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays